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Measurable Goals: Gaining Skill in Using Technology as a Tool for Interpersonal Learning by Ferdi Serim (ferdi@oii.org) Much of the ambivalence which surrounds public discussion of public education has its source in the lack of solid information about what's being accomplished as a result of billions of dollars and trillions of hours. We can't know how to improve until we have ways of measuring what's being done. I recommend that everyone read Mike Schmoker's book Results: the key to continuous school improvement (ASCD) for an insightful treatment of this vital topic. Before we can evaluate (judge to be good or bad) we must be able to assess (state clearly what did and didn't happen). I decided to accept Mike's challenge and design all of my networked activities in a way that could be measured. We often hear goals like "preparing students for the 21st Century" or "helping students become lifelong learners", which are nearly impossible to verify through observation. Here are some alternative ways of formulating goals that do lend themselves to measurement:
Technology: I can tell which forms of technology students have learned, and can measure whether these new skills lead to improved performance in their abilities to read, write and think. My Intranet keeps track of each user's activities on the network, so I can tell how often and how long each student spent doing word-processing, researching on the Internet, creating web pages, and more. Cooperative Learning: I can see, by reviewing the conferences (collaborative workspaces) I've created for each group who has made contributions, the quality of these contributions, and the level of feedback students exchange with each other, their teachers and any telementors who may be assisting them. Language Arts: I can review the reading logs that I've set up as a database which students access over the web, to find out who is reading what, how they enjoy what they read, and their use of language in convincing others to try their favorites. We have an "official" approved reading list, for each grade. Many of my favorite books weren't on the list when I was an eighth grader (strangely enough many of these are now considered "modern classics"), and my students love the opportunity to lobby for their "excluded" books to be added by the "powers that be". I've explained to the students that their testimony, via the database, will be considered for nominations of additional books as the list is reviewed each year. They're pretty careful about their use of language in these reviews! I can also gauge improvements in their use of language to construct meaning from the vast amounts of data their Internet research returns, by comparing projects students complete at the beginning of the year with those they produce at the end of the year. Our Intranet allows me to review materials students save in their "electronic portfolios" as exemplifying their best work. Getting Results: The Relationship of Measurable Goals to Information Literacy Standards When Janet Murray first showed me the AASL Information Literacy Standards, I realized that the objectives for students formed the most compelling reason I'd found for the use of education technology. If technology could help students learn to do these things, they'd really be prepared for the 21st Century and their new roles as lifelong learners!
The trick was this: how could I develop activities with measurable objectives that demonstrated mastery of these standards? The results of my first attempt, which guided my work with students in Princeton, turned out like this:
In terms of the three information literacy goals, I found that these objectives could be measured for their technology, cooperative learning and language arts dimensions on the basis of what I observed in my computer lab, what the network user logs captured, what students posted to collaborative workspaces, and what was observable in the final product. The assessment showed what did or did not happen with respect to each of these activities. Because peer review was built in to the activities, students themselves got a sense of what constituted a great project and what represented a shoddy effort. The goal of information literacy leads to the next level, where these skills are independently applied. Our Intranet made this level of assessment possible as well.
Finally, the level of social responsibility comes into play. Knowledge building is a group sport, not an isolated pursuit. Students need practice in honing these skills, and technology provides avenues for collaboration that are unprecedented in human history. Our Intranet provides the capabilities for these collaborations, as well as a means of observing what students have done with these opportunities.
last update: 11/1/00 [BACK] |
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© 2006 Online Internet Institute. |