Page 22 - Accents December

Languages Victoria
Re-shaping assessments in the digital age
by Paula Prouse
Leader of Pedagogy, Education Perfect
Online assessments. Are we re-shaping assessment in the digital age or are we simply substituting screen for paper? In this article I explore some of the possibilities and challenges with online assessments and propose a potential framework to use in the classroom.
Increasingly we are using digital technologies to assess. If a student is operating in a digital space day-to-day, it makes sense that their assessment should mirror that. But what about students who don’t have access to devices? Are we widening the gap?
I’d argue that there is tension between existing assessment policy and the demand to assess 21st century skills. Transposing digital technologies onto an existing framework of assessment is problematic because the “measures have been constructed using pedagogical beliefs which predate the digital age” (Heppell, 1999 in Starkey, 2016). No longer is it just about ‘knowing stuff’. We are equipping students with vital interpersonal skills such as negotiation, collaboration, and problem solving. Additionally, students are learning media literacy and how to sift through and critically analyse information. Is it possible to assess these skills? Is there a better way to test the thinking behind decisions? Rarely do we work in isolation, without collaboration or access to resources. Why are we demanding our students do the same?
Let’s take Languages in New Zealand as an example. Listening and reading examinations are the traditional image of an assessment: standardised across New Zealand, static, one-off, and closed-book conditions. However, there have been efforts to infuse technology into these assessments. Since 2015, various languages have been involved in online assessment pilots or trials.
Page 22 Volume 8 Number 2