This week’s readings and videos contained information about assessment and teacher professional development. "All schools are driven by requirements to maintain and improve standardized test scores. And yet these efforts create a rather interesting conundrum, because frequently the "new school" model and high-stakes testing seem in conflict with each other” (Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p. 168). After concluding our group project, I firmly believe that this is not a conflict, but an opportunity to increase learning, effort and test scores.
I enjoyed viewing James Gee’s video (Edutopia.org, Gee video) where he describes learning with video games. It had never occurred to me, but it seems so obvious, that students learn video games through failure. The graphics and interactions increase their desire to “win” thus increasing their effort. They also collaborate with their friends and family members to find the secrets to success. Their scores are posted for everyone to see and their embarrassment only serves as a catalyst for further learning.
My own learning efforts as part of a group project were very revealing. The joint encouragement, compassion and tolerance, along with constructive criticism of each other’s efforts served to produce a better product and an increased learning. It was particularly interesting when three of us were simultaneously editing a google document. As one person was putting their thoughts on “paper” another was cleaning up grammar and spelling mistakes. We made suggestions to each other to improve the wording. We asked each questions about our understanding of the directions and intent of the project. All in all, I believe that everyone was better for the effort.
Citation:
Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved Oct. 5, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0 new tools, new schools. Washington: International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE).
Education (ISTE).
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