Thoughts from the readings in BlendKit 2016, week 5.

Thoughts from the readings in BlendKit 2016, week 5.

The first statement that struck home this week was that accrediting bodies articulate requirements for academic programs where “Such statements typically define levels of minimum acceptability for particular dimensions.. ”

Having been involved in this field for several years, it is the truth that when faced with areas of expertise that are not familiar, people have a tendency to shoot for minimum acceptability. One problem comes in when there is no agreed upon measure of what acceptability is, or when acceptability is based upon a single teaching paradigm or example. Much like everything else in education, there is no one-size-fits-all. When it comes to program or course or approach, evaluation is best framed in the context of the educational institutional goals, philosophy, and the teaching style of the individual instructor. That is not to say that best practices should not be present, but that there should be recognition within the organization that there are many different means of expression when designing and teaching a course, regardless of medium.

So perhaps part of the standardization of measurement should be based upon the structural requirements and minimums there rather than in the curriculum itself, in much the same way that one can dictate a minimum participation within a course, a set of requirements for a syllabus, or even a set of behaviors in the classroom.

Measurement of a course, be it online, hybrid, or classroom will be subject to the variables of the organization and the individual instructor.

Another area in the reading that works with this idea is the Evaluation Checklist for Onlineand Blended Courses from UW Milwaukee. This contains a list of specific items and general philosophies to include in courses, rather than talking in terms of specific course structure and delivery. To me this seems a much more realistic approach as it leaves the creator of the course free creatively, while providing elements for the best practices that can be incorporated or not depending upon approach. There are numerous other takes in terms of standards from Blackboard to iNACOL, allof which have merit. The question that I believe will never be answered is how to apply any single assessment instrument or for that matter assessment philosophy to all cases.

Since this is the last week of the course, I'd like to provide the URL to the readings for the course, You can find these, and a plethora of thought provoking information here.