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This course is designed to provide students with the theories and pedagogies necessary to understand, develop, and administer valid and reliable assessments of student literacy learning using the Internet and other communication technologies. Understanding your students’ content knowledge forms the basis for on-going instructional decisions and planning, and forms a critical link in the teaching cycle. Understanding of students’ content knowledge is gained through assessment as we observe, interact, and measure gains as students engage in a lesson. Content for the course will include a wide variety of materials that will provide educators with a working knowledge of the psychological and sociological forces that affect adolescent readers and writers. Experiences in this class will range from online/offline discussion, in-school fieldwork, to planning for classroom lessons.
Core Objectives:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of assessment strategies, both formal and informal, and use the results to affect student achievement and engagement of ALL learners.
CTTC[1]: 2A, 2D, 2E; ISTE NETS-T[2]: 1A, 1B
2. Demonstrate knowledge of lesson planning and appropriate instructional methods to support
adolescents’ reading and writing skills across all content areas.
CTTC: 1A, 3D; ISTE NETS-T: 2A, 2B
3. Students will use a variety of curricular materials in the planning and implementation of instructional practices, including online and offline sources, to support ALL learners.
CTTC: 3B, 4B; ISTE NETS-T: 5B, 5D
4. Students will demonstrate knowledge of effective online and offline literacy processes, and develop strategies for instruction of them in their classroom.
CTTC: 1C, 3C; ISTE NETS-T: 2C, 2D
5. Students will develop assessments using ICT tools, and use these results to inform instruction for students on one aspect of either new literacies or Internet integration into the classroom.
CTTC: 1E, 2C; ISTE NETS-T: 2A, 2B
Required Text(s):
to be filled in with online resources....
Essential Questions:
· What are the knowledge, skills, and dispositions used by students as they read and write in classrooms using ICTs?
· What constructs are involved in these thinking processes and how do we assess them?
· What formative and summative assessments can be used/constructed to measure these constructs?
· How can this data be used to develop instruction that anticipates the needs of students?
COURSE ASSESSMENTS (specific instructions will be distributed separately):
1. Attendance and in-class discussions (10%)
Attendance is mandatory. Your presence and involvement in class discussions are one of the most important components of this class. You need the time to time to converse with colleagues and discuss the literature and materials presented in the course. Individual classroom discussion grades will be graded on a rubric scale of three points. The rubric can be found on the Google Doc containing the class rubrics.
2. Online discussions (10%)
Throughout the course you will be expected to contribute in online discussions using Google+, along with the in-class discussions during our face-to-face meetings. Each week the discussions will focus on a selected reading for the week and will ask you to have read and now respond to the selection. You will respond online a minimum of one time before our weekly class meeting and one time after our class meeting. During class, we will save time to discuss face-to-face the selection or discussions that have arisen from the literature. The online discussions will be led each week by one of your peers. You are expected to involve yourself in the discussion. You may respond as often as you like, but the minimum you may respond is once before and once after class. The rubric that will be used to assess your involvement in online discussions will be based on a three-point scale. The rubric will assess whether or not you involve yourself in the discussion, attention to the literature, and depth of the discussion. The rubric can be found on the Google Doc containing the class rubrics. Discussions, both in-class and online are a valuable and necessary piece of the profession. Practice in these environments will prepare you for the situations that will present themselves throughout your future.
3. Online Discussion Director (DD) (10%)
Each week all members of the class will be expected to contribute to discussions in the virtual classroom on Google+. One week a semester, you will act as a Discussion Director (DD) for that week’s literature. You will be required to have read the week’s literature and write two prompts that address what you believe the pertinent issues of the literature are. You will post these prompts to the online discussion board the day after our face-to-face class session. As individuals read the literature and respond to your prompts, it is your responsibility to lead a discussion of what you believe to be the essential parts of that week’s readings. In the face-to-face class, you will present a quick synopsis (5 minutes) of the week’s readings and what points came up in the discussion. In class, we will then have time to discuss how the literature affects the greater elements of the course and the effect on instruction. The rubric can be found on the Google Doc containing the class rubrics. In discussion environments, at times you will need to lead a group (of peers or students) in discussion. This provides an opportunity to practice the skills needed.
4. Assessment & Instruction Review (20%)
During the semester we will read and discuss various assessments that can be used in reading and writing instruction that can be used with students. For this review, you are to select one of the assessments or the associated instructional strategy (e. g., Woodcock-Johnson Revised Writing Test, Online Reading Comprehension Assessments, etc.) and compile all relevant literature on it. This class is focusing on assessments and how they have changed as a result of ICTs. If you select an assessment that is not ICT based, you must include an instructional strategy that includes ICT tools or practices, and your hypothesized view as to how this will affect scores. You are to write a review of the assessment and critique the overall effectiveness of the method or strategy. You are to then write up a lesson plan, using the assessment and hypothesized results to inform instruction. Models for the lesson plan will be distributed during class activities. The rubric that will be used to assess the review of the method, and lesson plan will be available on the Google Doc containing the class rubrics. A review and critique of assessments is important because it provides an opportunity for you to evaluate the overall strengths and weaknesses of an assessment, and determine its value to your students.
5. Educator Case Study (25%) [FIELD ASSIGNMENT]
During the semester you will be reading significant literature from the field, and discussing the concepts online and face-to-face in class. It is expected that you all think about the pertinent literature and concepts, and think about how it will affect your instructional routine. For this assignment, you are to take one assessment or associated instructional strategy and write up a comprehensive lesson plan using the method of your choice. You are to teach that lesson at least once to a classroom. You will then write a response in which you capture the planning, implementation and overall reaction of the instruction. You are to discuss your overall feelings and reactions to planning and delivering the instruction. You are also to focus on one student in your class in a section of your paper. Discuss the overall strengths and weaknesses of that student’s reading and writing ability. Share how your method was specifically targeted to assisting that one student. The overall response and analysis paper will be a 1000 word minimum. The rubric used to assess the lesson plan, supporting documents, and response paper will be available on the Google Doc containing the class rubrics. The case study provides an effective way to present an instructional method, but focus on differentiating instruction and responding to assessments for individual students in your classroom.
If for some reason you are unable to teach the lesson to a classroom, you must notify the instructor and we will both discuss alternative assignments.
6. Assessment Construction & Implementation (25%)
The final assignment for the class calls for you to design a formative or summative assessment that can be used in your classroom with your students. You need to identify the purpose, types, constructs measured, and limitations of the assessment. The assessment must be used with at least one class of students. The final report must include the results obtained from the implementation of the lesson, and your own feedback. The report must also indicate appropriate preparation for the assessment given to students, and also subsequent instruction informed by results of the assessment. Planning time in class will be given to plan, build, receive feedback, and revise assessments before running them with students.
If for some reason you are unable to teach the lesson to a classroom, you must notify the instructor and we will both discuss alternative assignments.
[1] CCCT: Connecticut Teacher Technology Competencies 2001
[2] ISTE NETS-T: International Society for Technology in Education, National Educational Technology Standards – Teachers 2008
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
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O'Byrne, W. I., & McVerry, J. G. (2009). Measuring the Dispositions of Online Reading Comprehension: A Preliminary Validation Study. In K. Leander, D. Rowe, D. Dickson, M. Hundley, R. Jiménez, & V. Risko (Eds.), The 57th National Reading Conference Yearbook. Oak Creek, WI: National Reading Conference.
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Course listed above is part of the IT&DML program. All materials uploaded by Ian O'Byrne.
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