E-Learning Assessment--The Search For the Emerald Key--Path B--Artifacts and Challenges

One aspect of this assessment event that I would like to make clearer is the fact that what I have described so far is based on the decision that the students decided to split up and each take a different path. It is the most likely option that they would choose but it does not mean that each team will choose this option. They could choose to decide to stay together and develop a plan on how to cover all three paths and still meet their time deadline. We are able to see their reasoning on their first decision at the very start of the event. Collaboration is required right from the start.

Another point to remember is that they access the following aids in solving challenging tasks:

1. They have their wearable mobile devices which connect them to the web and also each other so that collaboration can take place. They also have information gathering utilities in the form of a camera and sound recorder as well as other useful functions.
2. They have access to their mentor, the educator or trainer(in a business organization) who they may call upon three times during the event to help them clarify their reasoning.
3. Collaboration is possible on different levels for different reasons. Collaboration has a host of benefits to the learner. You will notice that the tasks are ones that students can understand and relate to because many of them have been exposed to similar challenges in video games that they may have played. Even for students who don't play video games, the tasks involve recognizable objects and ideas that they would have come across in story books or during their early education.

Credit: Reeves, Herrington & Oliver (2004)

Path B--Artifacts and Challenging Tasks

For the student(s) who takes Path B, here are the tasks that they will face:

1. Jungle Food and Unstable Rock Slides: One of the physical requirements ,besides water, is food. Hanging from the trees appears to be fruit that looks a lot like Mangoes and at the base of the trees are plant life that looks a lot like mushrooms. How do we go about deciding what they really are, whether they are alright to eat, and will they maintain the strength of the student as they continue on? Another interesting event is what appears to be rock slides that come off the mountains to the jungle floor. There seems to be moments of calm between the rock slides. You notice an object that is glowing green that is partially buried in the rock slide closest to you. It could be another clue to solving the location of the emerald key. Looking around at the jungle floor all you see are rocks and some large tree branches that were brought down by a slide that hit a dead tree. How do you solve these two challenging tasks?(Hint: take an inventory of what is in your backpacks) .If the student is able to retrieve the green glowing object, he or she will discover it has the following symbols etched in it:

     2. Raging River, Broken Bridge and a Distress Call: If the student makes it through the above tasks he or she comes to a deep ravine in which there is a swift moving river. In ancient time there was a wooden bridge that spanned the river but half of the bridge is gone. The remnant of the bridge is still attached. Just before the student is about to figure out how to solve this task, the emergency beacon goes off stating that the student on Path A has been bitten by an unidentified snake and needs help. He or she wonders if  his or her team member on Path C also got the distress call. How does he or she deal with this unexpected event? What steps should he or she take?

You will find out in the next segment. Are you starting to draw any conclusions about the actual location of the emerald key? I will give you one clue: It is in a real world location.