2020 Conference
The 2020 e-Assessment Question Virtual Conference
The 2020 e-Assessment Question Virtual Conference, which replaced the in-person conference which could not take place in April due to Coronavirus, took place in June and July 2020. We had an exciting series of nine presentation webinars from stimulating speakers and panel sessions.
WEEK ONE – FUTURE GAZING & INNOVATION
The opening webinar started with Dr Maren Deepwell, CEO of the Association for Learning Technology who kicks of this week and Virtual Conference with a keynote reflecting on the past 25 years of learning technology and how the current COVID-19 crisis may affect our views. The ‘looking ahead’ theme was developed further looking at how the e-assessment community can support the new skills strategy and the lessons to be learned from national implementation of digital assessment elsewhere. A focus on 21st century skills and how they are being approached was covered as well as some innovative developments in assessment of mathematics, English and the use of machine learning and ‘big data’.
Looking Ahead to the Future
Dr Maren Deepwell, Keynote Speaker: Chief Executive of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), Learning Technologist and Anthropologist
Dr Maren Deepwell will be presenting on Learning from 25 years of TEL history to prepare for an uncertain future.
Mike Dawe, Consultant, Certif-ID, formerly Director of International at City & Guilds
Technological change and labour mobility – pressures and implications for assessment. We shouldn’t be fearful of our rapidly changing world; risks are real but so is opportunity. There are opportunities for business and, more substantially, the choices we make can affect global income inequality.
Dr Eleanor Andressen;, Senior Researcher and Efficacy Lead, Pearson
Dr Eleanor Andressen will be discussing the considerations and preparations for moving high stakes assessment in England to digital platforms.
21st Century Skills
Mark Dawe, CEO, Association of Employment and Learning Providers
New government, new skills, new assessment
A look at the government’s skills strategy and priorities and what opportunities there are likely to be for the e-assessment community in supporting the government’s aims and those that deliver skills training and assessment.
Charlotte Bosworth, Managing Director, Innovate Awarding
Charlotte Bosworth will be reviewing how technology can support delivery and assessment of Apprenticeship standards.
Tanya MacDonald, Head of Commercialisation, eCom
Tanya MacDonald will be presenting Virtual Reality: The new normal in e-Assessment for vocational assessment
Innovation in Assessment
Dr Saad M. Khan, Senior Director, AI and Machine Learning at ACTNext
Dr Saad M. Khan will be presenting CPSX – An AI-driven Approach to Measuring Collaboration Skills Using Online Games
Frank Elsner, Manager, Educational Business, Office and School Equipment, Casio Europe
Frank Elsner will be presenting on the Future of Maths Learning.
Geoff Chapman, e-Assessment Consultant
Geoff Chapman will be presenting Boom and bust: How English language testing is shaping the e-Assessment sector.
WEEK TWO – ASSESSMENT AND PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION
Our speakers in these themed webinars have been involved in significant and large-scale implementations in assessment. The sessions included examples of how international awarding organisations leverage the use of online assessment to provide relevant and valid testing on a global scale. Presenters examined how this impacts on regulation and strategy for a nation, approaches in HE and dealing with the ever-present realities of malpractice. Examples of secure delivery of assessments in challenging circumstances were discussed demonstrating that technology is often not the issue in making change.
Assessment on a Global Scale
Keynote Speaker: David Phillips, Managing Director, City & Guilds and ILM
David Phillips will be presenting on the e-Assessment journey and where the Covid19 experience might take us all next.
Paul Crump, Assessment Group Manager, Cambridge English Language Assessment
Paul Crump is presenting on Remote proctoring: the future of invigilation for e-assessments?
Paul Muir, Head of Computer Based Testing, British Council
Paul Muir is presenting from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe: Taking computer based testing to the wider world.
Summative Assessment
Andy Lester, Senior Manager Strategic Policy, Ofqual
Andy Lester will outline how Ofqual, the qualifications regulator for England, is seeking to support good innovation in the qualifications market, including new uses for technologies in assessment.
Dr Peter Alston, Principal Lecturer in Learning and Teaching, BPP University
Dr Peter Alston is presenting ‘Are we all on the same page?’ The challenge of e-assessment terminology.
Sir John Dunford, Chair, JCQ Independent Commission on Exam Malpractice
Reducing malpractice in exams and assessments. This session will explore the ways in which e-assessment can be used to both reduce and prevent malpractice in academic and vocational awards including how technology could be used beneficially.
Formative Assessment
Dan Sandhu, CEO, Sparx
Dan Sandhu is presenting Show me the evidence: why it’s vital for the EdTech industry to avoid smoke and mirrors.
Andy Lewis, Field Research Manager, AlphaPlus Consultancy
Andy Lewis is presenting on Wales National Assessments.
Aftab Hussain, ILT Manager, Bolton College
Aftab Hussain will be presenting a case study looking at at how e-Assessment has been used to support teachers with the formative assessment process of open-ended questions.
WEEK THREE – TECHNOLOGY, HE AND REGULATION
The e-Assessment Association brought together speakers of international reputation who are leading research and development into areas of assessment that many may not even know exist. New approaches to assessing students’ conceptual understanding were considered, together with insightful case studies in the HE sector. The contributors are prominent thought-leaders in their sectors – not only from a research viewpoint, but also from practical implementation at scale. The week ended with a look at the implications of data protection legislation on the way in which testing can be conducted including a discussion with representatives from the national regulators across the UK.
Technology in Testing
Keynote Speaker: Pete Atherton, Author of 50 Ways to Use Technology Enhanced Learning in the Classroom
Pete Atherton ‘s Keynote presentation How I became an edtech double agent will look at how you empower trainee teachers to become a better teacher and support students using edtech.
Brian Moon, Chief Technology Officer, Perigean Technologies
Brian Moon is presenting on Formative knowledge assessment using concept mapping.
Angela Verschoor, Senior Researcher, CITO
Angela Verschoor is presenting Machine scoring of open-ended items: The holy grail of e-assessment.
Assessment in Higher Education
Lucy Turner, Assistant Programme Manager, Education, Nesta
Can technology help reduce teacher workload? Lessons from Nesta’s EdTech Innovation Fund.
Dr Fiona Meddings, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery, Bradford University
Dr Fiona Meddings will be presenting on the integration of Pebblepad© into a problem based learning curriculum for preparation of students in becoming registered midwives.
Professor Emma Mayhew, Academic Director, Electronic Management of Assessment Programme at Reading University
Thinking of a number: The impact of a new assessment analytics dashboard on the student assessment experience.
An overview of the University’s new Student Progress Dashboard and the impact on the student assessment experience.
Privacy and Regulation
John Kleeman, Founder and Executive Director, Questionmark
John Kleeman will be presenting Which is more important – assessment security or test-taker privacy?
Followed by a panel discussion: Regulation vs Innovation
- Chaired by Graeme Clark, Head of Digital Assessment Services, SQA
- Roger Trigg, Education Manager, CCEA Regulation, Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
- Andy Lester, Senior Manager Strategic Policy, Ofqual
Gareth Downey, Senior Manager Vocational Qualifications, Qualifications Wales - Laura Walkerdine, Senior Regulation Manager, SQA
