AEL: Team-Based Learning

This week in Assessment in E-Learning (AEL) we read a lot about assessing team-based learning project. As a young student, I never really enjoyed group projects because there were always someone who did not do anything and a few people who did a lot of the work. It also was challenging just meeting with your group because we all had such different schedules.

When I started taking classes online, I always dreaded team projects because how were you supposed to meet? How were you supposed to schedule things when you were all in different parts of the country and sometimes, in different countries? However, now that I have used G00gle docs and other online collaborative tools, I feel like, team projects are a little easier. You can "meet" whenever you are available. You can email and people will respond and there is just an understanding that you are all working when you can and you trust your partners to respond and do their part. I also appreciate the fact that there is a history of who has worked and who has not. You cannot really get away with not doing your part on a project.

Also, reading more about assessment is helping me evaluate what I do in my 7th and 9th grade classes. When I first started teaching this course, I had a difficult time trying to figure out how to assess my students skills because it is not a traditional course where I can just give them a test. They cannot really regurgitate information like on a standardized test. Trying to come up with different assessments is key because that is the only way I can really "test' them.