Thank you!
I was blown away by the response to my post titled Top 3 Tips for Teaching Online! So, while we are all teaching from home, I will do my best to continue to use my experience developing and teaching online courses to help you master the world of online education! If there is a topic you would like covered or a question that you have about teaching online, please reach out to me on Twitter @teachandcoachga.
I was a lot like them...even as a graduate student. At times, even I struggled not to take out my phone to check an answer in an online course.
Just a Bunch of Cheaters!
This might be shocking information...but students cheat on assignments. They cheat on your "multiple guess" tests. They even cheat when you put those file folders up so they can't see their neighbors test. They love that, because it just makes it easier to hide their phone from you. I was a lot like them...even as a graduate student. At times, even I struggled not to take out my phone to check an answer in an online course. If you provide a multiple choice test in your new online course, you have to know that students are going to google answers or text their friends from their class for help. We have to go into this understanding our audience. In this case our audience is just a bunch of cheaters. (That's a joke...please don't throw stones at me)
What Do We Do?!?
The good news is you have choices. You can still provide a multiple choice test, but you will need to write better questions. Write questions that are much more difficult to google. For example, "Who was the first President of the United States?" is not a good question. However, if you asked, "As the first President of the United States, which of the following best describes the challenges George Washington faced?" students will have a more difficult time searching for that answer. The term we use in our office is try and make the question "UnGoogleable". Another tool you can use is the timer found in most LMS...however, be realistic. I have seen teachers give less than a minute per question and that is just crazy! I would have a hard time with less than a minute per question.
Writing better questions is a start, but there is a better option! Have students make a product to demonstrate their knowledge. If you are new to my blog, you may not have seen previous posts that encourage teachers to try new things and have their students make products to show that they know a concept. You can find those previous posts HERE & HERE.
Students want to make an impact on their world and Podcasting quite literally gives them the voice to do so!
One of my favorite ways to have students demonstrate their knowledge is to have them create a Podcast. It may be because I love making my Podcast (Shameless Plug...The Atlanta Sports Podcast. Listen, Subscribe, Rate :) ) The tool that my students use most often to create their Podcast is Anchor.fm it is a super simple, easy to use tool that allows students to record, edit, and publish their Podcast to the world! To me this is one of the coolest parts of shifting to a product-based course. Students have the chance to share their creation with the world. As you can imagine, this is much more meaningful to them than handing you their "multiple guess" responses. Students want to make an impact on their world and Podcasting quite literally gives them the voice to do so!
Ideas!
Podcasting is just one of many ways to create a product-based course. In this world of no testing, we will continue to look at other ways to have your students make something to demonstrate knowledge. Branch out there! Try something new! Remember, if you have a topic that you would like me to cover or have questions about online learning, please reach out to me on Twitter @teachandcoachga I would love to help! Also, I would love to hear from you and how your district is handling online learning and ways that you are making it awesome for your students.
Have a great day!
D. Barkes