The Shift Towards Electronic Assessment
The electronic assessment of professional practice is something which we’ve been involved in for many years. The embrace of e-assessment has notably increased in recent years, partially driven by the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This reflects a broader trend in the digital transformation of education and professional development. It signifies a shift towards utilising technology to optimise learning and assessment experiences, promoting lifelong learning, and enabling individuals to showcase their knowledge and skills in a digital era.
Proven Benefits for Engagement
Research carried out on an e-portfolio site produced for the midwifery programme at Bournemouth University, OPALBU (Online Practice Assessment for Learning at Bournemouth University), demonstrates the benefits of adopting an electronic approach to assessment:
- The average word-count from mentors for final interviews more than doubled from approximately 68 words to 162 words
- 100% of interviews had comments from students and were accurately date and time stamped, compared to only around 32% of paper portfolios
- 60% of mentors highlighted areas for future learning, compared to 24% when using paper documents. The areas highlighted were also more specific and directive
E-assessment for Universities
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the wisdom of Universities which had adopted online assessment techniques. Moving online enabled tutors working from home to continue to support their students in practice.
Configurable and Easily Updated
The configurability of the e-assessment sites that we provide for Universities allows us to quickly made changes when required. An example of this was the emergency measures introduced by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which we responded to by efficiently updating our systems to reflect the new measures.
Accessible from Multiple Devices
All students at our partner Universities are able to instantly record practice experiences, as well as practice-based formative and summative assessments undertaken throughout their training. Our systems enable users to interact with evidence in order to create a comprehensive and reliable account of a student’s journey on a defined pathway. They’re easy to use on PC, tablet, and mobile devices, irrespective of the operating system. Our sites also employ mobile-first development, automatically resizing to fit the display of the accessed device, regardless of its type.
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