Assessing Student Work

Assessing Student Work when Using Digital Video in the Classroom

Assessing student produced digital video requires the same amount of preparation and consideration as other more traditional assignments. In this section, I have compiled a variety of resources that you might find useful in assessing individual student work. In addition, I have included suggestions about how to use DV as a means of long-term assessment, reflection and organization in the form of digital portfolios.

Creating and Using Rubrics
When assessing a multimedia presentation teachers are most often concerned with the content of the presentation rather than it's technical difficulty or aesthetic value. Whether using pen and paper or digital video, students need to demonstrate their understanding of the content in a coherent way. That's why rubrics are often used to assess digital video and other electronically created projects. There are many sites on the web that offer information about creating rubrics. For instance:

Midlink Magazine provides pre-made rubrics for download
The Chicago Public School website offers advice on creating rubrics from scratch
The Interactive Classroom provides a narrative about the theoretical importance of rubrics and suggestions for rubric creation

If you choose to train some of your students as camera operators or video editors so that they can help their classmates with future projects you would probably want to assess their technical ability to judge whether or not they have achieved expert status. A camera operator rubric could be used to assess students. This rubric could be easily modified to assess video editing or other abilities as well.

Electronic (Digital) Portfolios
Electronic portfolios are becoming an increasingly popular way to record and assess student growth. Digital video is an excellent way to supplement a portfolio with student artifacts and reflections. One idea would be for students to create subject specific videos that might be titled "My Understandings of Science". A student could add to his video throughout the year as new concepts were taught and mastered. Check out the following sites to learn about other ways you can integrate digital video into this powerful assessment strategy.

Exworthy Educational Resources provides a PowerPoint presentation on digital portfolios
Get a teacher's perspective on using electronic portfolios including a template for creating your own portfolio
Dr. Helen Barrett Assistant Professor, Educational Technology at the University of Alaska at Anchorage has compiled a list of theoretical and practical resources on the subject of electronic portfolios