We are using online assessment to make exams or coursework more flexible and efficient and to give new practice assessment opportunities so that our students can test their knowledge and get immediate feedback on their understanding.
There are various ways in which learning technologies can be used to support assessment and feedback, including the facility to submit assignments of various kinds through the VLE and ways of providing feedback delivered online, from podcasts to annotated online documents.
Online assessment includes both summative and formative exams and surveys: it is flexible, efficient and secure. Online versions of papers can extend the types of questions that we can set for students. The University is developing its systems to support the room requirements, preparation and invigilation of computer-based exams.
An ideal online assessment system has three key attributes:
-
quality, in terms of question content
-
usability, for students taking exams and for staff setting questions
-
security, from Internet threats and potential unauthorised access to exam papers
Rogo (formerly called TouchStone) is the University of Nottingham e-Assessment management system used to create and deliver online assessments. Rogo is a powerful e-assessment tool with many features and is suitable for use throughout the HE sector: it has been available under an open source licence since July 2011
Rogo supports 15 question types which have been designed to meet different assessment requirements. It provides secure online summative assessments and supports the full process from question and paper creation (including peer and external examiner reviews) to the analysis of exam results and creation of reports.
