Learning about assessing online learning

I enjoyed reading Casey’s case study about her plan to teach about journalism to high school students.  I was frustrated by the fragmented form of her plan, the reliance on the same few activities, both for learning and for assessment.  Here’s some great material buried in “same old same old.” 

How about showing Absence of Malice (a movie about a journalist who publishes information about a woman’s abortion, destroying her privacy and her life, starring Paul Newman and Sally Fields). 

I wanted to crack the unit open, and add a mock trial, some drama, guest speakers.  I wanted to add something about the impact of blogging on newspapers.  Something besides kids sitting in rows, quite possibly wondering when the class will end. 

My “higher order thinking assessment” involved having students write a play or story about a journalist who is facing a conflict of ethics vs. wanting to get published.  Writing fiction uses a different part of kids’ brains, and they work so hard on a creative endeavor – noticably lacking from many essays.

Below is my Assessment Taxonomy Table for the Casey case. 

Assessment taxonomy table – Casey – Fran Lo