This document discusses e-assessment and the use of technology in assessment. It defines different types of assessment and explores how tools like Moodle quizzes, wikis, blogs, and mobile technologies can be used for formative, summative, peer, and self-assessment. It also addresses issues around designing assessments, providing feedback, and capturing student transformation through more open-ended Web 2.0 tools.

1. Transforming Technologies:
Teaching and Learning in the
Digital Age
Session 7:
E-Assessment

2. 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.

3. What is e-assessment?

4. Types of assessment
screening initial diagnostic
formative summative

5. 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

6. Moodle quiz: conscientious design
Pre-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?

7. 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’.

8. 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

9. Holistic assessment

10. Capturing ‘transformation’ in Web 2.0

11. 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, and
because 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.

12. Warwick example: iTutor

13. 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.

14. Blog feedback

15. • 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

16. 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?