Innovation in technology-enhanced assessment in the UK and the USA: future scenarios and critical considerations

Abstract

This paper uses methods derived from the field of futures studies to explore the future of technology-enhanced assessment. Drawing on interviews and consultation activities with experts, the paper aims to discuss the conditions that can impede or foster ‘innovation’ in assessment and education more broadly. Through a review of relevant research, the paper suggests an interpretive model of the factors sustaining the conservatism of educational assessment: the utilitarian view of education, dominant beliefs about academic excellence, and market or quasi-market dynamics. In the central section of the paper, three scenarios of innovation in assessment are described, developed through an iterative process involving researchers, representatives from the e-assessment industry, and experts from British awarding organisations. In the final section, a critical discussion draws attention to the implications that data pervasiveness and computer-generated predictive models may have for the future of education.

Keywords:

• assessment
• technology
• futures
• data
• innovation

Acknowledgements

The project was sponsored by the now defunct Becta. Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) was a non-departmental public body (popularly known as a Quango) which acted as the lead agency for information and communications technology (ICT) in education in the UK. It was funded by the British government from 1998 to 2011. A report is available outlining the main outcomes of the original project (Perrotta & Wright, 2010). What follows is a list, in no particular order, of the experts, practitioners and stakeholders who kindly accepted to take part in the original study this paper draws upon. I wish to thank them for their time and valuable inputs. I also wish to remind the reader that, although the individuals consulted informed the research process, the final responsibility of everything stated in this paper rests with its author.

Matt Wingfield, Dylan Wiliam, Dave White, Sean McCusker, Daniel Pead, Tony Wheeler, Marius Frank, Norbert Pachler, Ayesha Ahmed, Patrick Craven, Bob Penrose, James Paul Gee, Valerie Shute, Anne Trant, Steve Suckling, Martin Robinson, Martyn Ware, Michael Cox, Assiya Hussain, Jeremy Carter, Gareth Mills, Marion Burke, Zoe Elder, Shakuntala Banaji, Bobby Elliott, Dan Roberts, Paul Newton, Jan Webb, Tom Barrett, Alessio Bernardelli, Dawn Hallybone, Donna Burton-Wilcock, Dave Evans, Seyhan Baki, David Gardner, Steve Lay, Bob Mozeley, Alastair Beresford, Sue Densley, Patricia Forrest, Laura Cassidy, Russell Wallington.

Notes

1. Due to word limit constraints, readers are encouraged to consult the original literature for a more detailed description of the methods.

2. hive.arkansas.gov.

3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11571513.