Most of us know what it’s like to sit and stare at basic multiple choice assessments, attempting and re-attempting the same tasteless questions. It is boring, uncreative, and disengaging to say the least, no different from poorly-made exam. A creative assessment mangowebdesign.com is refreshing, whether it utilizes the competitive mechanics of gamification, the captivating features of scenario-based learning, or the simpler set-up of a drag-and-drop activity. This is also why many TechChange clients and students appreciate the interactive and creative assessments that they come across when involved in a TechChange course or project. Today, we will be exploring some of those assessments for ourselves!

First things first, what makes an effective creative assessment? How does one craft an assessment that reaches optimal engagement, information reinforcement, and satisfaction? Does the assessment have to be a level 4 interaction, equipped with real-time simulations and facilitators? Does it have to be designed by a top-notch graphic designer or animator? Or does it have to be long and complex, utilizing unconventional methods of assessment? The answer to these questions is no, no, and no. Most successful assessments are simple at their core, whether they follow the mechanics of a level 2 multiple choice question or a level 3 click and reveal. The trick isn’t to invent new methods of assessing the learner, but instead to find new, creative ideas to make familiar assessments seem innovative, and therefore, more engaging for the learner.

Imagine you have been handed the responsibility of detecting and reporting human trafficking. The situation is uncomfortable and the conversation is intense and confrontational. TechChange was able to replicate this scenario in an online course in order to immerse the users in this difficult, yet important reality. Read on to explore and analyze some of TechChange’s most effective assessments, starting with a scenario-based assessment in an online anti-trafficking course created for Jhpiego.

1. Scenario-based assessments (Jhpiego Anti-Trafficking)

Having seen a snippet of the assessment above, let’s analyze some key features together. This assessment is simple and straightforward, however, it is powerful and effective as it puts the learner on the spot, pushing them to choose their responses in uncomfortable and difficult situations. While there is no animation or narration in this assessment, the learner can still find themselves moved by the intensity and severity of the scenarios. This assessment uses the mechanics of scenario-based learning as it immerses the learner in a real-life situation and assigns them an important role. Context descriptions like “Sahil doesn’t meet your eyes,” and “he looks right and left as if looking for someone” are powerful forces that drive this narrative. Along with these effective immersion techniques, the assessment is also very clear and easy to navigate. The learner was instructed on exactly what to do before the beginning of the assessment. Additionally, there is continuous feedback after every response the learner makes. Therefore, at any point throughout the course, if the learner responded with the undesired response, the course will inform you or have you try again.

2. Drag and drop (Conflict Tree Activity)

The conflict tree is an effective tool used to map out, visualize, and analyze conflicts. This assessment tests whether the user can correctly categorize the different aspects of the conflict within the conflict tree using a drag and drop activity. The drag and drop activity ensures that the user is considering each aspect on the conflict on a case by case basis as well as helps them in building a solid understanding of how the conflict tree works through practice. Additionally, this activity helps the learner better understand the specific conflict at hand as they construct and deconstruct the many segments of the conflict using the tree.

3. Click and reveal assessments (CIPE Red Flag Activity)

This assessment is both a click and reveal and a drag and drop type of assessment. Having already discussed drag and drops above, let’s focus on analyzing how click and reveal helps enhance this assessment. In the beginning of this activity, the user may click on each of the five companies to learn more about their business practices and decide whether or not they are corrupt. The click and reveal portion of this activity is critical to the exercise, and it adds another layer of interaction for the user to take part in. This method of online interaction gives the user the freedom to explore and click around from company to company as they please. From a design perspective, this style of interaction also saves slide real estate as click and reveal interactions have the power to neatly and clearly compile information in a non-overwhelming fashion. This style of assessment also gives the learner the power to investigate and make informed decisions. Giving the learner a role of authority during an eLearning course is very important as this gives them the opportunity and the room to put their newly-retained knowledge to work. Assessments like this one are useful in evaluating whether the learner can actually utilize the information they have learned in realistic situations.

4. Multiple Choice questions (CNFA Traffic Light Activity)

The objective of the exercise above is to inform the learner about the clear boundaries that exist in the workplace regarding coworker interaction. In this traffic light activity, behaviors appear as vehicles on the road and the user has the option to click on red, yellow, or green lights depending on whether they think the behavior constitutes harassment in the workplace or not. Once more, TechChange has turned what would otherwise be a routine multiple choice assessment into an engaging activity. It is also important that the learner is tuning in since this is such a serious and necessary topic. Yes, this assessment is essentially a multiple choice test at its core, but most users wouldn’t even notice since it is well-hidden within the traffic light analogy.

Now, this represents a very small fraction of TechChange’s many creative assessments. I urge you to check more of them out or even think about ways to improve some of your current assessments to increase engagement level and creativity. I hope this has given you some inspiration and ideas! It is important to emphasize that assessments aren’t all about testing your elearners and obtaining metrics, it is also about making eLearning more engaging since learner engagement is key to retention. So, let’s save everyone some trouble (bored learners and frustrated educators alike) with better, more interactive assessments!

Honor Leahy recently joined the TechChange team as a Marketing and Communications Fellow! She just finished a year as a Boren Scholar to China after finishing undergrad. We recently sat down with Honor to learn more about her background and experience. Welcome to the team, Honor!

 

Q: Could you share a bit about your background before joining the TechChange team?

I attended the College of William and Mary and graduated in 2017. I started studying Chinese language my freshman year, and then I actually ended up making it a double major in combination with my Marketing degree. After graduation, I accepted a Boren scholarship to study Mandarin Chinese in Guilin, China for an academic year. I just got back in June!

Q: What originally interested you to join TechChange?

In college I co-founded an organization focused on building a school and providing educational opportunities to students in Nepal. I had read the book Half the Sky and was prompted to make a change in the state of education in our world. I think TechChange really lines up with a lot of the things I realized during the founding of that organization– which is really that education is the greatest tool to empower others. TechChange helps social change and international development organizations do what they do best though the best form possible–accessible education.

Q: What exactly are you going to be working on at TechChange over the next few months?

I am the marketing and communications fellow so I’ll be doing a lot of work in social media outreach and marketing strategy, managing the blog, and coordinating email campaigns. I’ll also be helping to facilitate courses and tie up loose ends wherever need be.

Q: What interests you the most about this kind of work?

I’m exited think of new ways to service a greater number of students! I like talking to people, thinking creatively, and making connections, so I’m excited to meet leaders from different organizations and understand how we can best serve their needs, as well as to get to know what tech topics students want to learn about.

Q: Anything you look forward to working on or learning at TechChange in the next few months?

I’m looking forward to stretching my boundaries– I’d like to learn more about tech in general and tech applications in international development!

Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?

I was prom queen my senior year of high school. lol.

 

Amber Seira recently joined the TechChange team as an Instructional Design Fellow! She just finished a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Peru and has a very interesting background. We recently sat down with Amber to learn more about her previous experience. Welcome to the team Amber!

Q: Could you share a bit about your background before joining the TechChange team?

I’m a Fulbright Scholar in tech innovation and entrepreneurship policy. I completed my grant July 2018 in Peru. Prior to Fulbright, I was working in Washington, DC as an advisor in President Obama’s administration. I was appointed to support the president’s economic policy at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

My academic research includes government adoption of blockchain technology, postcolonial computing, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. My policy practices are both domestic and international implementation of small business and innovation programs.

My civic tech endeavors address gender and racial inclusion in the technology industry. Most recently I co-hosted three, full-day conferences at various sites in Peru encouraging young women to explore education and career opportunities in the STEAM  (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) field.

Q: What originally interested you to join TechChange?

I’m excited for their work in filling the void between people who want to do good in the world and the technologies that can make that happen.

Q: What exactly are you going to be working on at TechChange over the next few months?

My largest role will be helping to facilitate the TechChange course, Blockchain for International Development.

Q: What interests you the most about this kind of work?

The online learning platform removes the time and place-bound barriers to learning. I like the idea of guiding individuals in their desires for continuous learning.

Q: Anything you look forward to working on or learning at TechChange in the next few months?

The opportunity to engage with so many curious and enthusiastic students from around the world.

Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?

When I was a senior in high school, my friends and I had this food eating competition phase. I defended my title by eating an 8×8 at In-N-Out. That’s eight beef patties by eight cheese melts between sandwich buns. They actually don’t let you order anything more than a 4×4 these days.

 TechChange has enjoyed working with the Notre Dame Global Health Institute for several years. We’re excited to have their Digital ND Lead Architect, Tom Marentette, share some insights on what TechChange is helping students at Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health accomplish. 

 

How many years has Notre Dame Global Health Institute sent students to take TechChange courses?
Over the last four years, in some capacity, the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame has had the privilege of collaborating on a blended learning global health course with TechChange, an online learning social enterprise, based in Washington DC. The students from Notre Dame are part of the master of science in global health program. The objective of this association is to provide our global health students the opportunity to learn theoretical, as well as practical skills in the interdisciplinary field of ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development) and digital health. As opposed to a standard full three credit course, this ICT4D and Digital Health course is two credits, in a blended learning model, combining in-class instruction with online material from TechChange.

 

Why did Notre Dame choose to enroll in TechChange’s online course?
TechChange has a strong history in providing online education in the international development sector and we’ve felt this is something essential to offer to our students, as technology continues to change global health programming. We’ve found TechChange to be enthusiastic and responsive in working with us on shaping the curriculum of the online course each year. The course offerings and curriculum from TechChange have been well-structured, insightful and professionally designed. Additionally, from a curriculum standpoint, the TechChange team puts a great deal of consideration into content to stir the critical thinking of the students.

One of the greatest challenges with online learning is the asynchronous nature of the online experience. TechChange closes this gap through live sessions with Google Hangouts, student participation in panels and live session Q&A. As part of the in-class experience, the Notre Dame Global Health students are required to lead discussion sessions following each week of the TechChange online course. This ensures the students are fully engaged in the course content and encourages their own critical thinking on the material.

 

A student leads a discussion on Blockchain and its applications to global health.

 

How did the blended model actually work? What were the moving parts? What are advantages of this type of blended class format?
Close attention is paid to the TechChange curriculum to ensure there is sufficient continuity in topic areas, without a duplication of content. The course was structured in such a way as to provide the students a broad overview of digital development and more specifically some case studies using technologies in global health research and practice.

In addition to the TechChange (TC310) four-week curriculum, the course is built to augment the learning experience with supplementary in-class material, with a core focus on the Digital Principles. This includes short lectures, student led sessions and video segments called Voice of the Practitioner, where students can hear from professionals working in the digital health field, from a variety of geographies. Much of this course material is loaded and organized in the Sakai Learning Management System (LMS) here at Notre Dame.

Furthermore, a series, referred to as AppLabs, puts the students in touch with some of the technologies used in the digital health discipline including Dimagi’s CommCare, Ona.io and TextIT. Future AppLabs will include GIS components. The objective of the AppLabs is for students to get a taste for some of the more accessible solutions available in the ICT4D and digital health landscape.

 

Example of a TextIT conversation

 

The main advantage of this type of blended learning format is to provide breadth and depth to what the students experience, allowing them to consume a wide variety of content outside of class and use our in-class time for deeper discussion. Bringing in multi-modal learning experiences, by hearing direct from practitioners, reviewing case studies, research publications, “grey literature”, media and application lab exercises – enhances the learning experience. We feel by blending the learning environment we are able to improve the knowledge retention of the students due to their differentiated learning styles, with a goal of meeting the students where they are from an academic perspective.

 

Students answer questions on technologies used in digital health data.

 

What was your role as the professor on record? How did you structure class time and assignments around the TechChange course?
I see my role as instructor of record as not just faculty, but advisor, consultant and content curator. We are constantly looking at ways to improve the course content and develop new paths to learning. To supplement the course content, I also engage campus guest speakers throughout the semester which include experts in Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL), data science and GIS.

Students received grades both through our in-class work and the TechChange course. The course assignments involve presenting on the TC310 weekly topics and leading those in-class discussions, as well as a final paper in which they research and analyze a recent digital health programme or technology platform. Rubrics are used so students have a clear understanding of their performance expectations, across all aspects of the course.

 

A student gives a presentation on Digital Principles, the course’s core focus.

 

What impact did the course have on your work and/or your students’ work?
Perhaps the greatest challenge with this type of class is the amount of time it takes to prepare and execute effectively. This course is taught outside of my primary job responsibilities, so it can be difficult to be fully prepared for each class. Class sizes are intentionally kept small to control the resources needed to properly engage the students. My work has been impacted by motivating me to constantly improve the offering and deepen my own knowledge of ICT4D and digital health applications.

A highlight of the course was a student planned “mHealth Party” at the end of the semester to share their research and papers to a wider audience. This was done in a fun, relaxed setting, complete with snacks, beverages and a gamified SMS scavenger hunt using a TextIT flow.

 

What are the biggest challenges with this model? What advice would you have for other programs who might want to try it?
My advice to other higher education institutions that would like to try this, is to plan exceedingly well and ahead of time, and to ensure the learning objectives are clearly defined from the start. Additionally, it’s important to find the right mix of content in the curriculum both in-class and online to energize the student learning potential. Finally, great care should be taken to ensure the students are on track and gain a deep understanding the material presented.

The semester long course is capped off by bringing in a special guest lecture by a subject matter expert in the discipline. We’ve been very fortunate to have the support of the Eck Institute for Global Health to bring this incredible thought leadership to campus.

Finally, I believe it’s imperative that we approach global health education from a multidisciplinary approach, bringing in a variety of perspectives, knowledge and methods. By using a blended learning model, our students are able to engage with a broad array of course content and experts. The objective is not for them to learn to code, but be prepared to understand how technology solutions can have a positive impact on global health programmes and research.

A group photo of the participating Notre Dame M.S. students.

TechChange recently worked with Making Cents International and The Rockefeller Foundation to produce a Demand-Driven Training (DDT) Toolkit to introduce, explain, and illustrate the best practices in jobs skills trainings for youth and to engage employers in targeted hiring, training, job coaching, and mentoring practices. The project represents a major accomplishment for the creative team, led by Creative Director Yohan Perera, and the instructional design team, led by Director of Instructional Design Shannon Fineran, and is the third installment in a series of interactive, toolkit-style PDFs engineered by the creative team for diverse TechChange clientele, including, previously, NetHope.

 

 

 

Demand-Driven Training (DDT) in youth workforce development refers to the development of customized skill sets to respond directly to specific requirements of a job role for or to the needs of employers which leads to direct employment placement or self-employment. The objective of the Toolkit is to provide information, tools,resources, examples, and current programs to businesses, educational providers, and other training programs so that those offering skills development and employment for young people can alter training and recruitment practices to become more aligned with market driven employment demand. Working with various global training service providers, Making Cents developed a source document for the Toolkit, a PDF spanning 40 pages, which was an ideal candidate for the intuitive interactivity and ease of use that a well-designed ePDF could offer.

 

 

The creative and instructional design teams partnered with content expert and lead researcher Branka Minic (Making Cents International) and project director Christy Olenik (Making Cents International) to design an interactive toolkit spanning around 60 pages at its completion. The creative team worked to ensure the seamless union of two separate style guides, while instructional designers offered guidance on content organization and layout and took on a copy editing role as the project neared its final stages.

The toolkit is available online at this link.

One of the biggest promises of online learning is the potential to create truly data-driven learning experiences. But this same potential also creates ethical grey areas around the acceptable uses of learners’ data inside and outside of the learning experience. With the implementation of GDPR on May 25th, this grey area is increasingly legal too.

As a company, we have always taken the ethical side of education very seriously. While we are a registered for-profit company, we are also a B corporation and will always put our social mission before profit. This has made it easy for us to treat learner data correctly.

As part of our effort to be compliant with GDPR and transparent to our users, I wanted to share some of the principles we live by when handling data:

1. Require as little Personally Identifiable Information as possible.

To take a course with us, we require you to register an account with us. At that point, you must provide us with the following information:

  • Your name (you could use a fake name)
  • Your email address (you could use a throwaway account)
  • A username
  • A password

You will also have to opt in to accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can optionally choose to receive marketing emails from us.

We never require users to provide us with demographic information or other such data without their explicit consent. We strive to make it clear that providing such data is not required for completion of a course.

2. Your data is your data.

While we use data from our learners in aggregate to better identify valuable resources, learning patterns, and generally improve our course experience, we ultimately realize that any data a learner generates is their data. While we already let learners export their own data by emailing us at support@techchange.org, we are working on automating that process so that learners can export that data whenever they want.

Whereas many companies treat the data of its users as their property to use how they want, we understand that we are privileged to be able to learn from that data and improve our own course experience.

This means we will never sell your data and will always make sure you have the ability to access your own data.

3. Keep your data safe.

To us, data security isn’t just a box to check, but rather a fundamental underpinning to our business. We will always do our best to make sure your data is safe by following industry standards for data security and constantly looking to improve our own practices.

These are just a few of the ways we work to keep data safe:

  • If we share your data with a third party, it is solely for the purpose of providing a certain service and we only share the bare minimum information possible. We will always vet those third parties for their own safety measures. You can read more about some of the third parties we use here.
  • We provide direct access to databases and servers only to essential staff members.
  • We encrypt our databases so that, even if a server is compromised, your data is still out of reach.
  • We don’t keep all of our data in one place. Even if one of our databases is compromised, this does not mean all data is compromised.

If we ever find out that there has been a data breach, we will contact our learners as soon as possible and take all available steps to remedy the situation.

Want to learn more? We have an additional resource here that is available if you want to learn more about how we handle data at TechChange!