There are many online courses where collaboration is the key to success. The collaborative process helps students with socialization skills and provides a learning environment in which students build off one another. Although it has been made clear that learning through collaboration in a distance learning course such as this one is imperitive to student success, it is not quite as clear if the assessment process should be a collaborative effort.

According to Oosterhof, Conrad, and Ely (2008), peer grading and involving peers in the reflective process allows for the students to take ownership of their work. It is stated in Oosterhof et al. (2008) as well that many people frown upon having their peers evaluate them. As you reflect upon your discussion posts and your time spent working with groups, ponder how you feel about your peers grading your work. There may be times in your past that your instructor has given you an evaluation form to complete for your peers. Did you feel comfortable completing this task? Did you feel your peers would complete your evaluation form in a fair manner? Why or why not?

By Friday: Post your answer to the discussion questions, building on your own personal experiences. Be sure to find at least one outside source and reference all sources in APA format.

By Sunday: Respond to at least two of your peers' posts. You may elaborate on their response, ask them a question in regards to their response, or explain how your response was similar to theirs. Be sure to reference all sources in APA format.

Discussion Rubric

WALDEN/Course 10/Discussion Post Rubric.htm


Resources
Oosterhof, A., Conrad, R.-M., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Assessing learners online. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Best Practices for Online Discussions

From this week’s resources, the video “Assessing Interaction and Collaboration in Online Environments,” Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt shared with us some very useful information regarding best practices used in discussion and group assessments for the online environment.

Taking a Closer Look at Strategies for Effective Online Teaching

From this week’s resources, it’s essential for instructors to create an environment that is successful for every learner. Dr. Palloff and Dr. Pratt discuss the important steps an instructor can use in order to implement instruction online that can create productive and successful learners. They focused on the instructor’s role and student’s role in regards to the online format. This week, you and your colleagues will engage in a discussion about the different strategies instructors should use when developing and designing instruction. Please start the discussion by looking over this week’s resources and then reflect on what strategies are best to implement for effective online teaching. Please respond to these questions in your discussion post.

•  What are some effective teaching strategies for online instruction? 
• What are some of the challenges an instructor or instructional designer might face when creating instruction for online courses? 
• What are the essential components an instructor should consider when communicating and delivering instruction to the online learner? 
• What are some strategies you have learned for overcoming some of the challenges of developing, administering, and designing instruction online effectively?

 By Wednesday: 
Post your thoughts about this week’s discussion questions and include the resources that were assigned in your post. Be sure to cite information from the learning resources to support your thoughts and ideas. Return to the discussion post and respond to other colleague’s postings.

Additional resources:
 http://eu.montana.edu/online/pdf/strategies.pdf http://www.uwec.edu/AcadAff/resources/edtech/upload/Best-Practices-in-Online-Teaching-Strategies-Membership.pdf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elu8e3167HQ Scoring Rubric

Scoring Rubric:

Criteria	Unacceptable 0 Points	Acceptable 1 Point	Good 2 Points	Excellent 3 Points
Frequency	Participates not at all.	Participates 1-2 during the week.	Participates 3-4 times throughout the week.	Participates 4-5 times throughout the week.
Content Contribution	Posts information that is off topic, incorrect or irrelevant.	Repeats but does not add substantive information to the discussion.	Posts information that is factually correct.	Posts information that is factually correct, reflective and substantive contribution.
References and Support	Includes no references or supporting information.	Uses personal experiences, but does not include any references to readings or research.	Incorporates some references from literature and personal experiences.	Uses references to literature, readings, or personal experiences to support comments.