Peer Review

Overview

Collaboration is important in any class, but especially so in an online class. If we do not collaborate with the other members of our cohort, we may feel disconnected, and consequently the quality of our learning will suffer. In an effort to encourage collaboration, we will engage in what I am calling peer review/cohort building throughout the semester.  

This assignment takes two forms:

  1. Blog comments- When a blog post is submitted, you should post a link in our Google Drive folder in the Blog Comments folder. For every post due, you should comment on the posts of at least three of your cohort members. Comments should be at least one full paragraph in length. You will not receive credit for very short comments, of two lines or less. These should be posted on the page in Google Drive where the link has been posted.  
  2. Draft responses- When drafts of larger assignments are due and posted in the class Google Drive folder, you should make constructive comments on the drafts of at least three of your cohort members. The comments should be useful rather than just complementary.  You should make a minimum of ten comments per draft.  These will be completed using the commenting tool (see upper right corner of the document).  

Grading

  1. Blog comments-  For each post due, I will check that you have posted at least three comments. The comments should be on three different blogs rather than on just one. The comments should also be robust rather than short. If you have fewer than the required number of comments or if your comments are not robust, your grade will be negatively impacted.    
  2. Draft responses-  For each draft assignment, I will check that you have made the minimum required comments on the drafts of at least three of your cohort members.  If you have fewer than the required number of comments your grade will be negatively impacted.    

Notes

The web addresses of our cohort’s sites will be listed in the class Google Drive folder, but I suggest that you create an RSS feed with those sites listed.  RSS is a type of web feed which allows users and applications to access updates to online content in a standardized, computer-readable format. These feeds can, for example, allow a user to keep track of many different websites in a single news aggregator.

Basically an RSS feed is an easy way for you to stay updated on the posts made by our cohort members. Here is a good overview: What is RSS and How Do I Use It?  

You do not need to pay for a RSS Reader; there are plenty of free options. Please check the above article to see a list of good options.