Unit 3:

Assessment in Social Media-

enhanced Courses

In Unit 3 we will explore:

1. Assessment of social media-enhanced

activities

2. How to align intended learning outcomes

with assessment

3. Assessment rubrics

Assessment Types

When using social media-enhanced activities,

teachers will have to decide if they want to use

formative assessment, summative assessment, a

combination of both, or no assessment at all.

Formative assessment – used to inform further

teaching and facilitate learning

Summative assessment – summarizes students’

progress at a specific point in time

When to use Formative vs.

Summative Assessment

Summative AssessmentFormative Assessment

You want to measure

your learners’

improvement against the

intended learning

outcomes using a

standardized benchmark

You want to give your

learners a grade or score

‘High stakes’ (formal

assessment)

You want to check your learners’ understanding of a topic or feature

You want to identify your learners’ strengths and weaknesses

You want to adjust your teaching strategies, course materials and social media activities

‘Low stakes’ (informal assessment)

Some examples of Formative and

Summative assessment

Summative:

Tests

Quizzes

Exams

Formative:

Self-reflection tasks

Learners assess their

own work / each

other’s work using

checklists and rubrics

Which of these activities do you

currently use?

Now consider which social media tools

match these assessment examples:

Tests / quizzes / exams

Published projects

Essays

Self-reflection tasks

Feedback from fellow learners (peer

assessment)

Suggested answers on the next slide

Suggested Answers Tests / quizzes / exams – teachers can create quizzes

on Facebook

Published projects – learners can publish collaborative

work through wikis, individual work through blogs, or

videos through YouTube

Essays – learners can write extended pieces in a blog

Self-reflection tasks – learners can write self-reflective

essays in a blog or use Twitter to tweet shorter

reflections

Feedback from fellow learners (peer assessment) –

learners can use Twitter to give feedback to fellow

learners

You should now be

familiar with

Formative and

Summative

assessment

methods.

Which mode of

assessment do you

find most relevant

for the social media

activity you

designed in Unit 2?

Share your ideas in

the Forum!

Review: Formative and Summative Assessment

How to align intended learning

outcomes with assessment

When designing activities for assessment, the

following should be kept in mind:

There should be a clear link between the

objectives of the lesson and the activity assessed

Learners should receive clear instructions on

how to complete the task

An assessment rubric should be provided

Grade 8 Chemistry: Acids and Bases

Learning objectives:

1. Identify the differences between acids and

bases

2. Identify common acids and bases

3. Match pH numbers with commonly found acids

and bases

4. Promote communication and collaboration

How could you assess learners on this topic using

social media?

Sam

ple

Activity

Assessment Activity

Learners will create a wiki which includes the

following information:

Key differences between acids and bases

Examples of common acids and bases and their

pH numbers

Learners will work in groups of 4 to complete the

task

This task will be used as summative assessment to

conclude the topic of acids and bases

Sam

ple

Activity

Procedure before the activity

1. Divide learners into groups of 4.

2. Assign each learner with a role e.g. designer, content

researcher, writer and proof-reader.

3. Ensure learners understand what their role entails e.g.

designing the layout of the wiki, compiling class notes

to fulfil the task objectives etc.

4. Instruct the learner in the role of designer to visit

http://bit.ly/1DneayI to sign up and create the wiki. The

site will guide them through a series of steps to set up

their wiki.

Instructions for the activity and learner roles can be posted

in a Facebook group or class blog

Sam

ple

Activity

Procedure during the activity

1. Now the wiki has been set up, learners can add

information by clicking on the Edit button on the home

page of the wiki.

2. Set clear learning objectives and outcomes for the

activity, and make sure learners know what they will be

assessed on (assessment rubric on next slide).

3. Learners may communicate with each other using

social media tools. They may also be encouraged to

contact domain experts for further information and

advice.

Social media tools which could be used: Twitter (public

or private messages), Facebook (groups or private

messaging), blogs.

Sam

ple

Activity

How the Wiki looks…S

am

ple

Activity

Procedure after the activity

Encourage learners to reflect on their learning. This

can be through tweeting self-reflective comments or

writing a short blog entry:

What did you enjoy most about the activity?

What did you enjoy least about the activity?

How well did your group work together?

What would you do differently next time?

If using summative assessment, you may choose to

use the self-reflection as part of the learners’ grade

Sam

ple

Activity

Sample Rubric for Assessing the

WikiCriteria Excellent Good Fair Poor

Understanding

of subject

matter

Learners show

exceptional

understanding of

the subject matter.

Learners show solid

understanding of the

subject matter.

Learners show some

understanding of the

subject matter.

Learners show little to

know understanding of

the subject matter.

Content

The content of the

wiki was relevant,

no content was

plagiarized, and it

fulfilled the lesson

objectives.

The content of the wiki

was relevant, most was

not plagiarized, and it

fulfilled the lesson

objectives.

The content of the wiki was

generally relevant although

much was plagiarized. The

content mostly fulfilled the

lesson objectives.

The content of the wiki

was either not relevant

or fully plagiarized.

Communication

and

collaboration

The group worked

well together and

communicated

frequently via a

range of social

media tools.

The group worked well

together and

communicated via social

media when necessary.

The learners worked as a

group at times although

little communication via

social media took place.

Learners did not

collaborate effectively as

a group and there was

little or no

communication via

social media tools

Sam

ple

Activity

Activity Analysis

What do you think of this assessment

activity?

Does the assessment match the learning

objectives?

Does the activity promote communication

and collaboration?

Do learners have the opportunity to be

creative and express themselves?

Share your feedback and ideas in the Forum!

Sam

ple

Activity

Further Reading

Visit http://bit.ly/1rI2CmJ to read more

about assessment in social media-

enhanced activities (see pp. 9-10).

Which different approaches to

assessment are shared in the article?

Share your ideas in the Forum!

Independent TaskTransforming a unit from the course that you teach into an online social media-enhanced activity.

Transform a unit from a course that you teach into a social media-enhanced online course by designing creative learning activities which make use of the social media tools introduced in Unit 2.

Define the learning objectives of the social media-enhanced activities.

Provide clear instructions on how to complete the task.

Develop a relevant assessment rubric.Note: There should be a clear link between the objectives of the lesson and the activity assessed.

Upload the lesson plan and the assessment rubric (lesson plan template on the next slide) to the course forum.

Lesson Plan Template