July+6


 * Topics:**
 * Course overview - [|Syllabus]
 * Some tools to start: Wiki, Dropbox and Diigo
 * Article: //A Framework for Assessing 21st Century Skills// – Discuss: //Is it possible to reconcile the incompatibility of 21st century skills with our current frame of assessment? What could you adopt from this framework tomorrow? What would be the challenges of implementing such a framework? Can students who test well within this framework also test well on standardized tests? What are your thoughts on “sharing” as a part of assessment? We say we want students to be problem solvers who think creatively and communicate globally, yet the ways we assess students have not changed. What stories do you have to support this assertion? How do we influence colleagues and leaders to make the time, take the risks and develop the political courage to change? What is your thinking about the current assessment system? How would you re-imagine it?//


 * Resources:**
 * Dropbox (Assessment Articles folder)
 * Diigo links tagged with “assessment” - @http://groups.diigo.com/group/2010_medu607


 * Assignments:**
 * Read an assortment of articles and links to learn more about assessment. As you read and investigate the resources, make connections to your current work as a teacher and the ways your school and you assess student learning.
 * On your wiki page, develop a multimedia essay (feel free to use text, video, audio, and links to other sites and resources) to answer several of the following questions, the questions above, or questions of your own. This should be a snapshot at this moment in time of what you already know about assessment and are learning in these few short hours. //In what ways do we assess learning? Why do we test the way we do? What are the benefits? What are the constraints? How might we do better? How might we meet the needs of the system and the needs of the learners? What is your framework/argument for digital alternatives at this moment in time? Do standardized tests benefit students? What do we know about the impact of technology on learning?//