Amongst current tendencies in assessment, there is the necessary response to fundamental changes in the curriculum that include increased emphasis on developing competences rather than accumulating knowledge and a move towards personalised learning. There is also a need to cater for increased learner empowerment and to take account of informal learning with the use of formative self-evaluation in a move to prepare the way for life-long learning. A further challenge is that of assessing collaborative working. One of the most noteworthy technological responses has been the development of the e-portfolio.

On the other hand there is a more ICT centric evolution towards using technology as a vehicle for summative assessment, including final school leaving examinations like the UK Advanced Levels. The use of ICT to carry out summative assessment and to spread and develop formative assessment will be considered during the meeting.

A position paper from Martin Ripley, formerly from QCA and a leading authority on e-assessment, will serve as a primer for discussions. Other contributions will cover the use of e-portfolios in schools and in teacher training, including a presentation of the use of portfolios by pupils from the Were Di college in Valkenswaard.

A number of interesting publications, articles and links are worth exploring on the topic. For a theoretical reading on assessment the OECD report on Formative assessment - Improving learning in secondary classrooms (2005) is a good start. The report defines formative assessment as the frequent, interactive assessments of student progress and understanding to identify learning needs and adjust teaching approaches more appropriately. Currently in schools the most visible assessments are summative and measure what students have learnt according to a required standard or as a method for selecting students for entry into further education. As the report states, ministries use summative assessments and evaluations as a way to hold publicly funded schools accountable for providing quality education.

A paper by Robert McCormick (2004) explores the various roles and relationships that ICT has in assessment, for example:

The assessment of ICT skills
The assessment of curriculum learning when work is done with the aid of ICT
Assessment within computer assisted learning
ICT as a tool in supporting the assessment process in general.
It explores ways forward, including “assessment for learning”, otherwise known as formative assessment, and new outcomes of ICT enhanced learning  such as creative thinking or collaboration, where current assessment has not come to terms with.

The Insight database contains useful resources on assessment including an Insight ‘Special Report on Assessment Schemes for Teachers’ ICT competence’. This report looked particularly at the state of the art of ICT-related training and assessment for teachers’ ICT competencies in sixteen European countries. The report shows among others that most of the countries tend to certify their teachers’ ICT competencies at the end of in service training. Two main developments can be identified; some countries focus more on formal assessment schemes and see this as leverage for large take up of ICT in schools, the establishment of standards and control over methods and content. In other countries national certifications are less important and broader approaches of assessing are pursued.

The Insight thematic dossier on ePortfolios (http://insight.eun.org/dossiers) describes different types of ePortfolios including those used for assessment. Several useful examples of ePortfolios can also be found in the ePortfolio scenarios database. This section is open to anyone willing to describe his/her experiences or plans to use ePortfolios in an educational setting, using a submission form.

Also on the Insight portals are several examples of countries’ experiences to organise assessment of pupils’ ICT competence such as the B2i in France or the ‘Passport TIC’ of the French Community of Belgium.

Useful links:
Insight Special report on Assessment schemes for teachers ICT competence
http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/misc/specialreports/ictcompetencies.htm

Thematic Dossier on ePortfolios
http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/thematic_dossiers/eportfolio.htm

OECD report on assessment
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?tag=XR3AG8XX49XX8X193HFLFY&lang=EN&sf1=identifiers&st1=962005021p1

Policy Brief summarising the finding of the OECD study
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/19/31/35661078.pdf

Futurelab report on e-Assessment
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/research/reviews/10_01.htm

Types of portfolios including assessment
http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/school_innovation/eportfolio_scenarios/portfolios_types.htm

ePortfolios scenarios
http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/school_innovation/eportfolio_scenarios.htm

Country reports search interface (chose keyword 'certification')
http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/misc/country_report.cfm

France
http://www.eun.org/insight-pdf/P2P/Briefing_Note_French%20P2P_visit_June_final.pdf
http://www.b2i.fr/
http://c2i.education.fr/

Denmark
The use of ICT for written examinations in vocational upper secondary education
http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/policy/policies/archive/ict_examinations_dk.htm

French Belgium ’Passeport TIC’
http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/policy/policies/passporttice.htm

The European Pedagogical ICT licence
http://www.uni-c.dk/generelt/english/education/ict-licence.html

Robert McCormick, ICT and student assessment, The Open Univerity (2004 Ernist project)
http://www.eun.org/insight-pdf/ernist/2_9_Paper_9_%20ICT_and_Pupil_assessment.doc