Phone or Pen (Cursor)?

I've been thinking a lot about how we articulate what we have learned—by our developed thinking, writing, and speaking skills. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about assessments requiring only writing, especially in online courses where learners are also doing a lot of writing in discussions as well. Because I taught composition for years, the demonstration was the writing, though I did assign a research presentation so that the class could share their research efforts.

With the evolution of phone casting, there are now some opportunities to allow students to demonstrate some of the learning via the phone.

So today, I posted the option to submit a case study in written or spoken format using my paid Gabcast account ($6/month). I wanted them to be able to create files that wouldn't automatically be published and to do that in Gabcast, you have to have a paid account.

I did invite everyone to just go in and try the service to see what it is like.

If they choose this option, they can script their assignments and call them in. They are required to submit a reference list via the courseroom for any sources they've drawn from.

Students could also record sound files on their desktops w/ Audacity or Garage Band and submit those.

Stay tuned…I’ll report back. I'm interested in seeing if anyone will use this option. I plan to offer it more than once this term.