2024 Exam Sector Review
A curious year for the assessment sector. $25M fines for exam cheating. UK spluttering on plans for digitising school exams. A regulator...
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Sep 53 min read
When you forget about trialling school digital exams and assessment 20 years ago.
I read yesterday’s review report on curriculum and assessment, chaired by former Secretary of State for Education Charles Clarke,...
Jun 73 min read
Got issues? Don’t let Mr Angry stop the digital exam debate
Why do angry educators try to shut down the school digital exam debate? Read how mis-trust, inarticulacy, and passivity prevents advocacy.
Feb 293 min read
It's a Vision Thing. 5 problems with the Digital School Exams vision, and how to improve it.
The school digital exam vision seems to have stalled. Here are five problems with the vision, and five solutions on how to improve it.
Jan 293 min read
A sure BETT? Why the Absent Punner’s 'snap and sneer' stunts digital exam adoption, and ignores learner impact.
The long-running UK exhibition BETT is a nexus for global ed-tech folk. There are plenty of visitors and booth workers, usually away from...
Jan 273 min read
Hey Paper Hostage, what’s the rush? Why school exam digitisation perpetuates inequality. But not how you think.
England’s school exam owners have presented their digital journey to 2030. Railway enthusiasts may scoff, but isn’t seven years too long...
Jan 163 min read
The new Metric Martyrs? Are digital exams really the same as paper ones?
England’s school exam owners are preparing to offer GCSE digital exams and their paper equivalent in parallel. But is that fair? Is one...
Jan 123 min read
Love Professional Career Invigilators! Leave Resting Actors to pull pints.
The tide is turning on casual exam invigilators. Career folk invigilating every day versus apathetic people wishing they were elsewhere....
Jan 92 min read
"But We Don't Have Enough Computers!" Delivering digital exams for UK schools
The main four England and Wales General Qualifications exam owners have set out their digital school exam stall. It's shook many digital...
Jan 42 min read
24 years ago we moved a big exam from paper to on-screen
Moving a 1.5M paper test to on-screen delivery
Dec 20, 20222 min read
How ChatGPT changes the assessment sector
Each of us creates 1.7Mb of data every second of every day. With over a billion websites, that’s 5 billion gigabytes of data out there!...
Jun 18, 20209 min read
Boom and Bust - English Language Exams
How English language digital exams impact learners
Nov 16, 20185 min read
Chatting for better exams!
Back in July, I was intrigued by the use of a chatbot for conducting university admission at Leeds Beckett University, wondering what...
Apr 12, 20182 min read
Where did you get this? Remote Proctoring shaking up the exam world
The Wow Factor Technology captures our imaginations to solve problems we never knew we had. In readiness for the 16th eAssessment...
Feb 13, 20183 min read
Trust and confidence - are you being invigilated?
The UK and worldwide press are writing more stories on exam invigilation malpractice. Parents, learners and press journalists are asking...
Mar 1, 20173 min read
Accredit When Ready
Employers must ensure they have a workforce that is bang up to date with its knowledge, understanding and skills, while minimising the...
Dec 13, 20165 min read
Assessment Security – helping to maintain exam credibility
The BBC Panorama investigative story on UK television this evening, regarding the compromise of the TOEIC exam is the story of the...
Aug 7, 20162 min read
2016 Exam Results Day
Going to university? Wouldn’t it be great if you could choose your university based on actual results, not on mocks or ‘guesstimates’? Do...
Nov 2, 20153 min read
Educause 2015
In late October, I visited the Educause conference at the Indianapolis Convention Centre/ Center. Held over four days, the event is a...
Jun 4, 20144 min read
A question of duality: 11 reasons why exam dual-sourcing is good and bad for learners and exam owners
After seven years of delivering through one assessment company, Microsoft Learning have returned to ‘dual-sourcing’, that is offering...
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