A few things to consider when we teach regardless of mode of instruction is the nature of our assessments. Do we still have high stakes exams or quizzes to evaluate our students? Can we rethink some of our assignments so that we can get a better idea of student progress?
These questions can lead us to start looking at our assessments and how we use them. For example, if we repurpose our quizzes so that they are low stakes formative assessments, we alter the learning landscape for our students. Depending on the tool or platform we use, students can have multiple ways to interact with content and get instant feedback. Instead of a timed event which can lead students to have text anxiety, we can look for other ways to engage students in our discipline-specific materials.
As we know, a lot of the ‘cool’ ‘fun’ ‘interactive’ platforms tend to be developed by major publishers. However, there are many simulations and online activities that are free, easily available to us and our students, and often vetted for accessibility. Some of these even have immersive virtual reality options where students can get affordable VR devices (or make their own!) with their phones.
Here are just a few of the resources and repositories out there where you can look for games and simulations for formative assessments. (Please make certain to double-check the various sites for accessibility!) These are great learning objects to incorporate formative assessments in asynchronous online classes or flipped remote synchronous/F2F classrooms.
- OER Commons VR Resources
- LabXchange
- Merlot Virtual Labs
- Visible Body
- American Chemical Society Virtual Chemistry Labs & Simulations
- 3D Organon
- CK-12 OER
- ISTE 25 Science VR Resources
This is just a short-list. Feel free to ask our FCLT Teams for other ideas, or better yet, add a link to your favorite resources in the comments below!