Teaching with Technology: Online Rubric-Based Grading
Heather McGovern, Stockton University

All teachers of technical writing regularly evaluate student writing. Many use rubrics to communicate their expectations to students then evaluate student work. A growing number of online technologies help manage grading of student work, and some of these help teachers build and apply rubrics. In fall of 2005 ten faculty at my college piloted tested Waypoint, an online rubric-based grading system which can also be used for student reviews of writing. The system can be used by individual teachers or can house rubrics and assignments that can be used across a program or across schools. My presentation would 1) report the results of a survey of ATTW members regarding their use of rubrics to evaluate student work and in student responses to student work, 2) report the results of our pilot project, and 3) explore how technologies like Waypoint change how we teach. I’ll consider potential costs associated with these technologies, including financial costs, online security concerns, and increased need for Internet access and use of the computer. Benefits include sharing assignments and rubrics easily with students and other teachers, being encouraged to revisit or develop one’s own rubrics, accessing a library of rubrics from teachers from other places, and having an additional option for student review of documents.