Further Information: Online assessment is used effectively and appropriately to assess learning.
What is online assessment?
When someone learns something as part of an e-Learning programme, it is important to check if learning has taken place. Therefore any e-Learning content needs to have online assessment built in to it.
If you are working with developers of e-Learning, then you need to check that they know how to build in online assessment.
There are two main purposes for assessment.
Formative assessment: This is help the learner. For example where the learner does something on screen and then this is checked through a short quiz or test. If they don’t get it right, then they might be asked to try again or redo that page.
Summative assessment:This is to find out what the learner can do at the end of the piece of learning. It tests their knowledge and understanding. The trainer will then be able to see from the test whether or not learning has taken place.
How can you create online assessments?
The use of online assessment is the obvious method of assessing elearning. It can be as simple a questionnaire which can be in the format of:
- true or false answers
- matching exercises
- multiple choice questions
- drag and drop
Often an assessment can be evidenced with a print out of achievement.
The benefits of online assessments are:
- greater flexibility for tutors and learners
- anytime and any place assessment
- saving of the time of tutors and administration staff
- quicker and simplified procedures
- reduction of the workload of tutors
Rapid feedback can be gained from individuals and groups via email or posting on bulletin boards. Online groups and peer reviews can also be used for online assessment There are advantages and disadvantages of the different online methods. These need to be identified and considered.
When might online assessment be used?
It is important to develop performance indicators for measuring the impact of e-Learning and routinely evaluate. For example, you might decide to develop a short e-Learning package about the correct way of washing hands. Online assessment can be the most cost effective way of checking whether people know how to carry out this procedure correctly.
This method of online assessment allows training and development opportunities to be monitored. These results can be fed up to a local, regional and national level possibly through the National Learning Management System [NLMS]
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