Welcome to the Assignments Page
Below you will find a PDF file which outlines the assignments for the course. There are two main types of assignments, reflective and formative. All assignments will be submitted to the Google + page. Following the pdf you will find more details regarding your submissions as well as rubrics for your reflective assignments.
Google + Participation Suggestions and Rubric
While "forcing" you to participate in a discussion might seem contrived there is a reason. You bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this course. Your knowledge and experience is unique to you and it should be shared with peers who can not only benefit from this, but can also appreciate the experiences and insights that you offer. As you know from being an instructor there really are no "dumb" questions. What's more likely to occur is that participants are afraid to appear "dumb" and therefore keep silent. I'm sure you can think of numerous times a student asked a "dumb" question and the discussion that followed was amazingly rich and added to the learning experience. This is what I'm hoping will happen with the discussions. You are taking this course because you want to improve your abilities and enhance your student's learning. So go ahead and take a risk and post a "dumb" question or make that "obvious" observation and let's see what follows. We have all stumbled at this and taking the risk to share your mistakes will allow others not too make them. Reflecting on what you did "wrong" also provides you the ability to internalize this new knowledge in more meaningful ways.
Discussion also allow for a sense of shared experience and provide a social aspect to this online eLearning experience.
I will provide a discussion topic, which you will be expected to answer. Your answer should be reflective of your thoughts about the material and convey any insights or comments that you were made aware of. Discussion are the birthplace of new ideas and shared perspectives and without your participation the learning is diminished.
When grading your discussion I will look for the following components:
While "forcing" you to participate in a discussion might seem contrived there is a reason. You bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this course. Your knowledge and experience is unique to you and it should be shared with peers who can not only benefit from this, but can also appreciate the experiences and insights that you offer. As you know from being an instructor there really are no "dumb" questions. What's more likely to occur is that participants are afraid to appear "dumb" and therefore keep silent. I'm sure you can think of numerous times a student asked a "dumb" question and the discussion that followed was amazingly rich and added to the learning experience. This is what I'm hoping will happen with the discussions. You are taking this course because you want to improve your abilities and enhance your student's learning. So go ahead and take a risk and post a "dumb" question or make that "obvious" observation and let's see what follows. We have all stumbled at this and taking the risk to share your mistakes will allow others not too make them. Reflecting on what you did "wrong" also provides you the ability to internalize this new knowledge in more meaningful ways.
Discussion also allow for a sense of shared experience and provide a social aspect to this online eLearning experience.
I will provide a discussion topic, which you will be expected to answer. Your answer should be reflective of your thoughts about the material and convey any insights or comments that you were made aware of. Discussion are the birthplace of new ideas and shared perspectives and without your participation the learning is diminished.
When grading your discussion I will look for the following components:
- Timely submission in order to maximize other participants ability to comment and discuss your posts
- Quantity of submissions - while quantity does not equal quality. I will note those who contribute the most
- Expansiveness of your comments to display well-thought responses and insights.
- Address the topic
- Introduce comparisons related to the topic.
- At best include your own experiences and situations.
