Online Assignment Mark-up Software
WHAT IS THE TECHNOLOGY?
Online assignment mark-up software allows the marker to annotate, collaborate and report on students’ electronic assessment
submissions. They can address either specific assessment issues or provide an end-to-end solution. They can also support the
assignment submission, preparation, return and record keeping processes. Online assignment marking is not automated
marking and so submissions are still assessed and marked by a person.
HOW IS IT USED IN EDUCATING?
The core purpose of this technology is to allow a staff member, once a student has submitted an assignment electronically, to
mark it, and add comments and corrections as they would an assignment submitted on paper. It means the marker can access,
mark, and return the assignment without needing to print it, or carry large bundles of paper. They allow teachers to provide
feedback and comments on an assignment submitted electronically. It can reduce marking time, workload and administration,
assist in quality assurance processes such as moderation through providing ready data in electronic form, and deliver a green
alternative to paper based assessment. Assessment turnaround time can be decreased, and thus provide a more timely
provision of feedback to students.
HOW DO SAMPLE PRODUCTS COMPARE?
Red Pen Tool WWW.REDPENTOOL.COM: is an on-screen tool for marking and annotating any digital file completely online. The student
work is not altered by the annotation process. Marking schemes and assessment criteria can be linked. The marker annotates
and indicates where assessment criteria are met exactly as the grader would with pen and paper directly on the work without
having to print the document or install the original software used to create the work. The tool is accessible anytime, anywhere
with an internet enabled device.
e-Marking Assistant www.emarkingassistant.com: is a MS Word toolbar that allows you to build and use detailed teacher comment
banks containing reusable comments consisting of text, images, links and audio. The e-Marking Assistant helps graders and
markers conduct Google searches within Word, and provides other tools to help them grade papers using Microsoft Word. It
also allows the grader to make automated analytic rubrics including criteria and standards which automatically re-scale, total
and convert marks to grades.
RemarksPDF www.remarkspdf.com: facilitates annotation and grading of students’ submitted PDF files. It has a wide variety of
mark-up tools, text comment banks, audio comments, marking by rubrics, key-coded highlighting, customisable stamps,
automatic tallying of grades, charts, and storage of marks in a local database. Using the software RemarksPDF (not all
markers need to use the same option), the user can mark (annotate, text comments, comment banks, rubrics) an assignment
using a computer and graphics tablet, or upload the assignment to an iPad, and mark it using the ReMarksPDF iPad app.
Feature and cost comparison chart:
Features
Can marking be done online (requires
internet connection) and/or offline?
Can comment libraries be shared with other
markers?
What kind of Assignment File types can be
marked with this tool?
Licensing
RedPen
www.redpentool.com
eMarking Assistant
www.emarkingassistant.com
ReMarksPDF
www.remarkspdf.com
Online
Online
Online and Offline
No
No
Yes
Microsoft Word only
PDF only
30 day free trial
$40 per year/per marker
No trial version
$24.95 per year/per
marker
Various file types
supported
Departmental or
Institution licences only
Price not available
DID YOU KNOW?
LMS
The current version of UWA’s LMS (Moodle) supports
• online assignment submission with the assignment activity, including the capacity to provide feedback
• marking with tools such as the marking guide and rubric tool
• downloading submitted assignments and then re-upload marked/annotated assignment documents
• providing grades to students in the gradebook feature and feedback
Tablet Apps
There are several tablet apps available for annotating PDF files which could be used for marking, e.g. iAnnotate for iPad or
Adobe Reader X on Android devices.
WHAT DOES CATL RECOMMEND?
ReMarks PDF is the most cost effective product with the most features. However, the file submitted must be in PDF format.
Consider using MS Word with the highlighting, track changes and comments functions for MS Word Submissions.
WHERE CAN I READ MORE?
Kearns, L. (2012). Student assessment in online learning: Challenges and effective practices. Journal of Online Learning and
Teaching, 8(3), 198-208.
Boud, D., Lawson, R. & Thompson, D. (2013). Does student engagement in self-assessment calibrate their judgement over time?
Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, doi: 10.1080/02602938.2013.769198.
Mason, D., & Woit, D. (1999, March 24-28). Providing mark-up and feedback to students with online marking, Proceedings from
the thirtieth SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, doi: 10.1145/299649.299662
WHO CAN I TALK TO ABOUT THIS EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY?
CATL eLearning staff can help you explore ways to use these kinds of technology in your teaching. Contact helpelearning@uwa.edu.au for an Educational Developer or eLearning Academic to discuss ways to use this type of technology in
your teaching practice.
CATL BITES
CATL BITEs (Brief Information about Technologies for Educating) are developed by CATL educational
developers to inform UWA staff about current and emerging technologies for technology-integrated
learning. Technologies are selected as a result of queries to CATL, environmental scans, and
conversations in the UWA community.
For more BITEs, see: www.catl.uwa.edu.au/e-learning/evaluatingtechnologies
To request CATL review a type of educational technology, send an email to: help-elearning@uwa.edu.au