E-learning Assessments Guide for Beginners

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Theresa Anderson, graduate student University of St. Francis, MS Training and Development program.

Wondering how to determine if your e-learning course is effective? Assessments, such as tests and quizzes, can provide valuable data. However, if you’re new to e-learning, you may be unsure of what constitutes a good assessment and what metrics are essential to measure. In this article, Bianca Woods (2022) addresses the most commonly asked questions about creating a practical e-learning quiz. Woods explains what e-learning assessments are, if assessments are always necessary, when learners should be assessed, what types of questions to include, and how to design effective assessment questions. 

If you’re new to online training and want to evaluate whether your course is well-designed, I highly recommend checking out this article. Woods (2022) recommends incorporating assessments at multiple points throughout the course if it aligns with the instructor’s goals. This article offers tips for beginners, and I plan to implement them in my work.

References

Woods, B. (2022). The beginner’s guide to effective e-learning assessments. E-Learning Heroes. Retrieved June 8, 2023, from https://community.articulate.com/articles/overview-of-e-learning-assessments

Traditional Assessments Gone Virtual

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Brianna Richardson, a graduate student at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, MS in the Training and Development program.

As technology continues to transform learning landscapes with e-learning, it is vital to stay aware of current technologies that can help educators track student understanding in online environments. In the article “7 Ways to Do Formative Assessments in Your Virtual Classroom” for Edutopia, Nora Fleming (2020) provides a thought-provoking take on how instructors can take familiar assessment strategies, that were once implemented in-person, and apply them in a digital space to verify how well students are learning. Fleming gives readers a number of creative ideas on how to add virtual value using digital platforms to deliver reflection and connection opportunities.

The article is a comprehensive overview of different online platforms that can help learners connect with their peers, complete learning objectives, and identify knowledge gaps. It is a great read for instructors, or trainers, that understand traditional assessment strategies and are looking for ways to apply them to an online learning environment. After reading, instructors will be aware of innovative solutions for assessing online learning outcomes. The article highlights platforms like Canva for online journal reflections, Padlet for live knowledge checks, or video conferencing platforms for peer-to-peer evaluation (Fleming, 2020). The strategies aren’t new, but the delivery method may be.

Reference

Fleming, N. (2020, October 1). 7 ways to do formative assessments in your virtual classroom. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-ways-do-formative-assessments-your-virtual-classroom/

Incorporating the Latest Assessment Trends for E-Learning

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Debra Eungard, a graduate student at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, MS in Training and Development program.

eLearning Assessment Trends and Strategies by Sumit Satardekar (2021) is a thought-provoking read. Satadekar (2021) begins the article by explaining eLearning trends and strategies. He moves on to define qualitative testing to his audience. In his discussion, he brings up some pros and cons of implementation for assessment purposes.  From there he moves on to explain 3 major strategies for implementation:   continuous assessment, decision-making scenarios, and open-ended questions. In each section, the author gives tips on making implementation meaningful. He wraps the article up by offering some final thoughts on this topic such as why it is important to make the switch to these latest trends for assessment for the evolving eLearning community.

The article is beneficial for both the facilitator and the learner in that it gives some valuable tips in the area of assessment. Gaining information in regards to understanding the latest trends and sharing a couple of those trends, the reader is handed tools to implement. From the facilitator’s perspective, these trends can be useful when implementing engaging assessments into the online curriculum. By engaging the learner, the facilitator is creating a valid tool for assessment. As a learner, you can gain insight into assessments and see their value for online learning.

Reference

Satardekar, S. (2021, December 22). Elearning Assessment Trends and Strategies. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/elearning-assessment-trends-and-strategies

Live Vs. Multimedia Teaching? Psychomotor Skills & PT Students

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Tricia Padgurskis, graduate student at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, MS in Training and Development program.

Should physical therapy students learn from live or multimedia demonstrations of manual therapy techniques?  Do you think multimedia instruction is sufficient for your physical therapist to learn to work on your injuries?

In the peer-reviewed, Educational Research Journal, Ivey and Parrish (2021) report the results of a live versus multimedia instruction of physical therapy students. Typically, physical therapy students need to be evaluated in the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains to properly perform orthopedic patient assessments. In this study, physical therapy students were evaluated on their psychomotor skills of patient upper and lower extremity manual assessment (Ivey & Parrish 2021). Two cohorts of students were either assigned to a live instruction or multimedia instruction with video group on these orthopedic techniques.  Interestingly, the two cohorts did not have a significant difference in skill performance. 

Does this mean that multimedia instruction is efficient enough to teach physical therapists?  Is skill level considered? Does the quality of media impact learning? To learn more, read this well researched article of instruction methods in physical therapy student psychomotor performance outcomes.

Ivey, C. J., & Parrish, A. A. (2022). Comparison of live demonstration versus multimedia instruction for

psychomotor skill development in physical therapy students. Educational Research: Theory and

Practice, 33(3), 35-46. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1366421.pdf

To Survey or Not to Survey?

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Kelly Andrzejczak, graduate student at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, MS in Training and Development program.

Author, Tim Slade (2021), helps answer that question. While well-intended, post-course surveys can often miss the mark, Slade (2021) discusses the important of reflecting on three considerations when determining if an evaluation survey is appropriate: what will I do with the data? Are learners qualified to evaluate the thing you’re asking? Is it too early for learners to evaluate their reactions? Reflecting on these questions helps with designing strategy and determining what you hope to accomplish through the evaluation process.

Instructional designers would benefit from reading through this blog. The content reiterates the importance of ensuring that the evaluation asks the right questions of the appropriate audience to better understand the impact and effectiveness of the course. This blog was found through “Ask a Trainer” on ATD, the world’s largest association for talent development and written by speaker, author, and award-winning e-learning designer, Tim Slade.

References

Slade, T. (2021, October 22). Ask a trainer: Post-course evaluations | ATD. Main. https://td.org/atd-blog/ask-a-trainer-post-course-evaluations

One, Two, Three, Where’s the Four?

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This post is brought to you by your padawan blogger, Daniel Liestman, a graduate student in the University of St. Francis’ (Joliet, IL) MS in Training and Development program.

Assessing the training of health care professionals to become proficient with TEDEI (Training in Early Detection for Early Intervention), a screening instrument for cerebral palsy in infants, involved the first three Kirkpatrick levels. Participants in the video-based e-learning course reacted to a 6 question Likert scale and free text responses. Most responses were at the highest level of satisfaction. However, questions about improved personal knowledge and anticipated improved clinical practice only scored at the second highest level of satisfaction. A pre- and post-test of learning showed an improvement of 23.1%. Twenty-three interviewees reported improvement in their behavior in working with parents, improvement in confidence, and success with other telehealth assessments. 

Understandably, Officer, et. al.  (2023) did not attempt a Level 4 assessment.  Kirkpatrick’s model comes from an era of internal in-house training where organizational impact was considered the capstone to a logical progression. In an era of distributed, asynchronous training where not all members of an organization participate assessing Level 4 is challenging. This then begs the question why would an organization support one person taking an online course? The assumption is that the learner will pass the information along to colleagues.  The idea that if you want to master a topic; teach it applies. If the online learners passed along their newfound knowledge, the measures of the 3 Levels could become their Level 4 assessment.

Officer, Johnson, M., Blickwedel, J., Reynolds, A., Pearse, R., Pearse, J., & Basu, A. P. (2023). Evaluation of the Training in Early Detection for Early Intervention (TEDEI) e-learning course using Kirkpatrick’s method. BMC Medical Education, 23(1), 129–129. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04113-7

Wholistic e-Learning Through e-Portfolios

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Sejdije Fejza, graduate student at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, MS in Training and Development program.

Researcher Patience Kelebogile Mudau identifies perceptions of e-portfolios as a form of assessment. E-portfolios are digital spaces for a user to compile projects that highlight qualities about themselves. This assessment enables users to be actively involved in their learning. Students can also engage in the process of reflecting on feedback before they submit activities to their e-portfolio. Despite the possible need for technical training, Professors at University of South Africa agree that e-portfolios are effective in promoting student-centered learning and growth in digital literacy. 

This article’s data were gathered qualitatively through interviewing lecturers that have participated in administering e-portfolios as a requirement for their online students. This firsthand account of information will assist other instructors who are weighing the benefits and limitations of digital student-centered assessments. This entry also serves as an asset because it is published in the International Journal of Educational Methodology which provides readers with pedagogical techniques that succeed around the world. In a world where digital workplaces are on a rapid rise, it is beneficial to consider different techniques, needs, and outlooks in our ever-growing communities. 

Reference: 

Mudau, P. K. (2021). Lecturers’ Views on the Functionality of e-Portfolio as Alternative Assessment in an Open Distance e-Learning. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 8(1), 81–90. https://doi.org/10.12973/ijem.8.1.81

Winning Strategies for Online Learning

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Brianna Richardson, graduate student at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, MS in Training and Development program.

During the pandemic, more courses began being offered online than ever before. However, some educators have been using proven teaching methods for online learning for quite some time. For Edutopia, Michael Ralph (2020) provides an insightful summary of a study that interviewed a group of eight award-winning online instructors, with more than 100 years combined experience, to identify key strategies that can make an online course more engaging. Strategies like student created content, intentional learning reflection opportunities, and current multimedia sources were used by these seasoned online educators. The article provides actionable suggestions for creating engaging and relevant online courses.

I would recommend this article for educators, or trainers, that are still adapting to the world of online learning. Ralph uses real world examples to create a clear roadmap for how to design an award-winning online course. I have even seen some of the listed recommendations utilized in our graduate program. One specific example is the use of discussion posts as an opportunity to reflect on what has been learned. Every course I’ve taken in the program uses this reflection activity. The article highlights how the subjects of the study intentionally created these opportunities in the lesson plan (Ralph, 2020).

Reference

Ralph, M. (2020, April 17). Teaching strategies of award-winning online instructors. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-strategies-award-winning-online-instructors/

Considering Values in eLearning

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Breanna Winters, graduate student at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, MS in Training and Development program.

In this article, Liz Johnson (2021) questions the framework of distance learning and shared ideas on using Paul and Elder’s Concepts Depicting Ethical Behavior and Motivation. She reviews that these concepts are rooted in behaviors such as empathy, compassion, kindness, forgiveness etc. which are displayed through a comprehensive chart. Johnson (2021) expresses the need to incorporate these behaviors to create a framework before considering the technology that is to be used, as well as what policies are put in place. Additionally, she emphasizes throughout her article the importance of being socially responsible and speaks of the collective future.

This resource could be utilized by those in higher education or any business looking to implement eLearning technologies into their learning experiences. In particular, this would be a useful conversation to have when developing policies around eLearning, creating expectations of experiences for the learners and selecting technologies to implement. The resource is reliable and provides credible references.

Reference:

Johnson, L. (2021). Do values in online learning in higher education really matter to our collective future? JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE FOR POLICY IMPLICATIONS, 9(2), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.15640/jsspi.v9n2a1

Speech-Language Pathology E-Mentorship Capitalizes Virtual Space

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This post is provided by guest blogger, Theresa Anderson, graduate student University of St. Francis, MS Training and Development program.

Research on mentorship has mainly come from the fields of higher education, intercultural psychology, and counseling. It examines the personal, interpersonal, and professional aspects that contribute to positive and successful relationships. Despite mentorship in all field areas, including student training in clinical and academic settings, speech-language pathology (SLP) literature has not explored these aspects extensively. Mentorship promotes the development of theoretical and clinical knowledge. This article proposes a new “e-mentorship” model, which substitutes remote mentorship for in-person. It outlines the potential roles a mentor and mentee could play and links interpersonal and professional skills in a creative tutorial for e-mentorship in SLP.

This article delves into the different mentoring models and how they can benefit individuals in the field of SLP, regardless of their level of knowledge and experience. The authors explore various methods of utilizing e-mentoring within SLP and emphasize the importance of collaboration between mentors and mentees, who may be clinicians, researchers, faculty members, or students. By adapting their approaches and resources also to suit the needs of their clients and caregivers, they can make the most of e-mentoring opportunities and create a virtual space that goes beyond geographical barriers, leading to an enriching experience in therapeutic and academic environments.

References

Taiebine, M., & Keegan, L. (2022). E-Mentorship in speech-language pathology. Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders, 6(3), Article 8. Retrieved June 4, 2023, from https://doi.org/DOI: 10.30707/TLCSD6.3.1664996985.164457