An Alternate Form of Testing in the Virtual Learning Environment

My plan for this week had been to write about everything I've learned from two and a half weeks of teaching in a virtual environment.  One of those lessons is just how exhausting the change in lesson planning is, and my brain is too tired to go into all of those lessons today.  I was, however, determined to blog this week because I was too tired to do it last week. 

I was sending an email to my colleagues to update them on an experiment I did with testing.  I figured since I was already having to expend the mental energy to write to them, I could just modify that for this blog. 

The hardest thing to figure out when we were planning for moving our classes online was assessment.  We knew just giving a regular test was a recipe for cheating, so we weren't going to do that.  We brainstormed a lot of ideas and read a few articles on the best practices of those who do actual online classes on a regular basis.  The article I liked best was about something called "Open-Everything Tests."  You assume they are going to have notes and books and the internet open and write your questions with that in mind. 

I knew about FlipGrid from one of our English teachers and decided that would be a good way to have them submit their answers in video form.  I could see them answering, and they couldn't just copy and paste from other people's texts.  I sent them the questions ahead of time so they could prepare and wrote questions that required preparation.  Some questions ask them to film things in their house (a question about transparency).  Others asked them to find or draw a picture to use in their answer.  I want this to be an additional learning opportunity, not just an assessment of their knowledge. 

Here's a modified version of the email I sent my friends.

"This is both a good idea and a bad idea.  Here are some of the pros and cons in case you are considering using this method for yourself.

CON:  I did not take into account just how long it would take to watch the videos.  I had assigned ten questions to every student I have, resulting in over 800 videos, each ranging from 30s to 5min.  It's a good thing I don't have classes this week and actually need things to fill my time.  That won't be the case when the next test comes around.

CON:  You can't really skim a video like you can with writing.  I mean, I kind of have figured out that if I start watching someone who sounds like they know what they are talking about, I can skip to the middle of their answer, hear a little more that confirms they know what they are talking about, and then skip to the end, but it still takes way more time than scanning the same amount of writing.

CON:  A few students in our context are using more limited wifi than others or had a little trouble with their camera. (We don't have the equity issues some others are having because of the program we had in place.)  I gave them permission to submit it in text form by email if they needed to.  That was only a couple, but it is good to keep in mind that a few may need some grace.

PRO:  Using carefully considered questions results in "uncheatable" answers.  The one that said to film things in the house resulted in some real-world application and certainly was not Googleable.  I'm thinking of making that one a homework assignment in future years when school is "normal" again.

PRO:  Students are more creative answering in a video than they are in writing.  They don't typically write out little asides and jokes, but they will definitely make them in the video.  It also allows them to hold up a picture and point at things.  In a question about how musical instruments make sound, I asked students to find a picture, but a few who play instruments just showed it to me live.

PRO:  My extension question is far more delightful to watch (and I already enjoyed reading it).  One student's explanation of the after-effects of eating two thousand M&Ms made me laugh so hard, I nearly fell out of the chair.

For our next test, I will reduce the number of questions submitted this way and find some other way to assess the rest.  I'm thinking of a Kahoot based one for multiple-choice questions.  You can set the time longer than 30s, so it could be done without the pressure (and if you have the educator version, it sends a report with the percentage they got right).  Friday's experiment with one class showed that I probably cannot use that in the live-group format, but I think I would still get the report if I did the "Assign as homework" option.  I have a while to think about it, though."