The final week’s readings and videos discussed student assessments, student motivation, and strategies to reinforce effort. Web 2.0 tools can be valuable in creating formative and summative assessments for students. Electronic portfolios are a great way to track students’ progress and improvement throughout a unit or a school year (Solomon & Schrum, 2007). James Paul Gee describes how digital tools and games provide students with immediate feedback or assessments of their progress. He describes how a writing portal gives writers advice from other members. This encourages them to grow and improve in their craft (Edutopia.org, Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games).
The videos discuss how technology is a motivating factor for students. James Paul Gee discusses how students are coming home and are motivated to use games and digital media on their own to communicate and create. Schools should capitalize on this excitement and interest by incorporating some of those themes in the classroom (Edutopia.org, Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games). Sasha Barab describes how games can be a motivating tool for students. Things like simulations where past cultures can be explored bring those civilizations to life and increases student interest (Edutopia.org, Big thinkers: Sasha Barab on new-media engagement).
Pitler et. al. (2007) explain how strategies to reinforce effort in students. Some students don’t see the link between effort and success. Teachers need to show students about the importance of effort. A good way to do that is to have students track their effort and achievement. Spreadsheets and data collection tools can allow students see evidence of their scores rising with their effort. This can be a visual connection some students need to grasp the correlation between effort and achievement (Pitler et. al, 2007).
Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved on March 27, 2012 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video
Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: Howard Gardner on digital youth. Retrieved on March 27, 2012 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-howard-gardner-video
Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: Sasha Barab on new-media engagement. Retrieved on March 27, 2012 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-sasha-barab-video
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
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