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In the new reality of blended learning, innovative forms of assessment can provide flexibility and empower staff and students
Digital assessment can unlock more creative and authentic ways to test student knowledge and prepare graduates for the real-world challenges of the future workplace
A 探花视频 round table, held in partnership with Inspera Assessment, asked a panel of higher education leaders from Australia and New Zealand how digital assessment can revolutionise online and blended learning.
Chair Alistair Lawrence, special projects editor at 探花视频, said the Covid-19 pandemic had 鈥渞ewritten the traditional rules of assessment and examinations鈥.
Jennie Shaw, deputy vice-chancellor and vice-president (academic) at the University of Adelaide, said digital assessments had been found to suit some staff and students better than traditional assessments.听
鈥淭here are some areas, including some areas pre-pandemic, that insisted that all assessment be face-to-face, that are now insisting that they will never return to face-to-face assessment,鈥 she said. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e to do that, we will in some areas need significant investment in our online systems and ongoing training and support for our staff and students.鈥
Giselle Byrnes, provost at Massey University, said a challenge for universities was moving away from thinking about assessment in 鈥渓inear terms鈥.
鈥淚 think we should be looking at increasingly authentic assessment and what that looks like for students in really preparing them for the world of work,鈥 she said. 鈥淎t our university, we鈥檝e seen an increasing move away from summative forms of assessment, like traditional examinations. I think we鈥檝e got to be very open to dynamic forms of authentic assessment.鈥
Bridget Kool, pro vice-chancellor of education at the University of Auckland, said staff had made a huge effort to upskill and transform delivery, including designing new forms of assessment.
鈥淲e鈥檝e introduced a new structure with our central learning designers so faculties can approach them with projects and maybe ask for help to redesign an assessment,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he whole idea of the learning designers is 鈥榯rain the trainer鈥, so they then develop those skills and support other people in their staffing teams.鈥
Dominique Parrish, pro vice-chancellor of learning and teaching at Macquarie University,听said the pandemic had allowed staff and students to change their thinking about assessment. Rather than only summative exams, the institution had introduced more assessed project work and work integrated learning, focusing on how learning translates to a workplace.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking more at assessment as learning and assessment for learning, rather than assessment of learning. So, it鈥檚 this shift in thinking about how we assess our students,鈥 Parrish said.
Ishan Kolhatkar, general manager for Australia and New Zealand at Inspera Assessment, said some accredited bodies continued to insist on more traditional, invigilated exams, but there were also a range of other, flexible assessment options. Using a platform like Inspera to transition to digital assessment could increase efficiency and reduce the time faculty spent on manual tasks.
鈥淭hat then frees up time for people to do the innovation we鈥檝e heard about, to think about the ways in which they can assess in a different way, or perhaps a better way,鈥 Kolhatkar said.
In the wake of the pandemic, graduates would have to be 鈥減roperly equipped鈥 for workplaces with growing engagement with digital formats, said Sherman Young, deputy vice-chancellor of education and vice-president of RMIT.听听
鈥淲e need to make sure that the skills that they have and the way we assess those skills is appropriate for this future,鈥 Young said. 鈥淥ne of the drivers will be, 鈥榟ow can we make sure that we assess in such a way that makes sense for a future that we know is going to be different from the past?鈥 And that, clearly, is going to have to be, to a certain extent, digital.鈥
The panel:
- Giselle Byrnes, provost, Massey University听
- Ishan Kolhatkar, general manager of Australia and New Zealand, Inspera Assessment听
- Bridget Kool, pro vice-chancellor of education, University of Auckland听
- Alistair Lawrence, special projects editor, 探花视频 (chair)听
- Dominique Parrish, pro vice-chancellor of learning and teaching, Macquarie University听
- Jennie Shaw, deputy vice-chancellor and vice-president (academic), University of Adelaide听
- Sherman Young, deputy vice-chancellor of education and vice-president, RMIT听听
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