• How should participation in a collaborative learning community be assessed?

I believe that students who cooperate in a learning community should design and agree on a rubric to grade their work.  Students should cooperate in the design phase of the rubric to ensure that every voice and concern is addressed.  I believe that the assessment should be carried out by students who participate in the community with input from the teacher.  This first alleviate some of the work load on teachers and it allows students to develop higher level of understanding by allowing them to be able to evaluate and assess their peers.  Allowing students to create a manipulative also increase the opportunity to have a fair assessment regardless of starting skill level.

I believe that training and alternative assignments should be made available for those students who hesitate at participating in learning communities.  The training should be designed around the benefits and effectiveness of learning communities. I also think that some assignments should be given to students that allow them the opportunity to practice assignments in a learning community and without group participation.  This would be a great opportunity to train and help others evaluate the effectiveness of group assignments and assessments.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008 a). Principles of distance education: Assessment of collaborative learning featuring George Siemens [DVD]. United States: Walden University.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008 b). Principles of distance education: Learning communities featuring George Siemens [DVD]. United States: Walden University.