Assessment 2.0

Assessment is the process of generating and gathering evidence of student learning, such that a judgement can be made about that evidence. Or at least it is in assessment 1.0. This is assessment as we have known it, and its characteristics have changed little in 100 years.

Web 2.0 covers "six big ideas" (Anderson, 2006, cited by Elliott, 2007):

1. user-generated content
2. the power of the crowd
3. data on an epic scale
4. architecture of participation
5. network effects
6. openness

Enter assessment 2.0. In a world where "web 2.0 is life 1.0 for most [younger] students" (Elliott, 2007), it is argued that the type of assessment activity best suited to the digital native will exhibit the following characteristics:

• Authenticity - assessment of real-world skills and knowledge
• Personalised - reflecting the knowledge, skills and interests of students
• Negotiated - assessments may be agreed between teacher and learner
• Problem-orientated - applying problem-solving skills to realistic tasks
• Socially constructed - and involving the student's social networks in solving
• Collaboratively produced - assessment is no longer purely individual and competitive, but recognises skills in collaboration
• Recognising existing skills - and accrediting these.

Elliott describes assessment 2.0 in the following presentation:

Assessment 2.0 presentation for E-Learning Alliance

View more presentations from bobbyelliott

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The best site I found offering a collection of examples of assessment 2.0 was this wiki of case studies, from the "Web 2.0 Authoring Tools in Higher Education Learning and Teaching: New Directions for Assessment and Academic Integrity" project (part of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council).

It's a pretty up to date resourse, the case studies having been collected over 6 months in 2010, and include the following:

Social web activity	Subject/Discipline	Level of study
Blogging	Cultural Studies	Undergraduate
	Cinema Studies	Undergraduate
	Information Management	Postgraduate
	Law	Postgraduate
	Media Studies	Postgraduate
Various Web 2.0 tools	Education	Postgraduate
Social networking	Languages	Undergraduate
Photo sharing	Communication Design	Undergraduate
Vodcasting	Economics	Postgraduate
	Business	Postgraduate
Virtual worlds	Languages	Undergraduate
Wiki writing	Accounting	Postgraduate
	Law	Postgraduate
	Education	Postgraduate
	Science	Undergraduate
	Information Technology (A)	Postgraduate
	Information Technology (B)	Undergraduate
	Languages	Undergraduate

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University College London's Learning Technology Support Service blog refers to a presentation by Prof Geoffrey Crisp which posts on examples of assessment 2.0, including:

• Examine QuickTime VR image of a geological formation then answer questions based on that – drawing on things wouldn’t be able to see from static image.
• Examine panograph (scrolling and zoomable image) of Bayeux Tapestry and answer questions drawing together different parts – students selecting evidence from different segments of the tapestry.
• Interactive spreadsheets – Excel with macros. Students can change certain bits and answer questions on resulting trends in graphs. Can have nested response questions so that the answer to the second is based on first. (But there is a need for care with dependences so that a wrong move early on doesn’t lead to total failure).
• Chemical structures using the Molinspiration tool. Students can draw molecular structures using the tool and copy and paste the resulting text string into answer which is held in the VLE quiz tool.
• Problem solving using a tool called IMMEX (‘It Makes You Think’) which tracks how students approach problems. The tutor adds in real, redundant and false information that the students can draw on to solve the problem. They can use it all but the more failed attempts they make the fewer marks they get. We saw an archaeology example in which students had to date an artefact.
• Role plays which can be done using regular VLE features such as announcements, discussion forums, wikis. Students adopt different personas and enter into discussion and debate through those personas.
• Scenario based learning – this is more prescriptive than role play. The recommended tool is Pblinteractive.com
• Simulations – the Bized.co.uk site offers a virtual bank and factory. Students can work within bized then answer questions in the VLE.
• Second Life (virtual world) assessment in which the avatar answers questions which go back into Moodle.

Examples of these and more are available through the http://www.transformingassessment.com/ site.

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Other examples I came across include:

• Wikipedia writing projects in biosciences
• http://www.transformingassessment.com/ - a project “looking at the use of e-assessment within online learning environments, particularly those using one or more Web 2.0 or virtual world technologies.”
• The JISC (2009) Review of Advanced Assessment Techniques - interesting, but not so much about Assessment 2.0 
• Also from JISC (2010) Effective Assessment in a Digital Age: a guide to technology-enhanced assessment and feedback. Again, more about technology to assist and enhance assessment than about assessment 2.0, but a thorough report with interesting case studies none the less.
  

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Reference
Elliott, B. (2007) Assessment 2.0 - Assessment in the age of Web 2.0. Available: http://www.scribd.com/doc/461041/Assessment-20