Digital assessment: it’s time to press the button
Published: Tuesday 23 Nov 2021
At this year’s Schools and Academies Show our Director of Research and Regulation, Alex Scharaschkin, told delegates it’s time to make digital assessment a reality.
The future of the curriculum, and the qualifications system, has been the subject of unparalleled public debate following the coronavirus pandemic. Alex explained that, as we plan for that future, we must now seriously and practically begin the process of moving to digital forms of assessment.
Speaking at the event, Alex said:
“Assessment is both what we do to support the award of qualifications, and the methods and tools we use, day to day in the classroom, to decide where to go next with a student, and how to support their learning.
“In both these areas there are significant benefits that digital approaches can unlock, in terms of validity, accessibility, personalisation, and efficiency. Undoubtedly there are also challenges, but experience shows that these challenges are surmountable, and that the benefits outweigh them.
“We can start in the classroom. Then, in the medium term, as students become more familiar with digital assessment as a normal way of working, in summative scenarios too.
“During the course of the pandemic we’ve had to learn, rapidly, to use technology differently and at scale. Let’s capitalise on that and start to work towards making some types of digital assessment a reality.”
You can read more on the future of digital assessment in an i news interview with our CEO Colin Hughes.
