Supporting e-assessment in Northern Ireland
Last updated on: 02/10/2009
Ofqual’s work on e-assessment seeks to ensure that regulatory arrangements encourage innovative methods of assessment without barriers to development. At the same time, assessments must continue to be fair and standards secure so that public confidence is sustained.
Over the past 4 years we have carried out research with awarding organisations and centres to ascertain their readiness for e-assessment across vocational qualifications. The work has resulted in the development of efutures, a dedicated website on e-assessment. We continue to draw on the experience and practice within the wider sectors and education network to ensure that efutures is an all encompassing website for e-assessment to encourage consistency and collaborative working across providers and their awarding organisations.
As a result of ongoing consultation with users of the efutures website and other key stakeholders, Ofqual have developed an online e-assessment toolkit. In 2007 e-assessment: guide to effective practice was published by the 4-country qualifications regulators. It covered 2 key aspects of e-assessment; the management and delivery of e-testing and the use of e-portfolios for assessment. This toolkit builds on the existing guide and is designed to provide clear, current, practical information to e-assessment practitioners, or those thinking of adopting e-assessment. The toolkit offers useful tools and resources, helping users to develop and share their knowledge of e-assessment for effective implementation.
Over the past 12 months we have carried out further research to look at the expansion of efutures as a 4 country resource on e-assessment as well as integrating the online toolkit. As we enter the final phase of this work we are seeking your valued opinion on the toolkit and are implementing the recommendations from the research report on efutures and we anticipate that the final completed website will be live in January 2010. We are keen to involve awarding organisations in the development of content on e-assessment through building up new and refreshed case studies. If you are interested in this please contact Fran (fran.dowler@ofqual.gov.uk) In addition you can visit the online toolkit where you can rate the information, or post comments and/ or questions.