I call the course I'm building Literacy Through Photography. The purpose of this project is to learn the course-building tools of D2L. However, I'm also engaged with the subject I've chosen. Since hearing about the work of Wendy Ewald through Duke University I've been fascinated with the idea of developing literacy skills through taking photos. Photography is a powerful communication/storytelling tool. Wendy Ewald's work dates pre-digital age and I'm interested in how her program might be developed into an online, digital storytelling course. I'm using her book I Wanna Take Me a Picture as a guide.
As I develop this course I realize that one of my goals is to make the course open and flexible enough that students can make it their own and use the assignments to really explore their art, experience and perspective. My question is how do I do this while having a consistent system of evaluation and assessment. I would rather not have numbers and percentages be part of my evaluation system but the D2L grading system seems to be focused on these things. How could I use rubrics more to support learning and move away from "grading"?
I can see the survey function as working well for self- and peer-assessment strategies. I'm wondering how I could incorporate non-LMS features into my D2L course like Google Forms, for example?
I'm realizing how important it is to connect with students on a personal level through online courses - otherwise I think it would be easy to reduce assessment to a numbers game. There are so many nuances to teaching and learning! Online learning adds a whole new level.
Reference:
Ewald, W. (2002). I wanna take me a picture. (1st ed.). Boston: Beacon Press.