“Incorporating Online Assessment into practice”

Presenter: Jason Price

Overview of VETASSESS

• Government business enterprise

• Commercial provider of a range of assessment

services

• Registered Training Organisation (RTO) of

assessment only services

Overview of Presentation

• Define e-assessment (online assessment)

• Highlight the drivers for the implementation of an e-

assessment strategy

• Discuss the forms of e-assessment

• Advantages and Disadvantages of e-assessment

• Conclude with practical strategies for implementation

“The end-to-end electronic assessment processes where ICT is used for the presentation of assessment activity and the recording of responses. This includes the end-to-end assessment process from the perspective of learners, tutors, learning establishments, awarding bodies and regulators, and the general public.”

e-assessment Glossary (Extended)For more information: www.jisc.ac.uk/assessment

What is e-assessment?

What are the key drivers for e-assessment?

1. Technologically driven young people

2. Requirements from Industry/ Business for Technologically aware people

3. Government policy increasingly requiring cost savings within public education

Is Generation Y – the tech savvy generation?

☺97% own a computer ☺97% have downloaded music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing ☺94% own a mobile phone ☺76% use instant messaging and social networking sites ☺75% of college students have a Face book profile and most of them check it daily. ☺60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod ☺49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing ☺34% use websites as their primary source of news ☺28% author a blog and 44% read blogs ☺15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week

Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today's Students, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa[16] found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:

What are the skills needed in the future worker from Industry?

- Use and understand information networks- Use wireless communication - Analyse and use data collected by smart devices - Anticipate future skill requirements

Adapting to change, ANTA, 2005

How has government policy encouraged RTO’s to meet the demands of Industry?

Securing Jobs for Your FutureSkills for Victoria

Nationally, vocational education and training has been identified as central to productivity growth. As part of the national focus on productivity and the developmentof Australia’s human capital, there is a strong emphasis on making training systems more responsive to changing labour market demands through more competitive and user-focused delivery. P.7

The $20 million TAFE Broadband component will provide significantly improved connectivity to all TAFE institutions and campuses and build a common technology platform, enabling greater collaboration across the sector. The shared platform will enable the public TAFE network to deliver flexible and technologically advanced learning services in an environment of greater collaboration and administrative efficiency. P.27

What is “Assessment of Learning” and “Assessment for Learning”?

Traditional or

1st generation

e-assessment

2nd generation

e- assessment

Linear Non-Linear

Passive Adaptive

Synchronous Asynchronous

BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY

- Online one-dimensional testing

- Online Written response assessment

- Online adaptive testing

- Online simulation assessments

- Online individual project based assessments

- Online collaborative project based assessments

Online one-dimensional testing

Underpinning knowledge testing

www.assessitnow.com

Online Written Response

Online written exams with automated marking algorithms

www.ets.org (Criterion)

Online adaptive testing

Dynamic,

Asynchronous

Interactive

Learner focused

Online simulation Assessments

Web 2.0 assessments

•Considered off-limits by students in research conducted.

•Assessor – student protocols to be adhered to.

•Difficult to ensure authenticity.

Online simulation assessments

Multimedia Simulations can ensure a more dynamic, interesting an innovative way to assess students awareness of their environment. Examples of environments include:

-Commercial Kitchen

-Bar

-Workshop

Online individual project based Assessments

E- Portfolio Assessment

Online collaborative project based Assessments

Creation of new E-Business services

…Truth [is] being involved in an eternal conversation about things that matter, conducted with passion and discipline…truth is not in the conclusions so much as in the process of conversation itself…if you want to be in truth you must be in conversation.

Parker Palmer

What are the trends of E-learning?

Australian Flexible Learning Framework – E- Indicators

The National E-learning Benchmarking Survey 2008 shows:

- 91% of students and 88% of teachers and trainers now say their VET experience includes at least some form of e-learning.

- 43% of Teachers and Trainers state that Online Assessment Activities form part of their assessment strategy

– greater flexibility with respect to location and timing

– greater choice

– more efficient

– lower long-term costs

– instant feedback to students

– improved reporting

– enhanced question styles which incorporate interactivity and multimedia in the case of testing.

– Customised to suit the different needs of learners

– Ability to conduct Adaptive testing and asynchronous assessment

What are the Advantages to e-assessment?

What are the Disadvantages to e-assessment?

- E-assessment systems may be expensive to establish and not suitable for every type of assessment (such as extended

response questions). - The main expense is not technical; it is the cost of producing /

purchasing high quality assessment items and tools.

– Security and authenticity of the e-assessment

– Assessors needs to ensure that they unpack the Unit of competency to ensure that the wider (higher level) skills are assessed and not the immediate knowledge orientated assessment which e-assessment can easily fall into

- Demand from industry requiring ICT literate staff

- Assist rural and remote learners

- Enabling learners to become self directed

- Customised and flexible assessments

- As an adjunct to independent and self directed E-learning

Why Incorporate E-assessment into your assessment strategy?

- Increasing requirements for efficiency and effectiveness of the learning/ assessment loop

- Shift to “assessment for learning” to better inform teaching strategy and to aide

continuous improvement.

Like it or not - e-assessment is the way of the future!