Grading Forums and Blogs
Grading Forums
PLS has two rubrics for discussion forums, based on the point value of the learning activity. Each of the rubrics includes additional points for a reply or replies if they are required. You may use a similar rubric or create your own.
Forum activities that require replies can be graded in one of two ways depending on your institution's grading procedure and/or the LMS functionality. It is common that points earned for both the initial forum post and any required replies to colleagues are combined into a single grade for each discussion forum although in some cases you may find that you need to record the initial post and replies scores separately.
Start by developing a plan for how you will approach grading discussions. One way is to keep an external gradebook (hard copy or spreadsheet) that indicates both posts and replies. This allows you to grade posts as they come in but wait to enter the grades until replies are complete. As you grade through your first course you'll develop a process that works best for you.
Grading Blogs
The PLS blog rubric is very similar to the discussion rubrics. Both the initial post and any comments are combined in the same score. You can find other sample blog rubrics online using a search engine if you want something more specific to this technology.
As with forums, you may want to keep gradebook notes outside of the LMS or do two passes for grading (one for posts, one for comments). You may also want to use a spreadsheet to keep track of who has commented on which posts. Try out several methods until you find the one that is most efficient for you.
Set Expectations Early
Grading starts week one. If participants turn in work late, if they only answer part of a question, if they neglect to reply, or if their replies are no more than cheerleading, you must follow the rubrics and grade appropriately. You are not doing any of your participants a favor allowing them to slide in the first weeks of class. When you make expectations clear, participants will rise to the occasion. There is room for adjustments to deadlines as needed, particularly when participants experience technical issues getting connected those first few days of the course. There is not room for adjustments to the level of quality and critical thinking required in posts, replies, and other assignments.
Grading participant posts and replies by using the rubric will help demonstrate the expectation for critical thinking and analysis in both the original posts and replies to colleagues. When replies receive credit only when they go beyond a general agreement or disagreement to another post, then the discussion has the chance to become more than a place to say what you think, but rather a place to expand one's own understanding. We must push for and require analysis and meaningful replies.
When grading forums and blogs, as when grading any other submission, if points are deducted, an explanation should be included with the grade through the "comments" tool in the gradebook. If your LMS doesn't allow comments with grades, try using a Messages tool or just email your students so they understand why they lost points.