Evaluate

= Evaluate the Product and Share It =


 * **TEACHER COLLABORATIVE GROUPS:**This final step in the process becomes really important for collaborating teachers. It is an opportunity to celebrate everyone's hard work and dedication, but also to reflect on the experience of a tellecollabortive project. It becomes an opportunity to participate in an appreciative inquiry. Teachers can pose questions such as: What worked well? What would they do differently? What did they like? What benefits did they get from the project? What benefits did their students get? The opportunities for refinement of future projects becomes really important.


 * **TEACHER/STUDENT COLLABORATIVE GROUPS IN THE CLASSROOM:**After the students have produced and presented their project, they should be encouraged to evaluate and reflect on what went well and what they might want to improve in future projects. The “lessons learned” that they have generated should be shared with the other students in the class and the teacher can use these lessons learned to review and underscore some important points about working on collaborative projects. This is also an excellent time to celebrate the work that the students have done and remind them of the collaborative group process that they used to complete it.


 * **CLASSROOM STRATEGIES:** There are two main strategies that could be introduced during this phase. One involves the group being evaluated by their audience and the second involves the students actively participating in self reflection. Initially, the audience for a presentation (whether large group or small group) could have an evaluation sheet where the criteria have been outlined in detail. As they listen to the group present, they can record notes and comments on the sheet in order to be able to provide feedback to the presenters. This feedback could be in oral or written form, depending on the situation. A second strategy would be to allow the group to refer back to their intended purpose for their project and compare it to their final product. They can ask themselves questions that require them to actively reflect and decide whether they have met there goals. They can ask themselves if they have met the intended criteria.


 * **EXAMPLES OF WHEN/HOW YOU WOULD USE THIS:** Conducting an evaluation at the end of a project is a good idea; but it has also proven to be quite helpful to encourage the students to evaluate how they are progressing at different points in the project. This allows them to adjust their learning as they reflect on what works and what does not. Asking them to identify what they have done really well and encouraging them to discuss what they can do even better can make a real difference in the quality of their projects. Such a formative evaluation also reminds the students the importance of monitoring their efforts over the course of the project and signals to them that they will be conducting a summative evaluation at the end of it.