I tell my class that while they may not be personally interested in the research process they should appreciate that researchers perform a valuable service. Whatever the outcome of their studies, researchers take the vague terms that we all use and throw around and translate (operationalize) these terms in a form that can be measured. It is not necessary that we agree with how this is done. Whatever is offered gives others a starting point for conversation because they can agree or disagree.
Educators must do a similar thing. They present students a task and then evaluate performance on this task in order to indicate the degree to which the performance meets expectations. Typically, educators must be able to communicate the system that has been used.
In both cases, externalizing something vague in a concrete form is challenging, but necessary.
So, as an instructor, I have asked myself how I would evaluate the contributions to a social learning community over a two week period. For what contributions would I give points and how many for each contribution. I am assuming the purpose of this social learning community is to promote personal learning and the learning of others in the group. Remember – this assumes a two week time period.
- Membership – 1 point a day for being a member of the community. Why – membership encourages the participation of others.
- Valuing – +1, like, etc. – 1 point for each selection with a 5 point per day limit. Why – valuing encourages the contributions of others. While valuing is more active than membership, it requires little time once involved and can be applied multiple times during a short session. Valuing has less generative value for the individual offering recognition.
- Share link (content created by someone else) – 5-10 points each – sharing the work of others does bring important content to the attention of others. The range of points here would relate to the “value added” of additional personal comments. Sharing a link – 5 points. Sharing a link with reaction – up to 10. I think there should also be maximum value on this variable. There is a diminishing return to a group if many only share. So max of 10 points a day.
- Comment – 5-10 points each – comments encourage the contribution of others and engage both the contributor and the commenter in generative activity. 5-10 points per comment depending on the depth of the analysis. Max of 20 points a day.
- Share original content – 10-15 points – original content provides benefits to both the audience and the author. 10-15 points depending on the quality. Max of 30 points a day.
So, I see the maximum benefit when content is generated and discussed within a group. A group that simply shares work created elsewhere without comment looks active but accomplishes little.
Powered by ScribeFire.
