Digital Forms of Performance Assessment

In many ways assessment drives the curriculum and often pedagogy at all levels of education. In a world where it is more important what you can do with what you know rather than just what you know, it is critical that practical performance is assessed in reliable and valid ways that are also cost-effective. Increasingly the use of digital technologies to support the assessment of performance is seen as o key aspect to achieving this aim. This paper will report on the use of an online portfolio system and database linked marking tool to support a number of ways of using digital technologies to represent student work for assessment

Realising the investment in ICT in schools: School Leadership the missing piece

This paper draws on a range of internal research and external reports to discuss the relationship between school leadership and the impact of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in schools. Characteristics of school leadership and related decision-making processes are key determinants to the successful integration of ICT. While the Principal‟s role is important, having a leadership team that includes a curriculum leader who provides vision and support in the use of ICT is the most important component. The effectiveness of such a role depends on its connection with the leadership structure, the status of the person, and personal characteristics

Digital forms of assessment: aligning with pedagogic and curriculum intentions

Increasingly in the world fewer work tasks are done using paper and pen and yet most high-stakes assessment in schools continues to use this primitive technology. In the past it has been considered too difficult to reliably and manageably assess large cohorts of students using approaches more valid than using paper. The range of maturing digital technologies for handling multimedia now provides opportunities to address this discrepancy. This paper reports on a three-year project investigating the use of digital technologies to represent student work for high-stakes summative assessment in four senior secondary courses. The project used a range of digital devices, online and offline technologies, and database portfolio systems linked to online marking tools. In addition the comparative pairs method of marking was compared with an analytical standards-referenced method. The project involved 82 teachers and their senior secondary classes

Authentic digital representation of creative works for assessment

This paper reports on the first stage of a three-year project to investigate the representation of student portfolios in digital forms for the purpose of summative assessment. In a number of senior secondary courses in Western Australia, such as Visual Arts and Design, students submit a physical portfolio for summative assessment that takes various forms dependent on the chosen context. The collection and judging/marking of these portfolios has increasingly been considered to be problematic by assessors, teachers and probably many students. While it should be feasible to digitize these portfolios and apply a similar method of marking, the digitization process and output would need to be shown to authentically represent the original work of the student. Since portfolios can vary considerably in form, structure and purpose, reliable assessment is very difficult and results from our previous research indicate that this problem may be better addressed through digitization. The first phase of the project involved creating digital representations of the practical creative work submitted by a sample of students in the Year 12 Visual Arts and Design courses and comparing the results of marking these with the physical forms

Effective School Leadership for Return on Investment in ICT

Research in Western Australian schools and reports from studies across the nation over the past decade have supported international research to find that the leadership of a school is a critical factor in the way in which of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are used, and their subsequent impact on teaching and learning. This paper discusses this relationship by drawing on a range of local research and international reports. In a range of school situations it was found that particular characteristics of the leadership of a school and related decision-making processes are key determinants to the successful integration of ICT by teachers. While the Principal is a key component it was found that involvement of a leadership team that includes a Curriculum leader who provides vision and support for teachers’ in the use of ICT is the most important component. The effectiveness of such a role depends on its connection with the leadership structure of a school, the status of the person in the role, and a range of personal characteristics, including a combination of curriculum understanding and competence in the use of ICT

Transforming schooling with 1:1 mobile computer support

This paper discusses a range of issues around 1:1 student to computing devices programs in schools and reports on the critical factors that will contribute to the success of this approach. The researcher was privileged to evaluate one of the early adopter laptop programs and then follow-up by evaluating the first program in a Western Australian government school. Research has found that while the 1:1 model does tend to better realise the potential of the technology doing so in real school settings is not a trivial matter and those responsible need to consider, and plan for, a range of factors

Computer-based exams in schools: Freedom from the limitations of paper?

There is little doubt that the curriculum content and pedagogy in schools is driven by the structure and forms of assessment employed, particularly for summative purposes. When most such assessment was limited to what a student could do with a pen and paper in short ‘exams’ this pushed the content of the curriculum towards small descriptive chunks, and the pedagogy towards memorisation and replication techniques. Over the past two decades alternative forms of assessment supported by the power of computer systems have been conceived and tried. This paper discusses progress towards various forms of computer-based exams and how these may encourage curriculum and pedagogy suited to 21st Century learning. In particular it draws attention to research I have led to investigate the feasibility of a number of forms of computer-based exams for high-stakes summative assessment in secondary education. The result was the successful development and implementation of audiovisual stimuli and response computer-based exams, and digital production exams resulting in portfolios of evidence. Each implemented form of exam was tested for feasibility to ensure a defensible balance of manageability, reliability and validity. I believe that for most highstakes summative assessment in Australian schools it is time to replace the ancient paper-based technology with computer-based technologies

Digital portfolios for summative assessment

The collection and scoring of creative practical work for summative assessment across a large jurisdiction such as Western Australia is challenging. An alternative approach would be to submit digital representations as online portfolios. However, to give a valid and reliable measure the representations would need to be of adequate quality. Further, judgements of creative practical work are necessarily subjective giving concern about the reliability of scores for high-stakes assessment. The paired comparisons method of scoring lends itself to addressing this problem and is feasible where the work is in digital form. This paper reports on a three-year study to investigate the representation of student practical work in digital forms for the purpose of summative assessment in the Visual Arts and Design courses. This study set out to determine whether the digital approach was feasible and adequate fidelity could be achieved in order to use the paired comparisons method of scoring. The study found this process was feasible, and the results were acceptable. However, the approach lacked support from Visual Arts teachers and students who wanted the original artworks to be assessed. By contrast the attitudes and perceptions of Design teachers and students were very supportive

Learning with portable digital devices in Australian schools: 20 years on!

Portable computing technologies such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, wireless networking, voice/stylus input, and plug and play peripheral devices, appear to offer the means of finally realising much of the long heralded vision for computers to support learning in schools. There is the possibility for the technology to finally become a ubiquitously invisible component of the learning environment, empowering children to attempt feats well beyond their current capabilities. These technologies are finding a place in many schools, and there has now been over two decades of research conducted into their use in schools. What is now known about implementing portable computing technologies in schools? What should educational leaders take from this research before making decisions about the technologies used in schools