Warnock begins chapter 11 with a pitch for online grading and feedback. He writes, "When you teach writing online, your methods of responding to students are forced to change, often for the better. In many cases, the change is mild: you begin typing in-text comments on a word processor instead of writing them hurriedly-and sometimes illegibly-in the margins. Similarly, you type a brief (but possibly longer than handwritten) end comment" (121). Warnock's thoughts on feedback mirror my own. If I could type everything, I would definitely give better constructive feedback while spending less amount of time. Warnock's comment about "illegible margin notes" fits me to a tee, and it put into perspective things I could be utilizing as a teacher.
I cannot tell you how nice it would be to have my students turn in major assignments electronically. Just this past year, I have played around with GoogleDocs a little bit. I've managed to create a class quiz and give one assignment entirely online. It was a book report assignment, and and I modeled to students how to access the assignment and turn it in via GoogleDocs. It worked well for the most part, and I was able to give feedback in a more personal light. However, the assignment was problematic for students who do not have computer access at home. I discussed this obstacle in an earlier blog post, and my suggestion for this is to build in time for students to work in class. I realize this defeats the purpose of an all-electronic assignment, but baby steps are necessary in order for larger change to occur.
Warnock's ideas towards voice comments and podcasts are great, although the software Warnock mentions seems a bit convoluted. Vocaroo is a fantastic little tool you can use to record your voice and download to make a podcast. It isn't very fancy, which is exactly the way I like it. I've used this in a previous online course with great results.
As for the chapter on grading, I really don't have much to say about this except that Warnock is absolutely.postively.insanely.correct. Holistic is the way to go for grading writing assignments, and I like the fact that Warnock pushes for everything to be graded. Even if it's for a small grade, effort counts and should be rewarded.
I cannot tell you how nice it would be to have my students turn in major assignments electronically. Just this past year, I have played around with GoogleDocs a little bit. I've managed to create a class quiz and give one assignment entirely online. It was a book report assignment, and and I modeled to students how to access the assignment and turn it in via GoogleDocs. It worked well for the most part, and I was able to give feedback in a more personal light. However, the assignment was problematic for students who do not have computer access at home. I discussed this obstacle in an earlier blog post, and my suggestion for this is to build in time for students to work in class. I realize this defeats the purpose of an all-electronic assignment, but baby steps are necessary in order for larger change to occur.
Warnock's ideas towards voice comments and podcasts are great, although the software Warnock mentions seems a bit convoluted. Vocaroo is a fantastic little tool you can use to record your voice and download to make a podcast. It isn't very fancy, which is exactly the way I like it. I've used this in a previous online course with great results.
As for the chapter on grading, I really don't have much to say about this except that Warnock is absolutely.postively.insanely.correct. Holistic is the way to go for grading writing assignments, and I like the fact that Warnock pushes for everything to be graded. Even if it's for a small grade, effort counts and should be rewarded.
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