5. Do I understand how assessment will help my learning?
Assessment is a key element of effective online learning. Online learning technologies enables the inclusion of more frequent assessment and constructive feedback in online courses. Assessment in online courses does not simply test what you have learned. Instead, it contributes significantly to you becoming an effective learner, checking your understanding and responding to feedback you receive. The key to effective learning from assessment tasks is your engagement with the feedback you receive.
Online learning technologies also enable diverse types of assessment: report writing, writing essays, presentations, quizzes, blogging, contributing to a collaborative task via wiki, forum posts or discussion threads, etc. For online quizzes, feedback is provided instantly. For these types of assessment that requires production of some work, feedback is provided by an instructor. Such feedback may be very useful if provided at various stages of your work and is used to improve the next version.