Transforming Technologies: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age

Session 7:E-Assessment

Learning outcomes• To discuss different types of assessment and feedback

and how technology-enhanced learning approaches can be used.

• To engage in and evaluate a peer assessment activity using Moodle.

• To explore and critique case studies and examples of the use of e-assessment and feedback and consider their applicability to your context.

• To use a matrix to assess a digital artefact, in relation to the formal course assessment.

What is e-assessment?

Types of assessment

screening initial

diagnostic formative

summative

New ways of working or electronic replicas?

• Some argue online assessment techniques should draw on characteristics of outstanding ‘traditional’ techniques (e.g. challenge, motivation, support etc).

• The most cynical have labelled this as ‘shovelware’.• Others that e-assessment demands significant modification to traditional

instruction (Gayten and McEwen, 2007).• The notion of a ‘mindtools’ approach argues that students bring existing

knowledge to the computer and use it as a space to expand and develop it (Wheeler et al, 2005:126)

• E-assessment changes interaction between teachers and learners; by implication e-assessment must differ.

Gaytan, J (2007) Effective online instructional and assessment strategies American Journal of Distance Education. v. 21. no. 3. p. 117

Moodle quiz: conscientious designPre-design thinking• What are you hoping to test?• Which question type might work? Why?• What are the pros, cons and likely outcomes,

pedagogically, of the choice of quiz and the settings you have created?

• What is the impact in terms of learner time and tutor (marking) time?

• What skills are needed by the learner?

During and post-design• Build the quiz and reflect on the

process. Does it do what you want it to do?

• Test the quiz• How easy is it to see the results? • What do these results tell you/not

tell you? What might you change?

Web 2.0 and assessment• The use of social networking tools, blogs, wikis (and

‘blikis’), podcasts and vodcasts.• Advantages lie in these tools for formative

assessment, peer and self-assessment.• Enhanced accessibility and pedagogical advantage

through mobile technologies.• These tools are ideal for the designing of e-

assessment activities which promote student engagement and collaboration; sometimes called ‘pedagogy 2.0’ or ‘collaborationware’.

Wikis and blogs• Promotes shared authorship, ‘student as producer’ and democratic access.• Collaborative approaches, peer, self-assessment and reflection have known

pedagogical advantages.• ‘Darwikinism’ – ecology of content which is fit for purpose: competition +

co-operation.• Possibility of ‘vandalism’ due to free-form nature.• Difficulties with citation and tracing contributions.• ‘Closed environment scenarios’ can support the audit trail and authenticate

assessment using these tools. (Boulos et al, 2006)

Boulos, MNK (2006) Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education BMC Medical Education. v. 6. no. 1. 2006. p. 41

Holistic assessment

Capturing ‘transformation’ in Web 2.0

Mobile learning and assessment• M-learning (mobile) and U-learning

(ubiquitous) ‘authentic learning’ and ‘personalisation’ are all terms used to associated with mobile technologies.

• Continuous ‘social connectedness’ – a continued dialogue between peers and tutors.

• Student motivation and willingness to ‘persist’

“Without the mobile technology I would have had to do a lot more writing, andbecause I don’t like writing I suspect I would have skipped out a lot of my ideas....”

COCHRANE, Thomas and BATEMAN, Roger (2010). Smartphones give you wings: pedagogical affordances of mobile Web 2.0. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26 (1), 1-14.

Warwick example: iTutor

E-Feedback• Feedback is “the most important aspect of the assessment

process in raising achievement” (Bloxham and Boyd, 2007:7).• Recent research has found audio feedback to have advantages

over written in terms of retention of content and likelihood of engagement.

• London Met University (Lunt and Curran, 2010) found audio feedback to be beneficial to both staff and students, with the latter 10 times more likely to read their feedback.

• Audio feedback can be achieved easily through podcast techniques or combined with written feedback through screencast approaches.

Bloxham, S., and P. Boyd. (2007). Developing effective assessment in higher education: A practical guide. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Blog feedback

• Wheeler et al (2005) discuss the notion of distributed problem-based learning online and ‘communities of practice’.

• Discursive online dialogue can lead to a ZPD (Vygotsky, 1978) – an incremental shift of an individual’s cognitive development, through peer interactions.

• DPBL can be achieved in synchronous and asynchronous environments.

• Notions of online identity and its relationship to actual, professional identity.

Problem-based learning and e-assessment

Wheeler, S (2005) The influence of online problem-based learning on teachers’ professional practice and identity ALT-J Research in Learning Technology Journal. v. 13. no. 2. 2005. p. 125

Critical questions

• What are the issues and opportunities afforded by e-assessment?

• How does e-assessment fit with current digital literacy practices, as a tutor or student? Could e-assessment give only some the advantage?

• Can assessment be ‘re-imagined’ using technology?