Use of technology to assist with assessment
develop your own knowledge and skills in specific
areas of assessment
develop your teams knowledge and skills
keep up with recent developments
Use of technology to assist with assessment
On screen marking - from exam room to marker
Computerised test marking
• multiple choice
• short answer
• extended answer
Digital pen
Revision - assisted note taking
Secure transmission of documents
Use of technology to assist with assessment
Online and on-screen marking
Over one million scripts to be marked online in 2007
No difference for candidates or centres
From the exam room to your home computer
Inside Edexcel: The e-revolution
Education Show TV News Clip
Possible benefits and disadvantages of
online marking
Benefits
Faster turnaround - interchanges of scripts between examiners are electronic
better quality marking, through early detection and remediation of aberrant
marking;
random distribution of scripts and items to markers;
specialisation of markers in a limited number of items;
reduction of clerical errors, because the computer sums the marks;
elimination of paper distribution; and
greater security
Reduced costs - no postage
Real-time monitoring during the marking process
Possible benefits and disadvantages of
online marking
Disadvantages
Some experienced assessors are uncomfortable with this new
way of working
Dependence on the central system and on assessors having
high speed internet connections
Reading on a computer screen can be awkward - and not
everyone has the same quality of screen
Little published research into the effects
Computerised test marking
Multiple choice - currently tested
Short answer questions - currently tested
Extended answers - likely to be tested soon?
Computerised test marking
Multiple choice questions
Pro
Con
Instant results
Accurate feedback against criteria
Simple to administer
Cheap (compared to examiners)
On demand / on line
Can be taken anywhere
Restricts question types
Feedback often meaningless
Requires internet access
Costly in technician time
On demand still needs supervision
Can be taken anywhere
Computerised marking of extended answers
Different from online marking - there is no direct human
involvement in the process
Marking is carried out by software
One of two methods used
• Software is written to pre-empt the likely answers
• Software is based on the actual marking of human markers in
previous tests
Can computers read English?
Evaluation of such services
•
•



save money
save teacher time
only as good as the programmer - but this is also true of human
marking
learners can easily adapt writing to suit the software
use for extended writing could lead to very mechanical
appraisals - there could be a problem with style
How would a computer mark writing?
You could allocate marks like this:
Sentence = Capital letter to full stop
IF paragraph = simple sentences THEN score 1
IF paragraph = more complex sentence forms THEN score 2
but
Ernest Hemingway would probably fail - even though he
received a Nobel Prize for his writing.
Style is very difficult to analyse
What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect
that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends
the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British
life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The
whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.
Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the
war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life
of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we
fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all
that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new
Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the
lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our
duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its
Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This
was their finest hour."
What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect
that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends
the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British
life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The
whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.
Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the
war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life
of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But
if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States,
including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the
abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more
protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore
brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the
British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years,
men will still say, "This was their finest hour."
Style over substance?
Has the work gone into the layout or into the question?
Does the interface assist or confuse?
How is this different?
Digital pen
LeapFrog Enterprises - aims new gadget
at 8 - 14 year olds
Q uickTim e™ and a
TI FF ( Uncom pr essed) decom pr essor
ar e needed t o see t his pict ur e.
Writes in ink on special paper
Pronounces words once written
Touch the interactive pen any place on this
interactive, talking globe and learn
thousands of amazing facts. Compare
population and land area between say
Dundee, Scotland and Oaxaca, Mexico.
Digital pen
Write various commands
(for example, "tell me a
joke") and have the pen
oblige.
Sketch a calculator and use
the pen to solve basic math
problems.
Through so-called FlyTones, you can draw a
simple piano keyboard, including flats and
sharps, then play Do-Re-Mi (or whatever) by
tapping various keys. What's more, by
drawing a button next to the keyboard, you
can change from piano to a flute, marimba,
synthesizer or other instrument.
Digital pen
Fly Through Tests.
Students download to a home PC and
print quizzes(onto interactive Fly
paper)
Drawn from a database of 200,000
questions based on popular
textbooks.
Choose the subject matter and level.
Fly tells you the answers you missed
and how quickly you finished the
exam.
Further research
Security
Can pens be easily substituted?
Can the transceiver be hacked?
Is data in transmission encrypted or open?
Can material be loaded onto the pen during the examination?
Practical
How well does handwriting technology interface with the pen?
Do candidates like this method of working?
Access issues
Revision - assisted note taking
Recall Plus - note-taking software - organises notes into graphics
to suit the learning style of the user - generates areas for further
revision based on number of times accessed (so why not add
percentage of sample test questions answered correctly? etc)
Digital encryption
Can be used to transmit test papers, answers etc
Public key cryptography - same as used by banks
Practically unbreakable codes - it would take the resources of
the NSA or GCHQ to open one file
Tomorrow’s World
Online learning as well as or instead of classroom learning
Computer assisted revision
Assessments generated on demand and to the needs of the
individual
No paper trail - all material transmitted electronically
Instant feedback on assessment performance