I'm an adult student and working as an intern Learning Designer\Technologist at a small research institute in Berkeley, California. The Western Institute for Social Research (WISR) is preparing to move online and become accredited as a distance education graduate school. While I was traveling all summer to classes, workshops, and education conferences, the Director of WISR was creating online courses despite never having taken or taught an online course. My rubric is an attempt to distill 2,100 words on posting and collaborating online into one page a student can refer to as their coursework progresses. The 2,100 words describe all the multiple assignments a student is expected to create to demonstrate their critical thinking, reflection, collaboration with students and faculty, and engagement with the course materials and online forums.
I chose the single point rubric because WISR is so small that all a student's work is evaluated by their faculty advisor. I'm hoping to introduce peer reviews and a simple rubric supports the student creating assignments, the students reviewing them and the expectations of the faculty member assessing the work. The comments area can be used to assess exactly what the student needs to do to improve or to acknowledge the student's strengths. And I may get to use my rubric as a WISR student in the future!