Will technology provide a breakthrough in educational assessment?

Standardised testing programs seem to have been around forever. Debate about these programs hasn’t abated. We have written copious amounts about assessment and there has been endless advice for teachers about how they need to assess and what they need to do. A new concept has more recently emerged – a year’s growth, for a year’s learning.

Yet, we are still wrestling with how to assess.

·      Will advances in technology provide a much sought-after breakthrough?

·      Will software that enables teachers to create their own assessments be the answer?

·      Will giving schools greater flexibility in what they assess and when to assess ameliorate issues with standardised testing?

Join Andrew Smith, CEO Educational Services Australia, Lynda Fisher, Head of Moriah College Primary School, Mathilda Joubert, Educational Consultant, Sheridan College and me for a wide-ranging discussion about assessment, technology and the problems we need to solve.

We will review what is working for teachers and school leaders, and what’s not. We will consider creativity and whether we can measure creativity. We will reflect on the recent Gonski Review and share the work being undertaken by Educational Services Australia to develop an on-line and on-demand student learning assessment tool.  And we will also share a significant breakthrough in reliably assessing open-ended tasks that’s proving successful in Western Australian and South Australian schools. 

Friday 7 June, 9.15am, Edugrowth Innovation Stage, Edutech, ICC Sydney