DIFFERENTIATED OBSERVATION 2021
LISA KAROSAS
LMS Setup
Though CK-12.org does provide teachers the ability to roster students, assign activities, and track progress, I opted to integrate their Adaptive Practice product line into our existing LMS to limit student confusion related to assignment completion. Ensuring that our LMS remained a "one stop shop" for students to both access and submit work seemed prudent.
It's worth mentioning that most third-party online education content providers offer push-button integration with common learning management systems like Google Classroom, Canvas, and Schoology. The unique LMS used in the high school at Agora, D2L, is not one of these well-known, compatible platforms and so creates a unique challenge for teachers trying to implement the use of popular online products. A description of my successful integration is provided here.
A NEW MODULE
A new module was created entitled, "WEEKLY PRACTICE". This module was positioned near the top of the left-hand sidebar module list, just beneath the "Course Materials" module.
The module's prominent location and distinctive title was chosen to provide a constant reminder for students to visit the area.
EXPECTATIONS OUTLINE
The description area of the module presented clear written expectations related to practice set access, completion, submission and scoring as follows:
Students create accounts on CK12.org with assistance from the demonstration video in the Welcome Webform they receive upon beginning the course.
In an effort to constantly revisit concepts and practice skills we have already learned, students will complete adaptive practice sets on the CK-12.org website.
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Students must have created an account on CK12.org to open the links listed.
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Students will CHOOSE ONE practice set each week from the provided list of links. Each chosen practice set should not be completed/submitted more than once for credit. (But you may - and are encouraged to - do as many as you like as many time as you like for your own study/practice!)
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10 points will be awarded weekly when students submit a snapshot of the final screen they see upon finishing the practice set.
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10 questions answered correctly will trigger the end of the practice set. WE MAY NOT HAVE REVIEWED EVERY SKILL IN EACH PRACTICE SET. This is okay! Try again and again until you get it right! Then, you'll learn something new. :)
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These points are not awarded based on mastery or performance. They are awarded purely based on effort and evidence of having worked through the problem set.
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Additions to the following list of possible practice sets (links) will be posted each Monday.
Links to the following videos demonstrating each step of the weekly process were also provided for clarification and ongoing support:
A much more basic presentation of expectations was also provided in the course syllabus that is linked from the Welcome Webform students receive and complete upon beginning the course.
ADAPTIVE PRACTICE LINK LIST
As noted in the description area of the module, students merely need to scroll down on the WEEKLY PRACTICE module page to access any one of the available adaptive practice sets.
Each practice set was titled to match either the matching lesson delivered in class or, where multiple concepts or skills apply to a single lesson topic or standard, the practice set was titled to match its corresponding name on the CK12.org website.
Since this was the first year I'd integrated Adaptive Practice directly into the LMS, links were added to the list each Monday to reflect concepts and skills taught during live session the prior week. In September, this list of links was very short compared to its length at the end of an 18-week semester. Consequently, the offering became more diverse as students progressed through the semester. In considering improvements for future years, this is one aspect of the integration which I believe should be maintained. A slow "drip" of practice content ensures students are not overwhelmed by the amount or perceived complexity of various topics they will study during each semester. Additionally, for students who take the time to thoughtfully consider the list, it provides a valuable reflection upon the nature of content already studied. Finally, the planning and preparation involved on my behalf will be minimal; the links already setup and saved in my course will only need to be hidden at the start of a new semester and made visible with each week that passes.
SUBMISSION LINKS
Students submitted evidence of their practice in this same module. When they continue to hit the "LOAD MORE" button at the bottom of each screen, students begin to see items that are labeled with the convention, "Submit Practice #X Here". These items carry the designation "QUIZ" unlike the initial list of items which carry this designation, "LINK". Each is also connected to a gradebook item.
Most of the initial instructions were copied into the description of each assignment item to remind students of the expectations each time the assignment was to be completed to support the establishment of a routine.
In the future, I will like create at least one sub-module within this WEEKLY PRACTICE module entitled "SUBMISSIONS" where only the "Submit Practice #X Here" assignment items will be located. Doing so will decrease the frequency with which students encounter the "LOAD MORE" button and reduce some of the time currently required in simply accessing the items for submission. It will also allow me to more overtly convey the expectations of the final work product students will submit.
Using these "Submit Practice #X Here" links, students uploaded images produced by CK12.org upon completion of their practice set. Though completion was the only criteria for these assignments, manual review of these uploaded images was necessary to assign scores in the gradebook. I quickly realized how critical it was to ensure the "Automatic Grade" and "Auto Export to Grades" remain unchecked! Adjusting the settings in the way ensured I was notified of completed homework submissions awaiting scores.
GRADEBOOK
A gradebook category entitled, "Weekly Practice" was created.
In addition to ensuring the title of each grade item matched the title of each submission link, I added the date of the week in which the practice set was assigned.
Through sharing only this category of a student's gradebook with the learning coach or academic team, a pattern symbolizing student effort often emerges.
