As you read Hicks' (2009) chapter 6, please consider the following questions.
1) In chapter 6, Hicks (2009) discusses the challenges involved in assessing digital writing. Discuss some of these challenges and how we can work to overcome these issues when we assess our students' digital writing.
2) In reviewing Figure 6.2 (pp.115-116), what traits do you typically value in terms of student writing? To what degree does one trait outweigh others in your vision of assessment? How does that vision of assessment change with digital writing tasks?
3) Take a few minutes to explore http://digitales.us/evaluating/scoring_guide.php. Create a digital media scoring guide by choosing a type of communication (narrative, informative, persuasive, or participatory) and selecting the elements you want to include in your scoring guide. Did you find this website useful? Would you create scoring guides based on the criteria referenced on the website? Is there anything you would change about the scoring guide you created on this website? Anything you would add?
When posting your responses to my questions, feel free to only deal with one question at a time. For example, you may post "Melissa's Response to Question 1" as the title of your first comment.
Also, please try to post your answers to all questions by MIDNIGHT on MONDAY (11/29). Feel free to email me with any questions or clarifications.
Thank you for contributing your ideas to this topic!
Liz’s response to question #3
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great website! Before using DigiTales, I only used RubiStar to create rubrics online. This website was very easy to navigate and there were many traits under each type of communication to choose from. I would use this website in the future to create scoring guides for my students. I thought the descriptions of each trait were thorough and included appropriate descriptions for students to understand what areas of their work would be assessed. If I were using this in my classroom, however, it would important to add in another distinct level to differentiate between each one for students. The scoring guide I created has 5 levels: exemplar, not quite exemplar, developed, not quite developed, and limited. There are only descriptions under the exemplar, developed, and limited levels. I think there should be four distinct categories on this scoring guide. I think it may demonstrate to students their work is assessed only on three levels. Giving each level a distinct name would also help student distinguish between the levels.
Liz’s response to question #1
ReplyDeleteThe biggest challenge I foresee in assessing digital writing is separating the idea process and product. I think along with this is shifting my students’ and my own thinking to aesthetic framework when working with digital writing. I can envision my own students becoming more focused on the technology they are working with than the content of the project or course. I can also see my students, like Hicks’ (2009), becoming very confused about their grades because their projects “looked cool” but lack any real content, purpose, or information. To overcome these challenges I think working with students to create the scoring guides is important. If student initially understand what they are working towards, it will be easier for them to eventually accomplish that goal.
Liz's response to question #2
ReplyDeleteI value each trait listed in figure 6.2. I think each trait has a significant effect on students’ writing. Without ideas and organization, students’ writing would lack understandable information. Hearing students’ voices in writing is also vital to composing effective, meaningful pieces. Presentation and publication is important for students to feel accomplished and acknowledged as writers. Word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions are also essential traits of effective writers. These traits are challenging for my students. Many struggle with the ideas and organization and word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions traits so I tend to focus on these in my classroom. When assessing student writing, all these traits are assessed, however, I do give more weight to ideas and organization and word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. Generally when I assess students’ writing, voice and presentation and publication count for 35 percent, and ideas and organization and word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions usually count for 65 percent of their grade. When writing digitally, my vision does not change. My students must continue to focus on the traits they struggle with in order to become effective writers. When students are using some forms of digital writing, this may be accomplished more easily, however, it still must be their focus. For example, if students are composing a photo-essay on their family’s history, the ideas and organization trait is integral in telling the story. Students must focus on the chronological order of the pictures as well as decide on the pictures to tell their story. Word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions will be even more important because the amount of text used will be limited. Although digital writing changes how we write, it should not change the fundamental ideas of what is being assessed.
Dr. Jones' response to #2
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about the expectations I have set forth in the blogs for this class, I think the rubric I created for the 618 Learning (B)Log directly addresses the qualities or traits described for Ideas, Organization Voice, Word choice, Sentence fluency and conventions. The traits or qualities of digital writing that I did not as explicitly identify were those Hicks identifies in the Presentation or Publication section.
In the 618 Learning (B)Log rubric, there is no mention of 'using the functions of the blog for changing fonts, hyperlinking and embedding media' nor do I make any note expecting to see proficiency in 'the writer's ability to make appropriate decisions about how to balance her own content with that of other effects and sources.'
I hadn't really thought about this before, but I think the reason why I did not overemphasize the features of presentation/publication is because I wanted the writer to spend more time considering herself the audience than others. Perhaps this wasn't being fair to the writer since blogs are public by their very nature, but because I wanted the writer to use this tool as a medium for developing the habit of THINKING THROUGH WRITING rather than worrying too much about the publication form I didn't want to distract the writer from the PURPOSE (function).
On the other hand, in one of my other classes (which Melissa N. also happens to be in) I am also asking students to keep a blog -- this is a vocabulary blog. In this instance, it is important that the writer equally considers issues of publication and presentation as well as the ideas, organization and voice. However, I didn't use the same language as Hicks did in my rubric for this vocabulary blog. I am wondering now if I should? What do you think Melissa? Did I miss something with the rubric I created for 625 by not including Hicks' language for Presentation and Publication?
Dr. Jones' answer to #3
ReplyDeleteI made a rubric for a Documentary (listed under the Persuasive heading). I was curious about how this type of text would be described -- and that it was noted as a persuasive piece.
I thought it was a useful place to begin with designing a rubric so as not to have to deal with the "blank page" issue. However, as with all rubric designed websites, they are never as specific to the assignment as they could be if the teacher takes the time to add in more specific details which relate to the assignment itself.
I always caution teachers not to simply download and use these premade rubrics -- just like I caution them not to simply copy and premade graphic organizers from teacher resources. If a teacher wants to meet the needs of his/her particular students then she must take the time to personalize the language so it is "student-friendly/student-accessible" and identifies the specific components of the assignment as would be detailed in the teacher's initial instructions or directions.
Dr. Jones' answer to #1
ReplyDeleteMy first response to your question was that I don't see any challenges to digital writing assessments and that the real issue is still to help teach students to write -- a struggling writer is still a struggling writer no matter whether the form of the message be digital or traditional print.
But then, I thought about the subtle yet possibly significant omissions that I made in designing my 625 Vocabulary Blog Rubric (regarding publication/presentation) and perhaps one of the challenges that I will be more sensitive to in my own teaching is to make the time to consider ALL of the features (aspects of the form) in these new digital texts rather than simply assuming that they are so similar to print texts. For example, helping my students develop an awareness of "how to balance her own content with other effects and source" is not just the responsibility of the technology teacher. It is also the responsibility of the "content literacy" teacher.
I think what will become increasingly worrisome for K-12 teachers is which forms should they help students master in the limited time they have. ....Knowing of course, that helping students master the various functions for composition is still most important.
Response to Question #1
ReplyDeleteI think one of the concerns with assessing digital writing is that there are soooo many forms that the product (and form) can take. That being said, the product in a digital writing assignment is dependent on purpose and audience, and also the assignment itself. Who is deciding what the product is? If it is the teacher, then you can structure your assessment around the product you want your students to give you and the form you want their writing to take.
OR, is the student deciding what form their product takes? If THIS is the case, then you have to be prepared to assess multiple products using a variety of rubrics, checklists, etc. to fit each student's individual work.
It is possible that assessing digital writing can be a daunting task with so many options out there!
I also agree with Liz that we may need to keep reminding ourselves as we assess our students' digital writing of what we are looking for. We need to be careful not to get engulfed in the razzle dazzle of the product, and make sure we also focus on the content that the student has worked hard to create.
Response to Question #2
ReplyDeleteIn one of my undergrad classes, we learned about the 6 + 1 writing traits, but to be honest, they never had that great of an impact on how I would assess writing. Now, part of this was because of the way the professor presented the information...that's another story. I think I'm just realizing how important all of these components of writing are now through this class, and through my own writing this semester.
It's hard for me to say which trait(s) I would give more weight to because all are so important to having a complete, successful piece of writing. My initial reaction was to say ideas and organization should have a little more weight, as well as presentation/publication. But then that kind of opens up the same argument I just mentioned in my answer to question #1...we shouldn't lose focus on the content of the work.
Depending on the age level you are teaching, I think that each trait could be worth more. For instance, if you find that your students are struggling to write with a definitive voice, then maybe give more credit toward voice on your assessment to push students to improve in that area. Is this a bad idea? I'm not trying to say that one trait is better than the other, obviously, but maybe this would send the wrong message to students...
Response to Question #3
ReplyDeleteI do like how easy it was to compose a rubric on this website. The only problem I had was that my rubric looked HUGE! I clicked on a lot of the components because they all seemed really important to a short story I would want my students to write. It came out too complex. If I were to use it with my students (elementary, lets say 3rd grade or higher), I think they would be overwhelmed at all of the expectations in the rubric.
That being said, I do think that I could use DigiTales as a guide to creating my own rubric. The wording of each aspect is nicely done, so I would use it to make a less complex rubric to use with my younger students.