[Assignments] Opt-In Assignments, Modules, and Mastery Path Modules
Having optional work is challenging to manage. Students can be assigned work as a whole, based on their needs according to the Mastery Path, or if a teacher knows that specific students want additional work. However, having opt-in work looks like assigning a task to everyone manually, excusing everyone else as the system currently works. Moreover, students may not find the information or extending content and assignments meaningful in a module, but others might.
Empowering students with choice is the road ahead in education. I believe having a simple opt-in feature for assignments would be elegant and an easy way to offer choice and extended types of assignments. While there is a workaround through Mastery Path to give choices of assignments, it was designed to provide targeted assignments and support to students based on their performance—a fantastic feature but does not go far enough for choice. Having Modules as part of this student choice of assignments would also be helpful (but would be connected to assigning modules to specific students as has been proposed in other places in this forum). Specific Modules assigned through Mastery Path would be great as well. I try to provide as much choice as possible and have optional extended learning activities available all the time. Still, only a fraction of the students take advantage of them, and I have to excuse most students. Opt-in, student self-assigned assignments would be powerful!
instructor,student
