Re: [Assessment 843] Re: Screening for successHi Marie and everyone.

In Prince William County, VA, we are using Project Connect for ESOL.  This
is our second session using it.  If you are not familiar with the package,
you can learn more about at http://pbslearnenglish.org/learn/page1.xml  As
an instructor, I find Project Connect easy to use, and in general, I think
the students feel it is pretty simple.  However, students still need a live
help.  Another experienced ESOL teacher (whom I think is on this list) holds
live sessions on Friday nights.  During the live sessions, I am logged into
Project Connect from home so students can get instant responses to email and
feedback on their work units.

We provide students a handbook that illustrates Project Connect's key
functions as well as helpful tips for students who might not be accustomed
to online learning.  In addition to this and the Project Connect online
orientation, we will be providing live, monthly orientations in which we go
through the handbook and program and catch up on any questions students
might have about the technology.  This helps me get some face-to-face time
with the students as well.  Last term, I worked with students online and
spoke to them on the phone.  However, since they only had live contact with
the Friday night teacher, some students had difficulty with the concept I
was a real person.  This is common in most DL classes, so hopefully, the
orientations will help eradicate the myth that I am a computer : )  And of
course, they will continue to benefit from the blended method already in
place.

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, ESOL DL Instructor

Prince William County Public Schools

Adult Education

P.O. Box 389

Manassas, VA 20108

work 703-791-8387

fax 703-791-8889


 -----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]On
Behalf Of Marie Cora
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 2:29 PM
To: 'The Assessment Discussion List'
Subject: [Assessment 851] Re: DL curriculum and materials


  Hi Shannon and everyone,



  Wow, thanks for all these great resources!  I see that you advocate a
variety of pre-assessments in order to best determine a person's readiness,
which makes a lot of sense to me.



  It made me think of something else:  what is there in the way of
curriculum and materials used in DL?  Do folks focus on 'commercial packages
' or materials generated by the feds or states, or do programs develop their
own curriculum and materials?  I ask this because if there are particular
requirements around assessing and reporting, then each of these pieces would
be affected by the other.  And I would assume that some things work better
together than others.



  How does all that work in programs?



  Thanks,



  Marie Cora

  Assessment Discussion List Moderator



  -----Original Message-----
  From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Shannon Young
  Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 4:16 PM
  To: The Assessment Discussion List
  Subject: [Assessment 847] Re: Screening for success



  Hi Laura,

  I think the idea of a tryout period that Marie mentioned is a good one.
We also recommend careful pre-screening.  During the first round of Project
IDEAL experiments, several states opened their distance programs to any and
all who expressed interest.  This approach proved problematic in many
cases-students whose skills, abilities, and/or dispositions didn't match
well with distance study quickly became frustrated. As a result, drop-out
rates were high.   Programs discovered that they needed to carefully
pre-screen students in several arenas to ensure a good fit.  Many now begin
by surveying students on their learning styles and preferences, time
management skills, and motivation, using their responses as a jumping off
point to talk about what distance study entails.   Once some students
understand what's involved in being a distance learner, they realize a
classroom program makes more sense for them.  Prescreening also includes
assessing students' technology skills and access as well as their basic
literacy skills.  This combination of pre-assessments helps teachers better
determine (1) which students are potentially good candidates for distance
and (2) what, if any, baseline training is needed.

  These days, there are a variety of "is distance learning for me?"
self-assessments available online for students.  I've included a sample of
some I've come across to give you an idea of what types of topics/issues
distance programs are addressing.

  Guilford Technical Community College
(http://www.gtcc.cc.nc.us/distance/dlForMe.html)
  --An original and entertaining approach to helping students determine
whether distance learning makes sense for them.

  Student Online Readiness Tool (SORT)  http://www.alt.usg.edu/sort/
  --Six section self-assessment created by the University System of Georgia
designed to help students determine whether they should study online.  The
six areas are: Technology experience, access to tools, study habits,
lifestyle, goals and purposes, and learning preferences.

  Online Readiness Quiz
(http://www.pima.edu/cgi-bin/onlineReadiness/quiz.pl)

  --This 41-item quiz from Pima Community College assesses potential
distance students in four areas:  computer and technology skills, time
management, learning environment, and study and reading skills.

  Minnesota Virtual University:  Are Distance Learning Courses for You?
(http://www.mnvu.org/mnvu/5102.jsp)

  --Provides a computer scored self-assessment for distance learners.

  Shannon

  On 7/11/07 11:47 AM, "Marie Cora" <marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com> wrote:

  Hi Laura, Welcome and thanks for your question - which is an excellent
one!  I'm also looking forward to hearing from subscribers on this question.

  Some discussion on this can be found in one of the suggested resources,
entitled "Pre-assessments for on-line learning".  Go to:
http://dev.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/assessment/07assess_distance_1.html

  The information in the discussion opens with a focus on "wait periods" or
"tryout periods" so that prospective students can self-determine their
ability and commitment, but it winds around to discuss assessing skills that
people need to engage in technology and distance learning.

  I'd be very much interested in what List Subscribers think about that
discussion and Laura's questions below.

  Marie Cora
  Assessment Discussion List Moderator


  -----Original Message-----
  From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Laura Chenven
  Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 10:45 AM
  To: The Assessment Discussion List
  Subject: [Assessment 842] Re: Questions for discussion

  Let me raise another question.  I am new to this list so it may be
something that many of you have already discussed.

  I work with a national labor/management partnership that supports training
and education for the incumbent healthcare workforce.  We are supporting
several distance learning and hybrid nursing programs.  Because these
programs are asynchronous for the most part and can fit into many workers
busy schedules, there is a great deal of interest in them.  However, because
we realize that distance learning may not be the best modality for everyone,
we want to be able to be able to screen for students who are most likely to
be successful in this kind of program and also pinpoint other students who
may be successful with some extra help up front.

  I'd love to hear others experiences with this type of screening.  Do you
find it necessary? Is it helpful?  What have you learned.
  I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

  Laura Chenven
  H-CAP National Coordinator
  202 257-7108
  lchenven at 1199etjsp.org


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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  From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Marie Cora
  Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 10:34 AM
  To: Assessment at nifl.gov
  Subject: [Assessment 834] Questions for discussion
  Hi everyone,

  It's very quiet out there!  I've had many new subscribers join our List,
so I know this is of interest to you all.   I know you have questions and I
know you have experiences to share. Please post them now!

  Here is one of my questions for this discussion, which actually has
already been asked within the suggested preparations by our guests Shannon
and Jennifer:

  Post-testing:  How is this done?  How do you get that important follow-up
measure from students?  I have experience in DL within professional
development only (not with ABE/ESOL students) - and I know how difficult
follow-up is with the professional population.  The same goes for regular
classroom-based programs - getting full test scores can be really hard.  So
I am extremely interested in hearing from folks about the strategies and
methods they use to get DL students to complete the full cycle including the
post-test.

  Do federal requirements allow for any flexibility/creativity in this
regard? Can you use formative assessment and other types of measures to help
demonstrate achievement?

  Do Project IDEAL states do their assessment in the same way, or are you
able to alter your approach depending on certain things (levels of funding;
timing; some F2F ("face-to-face")/no F2F; staffing; etc)?

  Thanks!!


  Marie Cora



  Marie Cora
  marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com <mailto:marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com>
  NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator
  http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment
  Coordinator, LINCS Assessment Special Collection
  http://literacy.kent.edu/Midwest/assessment/



  .

  .


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  --
  Shannon J. Young
  Program Manager, Project IDEAL / AdultEd Online
  Senior Research Area Specialist, Program on Teaching, Learning, &
Technology
  Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan

  5116 ISR, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI  48106-1248
  Ph:         (734) 763-5325
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