The annual e-Assessment Question Conference, held this year on the 25th and 26th March, is always an interesting and insightful event, perfect for getting to know the latest developments in the technology led assessment sector. Attracting a broad crowd of delegates from all corners of education, you would you be forgiven for imagining from the title that this is an event filled more with techy toys than useful information, but that was definitely not the case.
This notion was supported from day one, with Gavin Busuttil-Reynaud from AlphaPlus stating that e-assessment is more than just multiple choice questions; it’s about using digital technologies to improve all aspects of assessment. E-assessment is not just about swapping pen and paper for a laptop, it’s about streamlining the assessment development, reporting, candidate engagement, distribution, security, marking and validation of results. Gavin also stressed that funding pressures, and digital native students’ demand for up-to-date assessment approaches to match their learning styles, are important concepts to consider when designing assessment methods. The essential point to make is that employers are looking for candidates fit to work, whose knowledge and understanding is work ready, with a solid approach to standardisation, something e-assessment is proven to be good at.
Can you do your job with all the resources that you would normally have available? Can you do the job on the shop floor and not just in an exam situation? These are questions Awarding Organisations and training providers will have to ask when considering how they justify their approach to assessment, as Ofqual turn the focus for validation of assessment back on them.
Yousef Fouda of Warwickshire College gave an excellent presentation which stressed the importance of viewing all technological innovations with an open mind. Yousef highlighted YouTube as the perfect example of a service initially banned by educational institutions on the whole, but which, after finding itself at the forefront of the Edtech revolution, flipped educational mind-sets to embrace it and other similar innovations. The emergence of tools like Zaption will only enhance the impact of multimedia further. A substantial requirement of summative e-assessment delivery is to lock-down delivery environments as much as possible, something we do very well, but perhaps there is potential to flip this mind-set, similar to our views of YouTube, with summative assessment? Rather than locked-down testing, track and judge the candidate on what they have used, instead of what they haven’t…
BTL’s very own Jim Crawford presented on the use of tablets in summative assessment. This underlined the point that people are embracing new technology more and more, but it is a challenging tool to support for summative assessments given the variety of devices available. iPads and Android devices pose different technical difficulties in providing a summative exam experience. Locking out automatic spell-checkers and other similar services will always require a proactive approach to development, something we are comfortable with. Tablets have also turned the user experience on its head, resulting in more opportunities than challenges. The portable nature of the devices and reliance on batteries could mean more hassle, but thankfully, tablets are supported by a very active accessories market, with portable test centres (Test Centre in a Trunk) being a realistic option and cheap power banks available to prevent that forgetful candidate from missing a good assessment opportunity. We even saw a test centre in a backpack for remote regions in Africa by Aleutia.
Finally, e-assessment is an approach which is primarily driven by innovation, and we all need to innovate, or as Darwin would put it, adapt to an ever changing world. Those that don’t adapt, will become part of history and not contributors to the future. Paddy Craven of City & Guilds, a leading innovator in educational technology made a very valid point about handling creatives and innovators. Creatives need space to be creative, and room to innovate, but they also need support, as turning an idea into reality is not always the strength of a creative. Ideas need to be given legs to succeed.