Using Sophia as a Student Assessment Tool

Hopefully you have seen what a great resource Sophia can be for online teaching and learning...but one thing you may not have realized is that Sophia can also be an excellent tool for students to demonstrate their understanding of course material.

Take, for example, this packet created by Maggie C:

http://www.sophia.org/packets/51-write-linear-equations-in-slope-intercept-form

It was created by a 7th-grade student as part of an assignment given to her by her teacher, Mr. Hennen. After teaching his class about linear equations, Mr. Hennen assigned his students the task of creating a learning packet about the subject to show what they had learned.

Once the students were finished with their packets and "submitted" (published) them for review, Mr. Hennen could then grade the students' work on factors including overall content, accuracy, multiple media types used, etc. Learning packets can also be submitted to a private group. Packets have a Q & A or discussion feature associated with them.

1. Create a group for your class and invite your students

You may want to create separate groups for each class or subject that you have in order to keep the students organized.

• Example =  "Mr. Teacher's 3rd Period Algebra Class"

2. Have your students publish their packets to the specific group that you create

That way, you'll be able to navigate to that specific group in order to review and assess your students' work without having to dig and search for their packets.

3. Instruct your students on what you would like their packets to be named

Does the packet relate to a specific unit or textbook chapter? Keep in mind what will be the easiest title for students to understand and what will be easiest for you to find later during assessment.

• Example =  "Chapter 20: Obtuse & Acute Angles"

4. Encourage your students to use multiple media types

The best learning packets tap into multiple media types, and it teaches students to think about the subject matter in different ways. Packets can be comprised of text, images, audio, video, slideshows, and PDFs.

5. Instruct your students to add description tags

This will help organize the packets and allow you to search for certain components during your assessment.

CBS Minnesota: "Mpls. Company Starts Sophia, A New Educational Website"

(Click for video:)

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/03/22/mpls-company-starts-sophia-a-new-educational-website/