Another podcast from the Leaders and Legends podcast series recorded in May with Dr. Matthew Hillier on the topic of online exams and assessments.
Began with background and how he became interested in e-assessments. He has worked in several universities and started working on e-assessments with Geoffrey Crisp.
The focus of the podcast is on online exams/assessments as summative assessments.
Provided a summary of the evolution of e-assessments from over a decade ago, moving from using USB sticks to learning managements systems, virtual environments (second life) etc. or conducting exams via distance.
Sees covid-19 as a tipping point in having to pay attention to online learning which could be disregarded in the past. Designing for good online learning does not have to have so many synchronous sessions. Exams do not have to be synchronous and expensive on-line proctoring systems are not necessarily the solution. Shifting to distance needs to be carefully considered and not rushed - as is happening now. Provided an example of University of New England's 5 year journey to implement on-line proctoring and this did set them up well for the current challenges.
Supported the 'not all have to do the same' scenario as each discipline, student cohort, accreditation requirements etc. Therefore important to understand the 'needs' and work at finding a good solution.
Covered the important underpinning systems to be taken into account which include authencity, security and scalability. Difficult to have all three in place and each requires careful consideration. Security may result in usability issues. Authenticity of assessment and learner is key. To ensure both authencity and security makes scalability difficult. Cost effectiveness is also difficult if both authencity and security are to be met. Effectiveness of these also need to be balanced with pedagogical approaches.
Therefore, need to look at assessments and how innovation can be used to shift the way assessments are carried out. Example is the use of augmented reality exam (on second life) and to collect spatial data as the evidence of learning. Authencity of the activity and the learner's reactions and interactions is possible using this form of assessment.
Ethics needs to be considered and some online proctoring platforms are being resisted due to the challenges of ensuring privacy for the learner. Exams are passe and other ways of assessing must be considered. However, accreditation agencies etc. still require exams :( so educators need to think of ways to modernise exams which still have rigour. Opportunities are still to be explored, including the use of workplace practice, oral 'exams' etc.
Overall, a good summary of the challenges, potentialities and update on online exams and eassessments.
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