Presentation delivered by Gavin Lang, Edinburgh's Telford College, at the eAssessment Scotland 2011 conference.

1. Edinburgh’s Telford CollegeBuilding the e-Assessment Centre e-Assessment Scotland Conference Friday 26thAugust2011

2. So How Did It All Start? Learning and Teaching @ETC Project – September 08 Request for Change Submitted to SMT – January 09 Visits to Aberdeen College

3. Building the Centre Built Summer 2009 – Launched November 2009 Set up to BSI Standards and External Awarding Body Specifications SQA Guide to Effective Practice

4. Advantages e-Assessment is becoming widely used in Further Education and has many advantages over traditional (paper-based) assessment which includes: lower long-term costs provides instant feedback to students and tutors greater flexibility with respect to location and timing greater storage efficiency - tens of thousands of answer scripts can be stored on a server compared to the physical space required for paper scripts enhanced question styles which incorporate interactivity and multimedia.

5. So How Did We Set Up The Centre? Storage Areas and Numbering System Set Up Golden Rules PC Layout Posters Forms Created Booking Form & Procedure Registers Checklists Room Checklist Tutor/Student Evaluations Issues Sheet

9. External Awarding Bodies SQA (SOLAR – BTL Platform) C&G (GOLA) Microsoft AAT (BTL Platform) Prometric Certiport Pearson Vue Platforms

10. Packages Used Questionmark Inquizitor SOLAR – SQA GOLA – C&G Test VQ SAGE CISCO AAT Pearson Vue

11. Types of Assessment Taken Formative – 144Sessions Summative – 200Sessions Diagnostic – 315Sessions Gaming – 2 Sessions

12. Security Settings Browse Control – Locks down PC’s & Monitor, Blocks Applications and Web Sites SQA SOLAR Secure Browser AAT Secure Browser Questionmark Secure iTalc

13. Promotional Activities Drop Ins Flyers – Questionmark Direct Marketing Managers Paper/Questionnaire SOLAR Updates

14. Usage Statistics 7,108Students through centre since opening 79% Uptime (May & June 2011)

15. Quality Issues Summative Process Approval of e-Assessments - SQA SQA e-Assessment Group

16. HMIe – Curriculum for Excellence Enthusiasm and motivation for learning Use technology for learning Learning experiences that are imaginative, creative, stimulating and challenging Wide range of learning approaches Independent learning Hands-on learning Active Involved Learner

17. Quotes “This is an excellent aid to improving efficiency with regard to the teaching and learning process in the college as not only can the time saved in marking be diverted into planning and upgrading teaching materials but the students and lecturers have instant feedback with the addition of very informative reports”. Paul McMahon – Curriculum Manager

18. Quotes “The majority of the group clearly enjoyed undertaking their assessments using the material as it provided instant feedback. The e-Assessment material has been fully validated by SQA for use and at present can be used to undertake the multiple choice assessments. Now that we have a dedicated assessment centre it will be easier to arrange time/dates to allow students to undertake the assessments”. Jamie Culpan – Joinery Lecturer

19. Student Feedback Student Feedback (NC Childcare Group B, 12/3/10) Overall the students were very enthusiastic about the assessment and whole process Found that the questions were worded better than the paper assessments – easier to understand A much fairer process for people with dyslexia Makes assessment equal for everyone as does not depend on your written skills but knowledge of the subject Overall found it much better than paper assessments as you are focussed on the knowledge of the subject rather than how to write your answers You need to know more of the unit for this type of assessment as no idea of questions that will come up (therefore for staff it removes any teaching to the test!) Students overall got very good results and completed the assessment in less than the allocated time E-Learning Centre: Staff were very helpful Well organised Technology all worked – no problems Very easy system to use, they feel even if you had poor IT skills you could do this Process was well explained by staff in e-assessment centre and they were there to help with any problems System tells you the time used etc

20. Any Questions?