Web 2.0 Practices for Peer Assessment Processes: Exploring the Synergies and Tensions

Geraldine Jones

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceedingChapter or section

Abstract

The participatory practices (Jenkins 2006) surrounding web 2.0 services at first sight appear attractive to harness for the purposes of peer assessment (Falchikov 2007). But specifically what practices act as enablers for effective feedback (Nicol & MacFarlane-Dick 2006) and what tensions occur when web 2.0 practices for peer assessment are introduced into formal teaching and learning settings? This paper seeks to shed light on these questions through presenting, analysing and discussing the findings from a small scale participatory study in which two cohorts (n=18, n=15) of first year undergraduate students created, peer reviewed and assessed each others' digital story (McDrury & Alterio 2003) productions using the Voicethread web 2.0 service (http://voicethread.com). A key component of this innovative assessment practice (now in its second year) is the central role of the student, specifically in negotiating appropriate assessment criteria. A critical evaluation of data from student surveys, focus groups and comments left as peer feedback will be used to discuss insights into: The impact on the student experience of adopting web 2.0 practices for assessing their peers. The extent to which the affordances of the web 2.0 service enabled or constrained the assessment. In the light of the findings from this study the paper will conclude by exploring the usefulness of the concepts outlined in the 'big ideas' (Anderson 2007) in guiding the adoption of web 2.0 practices for peer assessment and whether any reinterpretation is helpful when deploying web 2.0 services for assessment in formal academic contexts.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 9th European Conference on E-Learning
Place of PublicationReading
PublisherAcademic Conferences
Pages274-283
Number of pages10
Volume1
ISBN (Print)978-1-906638-82-5
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Event9th European Conference on e-Learning - Porto, Portugal
Duration: 4 Nov 20105 Nov 2010

Conference

Conference9th European Conference on e-Learning
Abbreviated titleECEL 2010
Country/TerritoryPortugal
CityPorto
Period4/11/105/11/10

Keywords

  • feedback
  • Voicethread
  • digital story
  • web 2.0
  • peer assessment

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