Using Rubrics to Grade Online Discussions - ELC Support A rubric is a scoring scale used to evaluate a student's work. Rubrics spell out to students exactly what is expected of them, and they list the criteria instructors use to assess students' work. Rubrics also help instructors by providing guidelines for more objective grading. The Value of Rubrics Rubrics are useful for assessing work in any classroom setting, but they are especially helpful in online courses, where all information must be clearly stated in course documents. In some courses, instructors use rubrics for each assignment. Examples Here are some examples of rubrics used to assess online discussions and journal assignments. Rubric for Instructor-Facilitated Online Discussions This example lists expectations for student participation and includes a grading rubric for evaluating the quality of a student's participation in a discussion. Example 2: Student-led Online Discussion Participation Rubric This example assumes that students will lead and guide their own discussion.
can-we-teach-digital-natives-digital-literacy.pdf Online Design & eLearning Faculty Resources » Increase Online Student Engagement and Motivation Using TEC-VARIETY Online instructors at varying levels of experience are constantly challenged by the feat of motivating and engaging students. While most instructors do a fine job at keeping students engaged in a face-to-face course, many stumble when it comes to maintaining the same level of engagement in an online environment. If you are one of those who battle the distance and lack of physical contact in your course, take a look at this research-based resource. Adding Some TEC-VARIETY is a great resource for new and existing online instructors looking to engage and motivate their students. TEC-VARIETY principles are based on four learning theories that provide different perspectives on learner motivation over the decades: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Sociocultural Views. The ten motivational principles of TEC-VARIETY are: T – Tone/Climate: Psychological Safety, Comfort, Sense of Belonging E – Encouragement: Feedback, Responsiveness, Praise, Supports V – Variety: Novelty, Fun, Fantasy
Constructive Alignment - and why it is important to the learning process | Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre What is Constructive Alignment? Constructive Alignment, a term coined by John Biggs (Biggs, 1999) is one of the most influential ideas in higher education. It is the underpinning concept behind the current requirements for programme specification, declarations of Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and assessment criteria, and the use of criterion based assessment. There are two parts to constructive alignment: Students construct meaning from what they do to learn. The teacher aligns the planned learning activities with the learning outcomes. The basic premise of the whole system is that the curriculum is designed so that the learning activities and assessment tasks are aligned with the learning outcomes that are intended in the course. Figure 1. Alignment is about getting students to take responsibility for their own learning, and establishing trust between student and teacher. Achieving Constructive Alignment Figure 2. Define the learning outcomes. Setting the Learning Outcomes Source
The Use of Web Instructional Tools By Online Instructors (Study) Note: This article was originally published in The Technology Source ( as: Lucio Teles "The Use of Web Instructional Tools By Online Instructors" The Technology Source, May/June 2002. Available online at In studies comparing instructional tools and how they support online teaching, educators have stressed the importance of tools that support specific tasks, and thus allow more flexible teaching, facilitate access to resources and peers, and promote collaborative learning (Britain & Liber, 1999; Harasim, 1999; Bonk, 2001). To investigate how online instructors use instructional tools designed for the Web, we conducted a study with a group of 32 online instructors to address the following questions: (1) What tools are most commonly used by online instructors? Questionnaire respondents Participants in the study are instructors who teach in either mixed mode or entirely online mode. Results The Selected Tools References