Assessment for learning is increasingly part of accepted orthodoxy, with massive government funding in England, is central to national assessment in Wales, and an export to the USA. Black et al.'s Assessment for learning: Putting it into practice (2003), the 'bible' of assessment for learning, is set reading for trainee teachers across the UK, and this text is increasingly a staple diet for all interested in assessment for learning. As such it has an important impact on all involved in the teaching and learning process. Despite this, there has been little discussion of either the paradigm or the definitions which inform it. This article examines the definitions of formative assessment and the theoretical premises of assessment for learning exemplified here and how they impact on the practices described. It finds a lack of alignment and coherence in the rationale of the theory, and contradictions which ensue in the practice. One solution is a paradigm shift basing definitions of formative and summative assessment on processes of assessment and not on functions. Functions remain as a basic epistemological premise of assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Written by Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt, experts in the field of online teaching and learning, this hands-on resource helps higher education professionals understand the fundamentals of effective online assessment. It offers guidance for designing and implementing creative assessment practices tied directly to course activities to measure student learning. The book is filled with illustrative case studies, authentic assessments based in real-life application of concepts, and collaborative activities that assess the quality of student learning rather than relying on the traditional methods of measuring the amount of information retained.

Online assessment and, more broadly, the entire online learning environment provides expanded opportunities to actively and creatively engage the learner. The approach the authors have taken in this book is to work from the established fundamentals of assessment, applying these principles to the online environment. The authors emphasize basic issues of assessment such as establishing the evidence of validity for assessments, but the context of the discussion is always that of an online environment. Written by leading technology experts, this clear and practical text serves as a training guide for assessing online or distance learners. Readers learn how to select what should be assessed, how to use written tests and projects to evaluate the skills learners have achieved, how to provide feedback to learners, and how to efficiently use course management software. The authors believe educators involved with online training and education must have the same assessment expectations and standards as those in conventional, face-to-face environments. This book is appropriate for instructional designers and educators involved with online training and education as well as for college courses concerned with the design and delivery of distance or other forms of online instruction. It also has utility as a personal reference for instructors of courses that assess students online.

e-Assessment promises lecturers and tutors the opportunity to both streamline the assessment process and to allow for greater variety and creativity in testing students. We asked Helen Ashton, an active member of the JISC CETIS Assessment Special Interest Group and a lecturer specialising in the design and development of e-assessment systems, to explore e-assessment from a practitioner's perspective. In this article she looks at each stage of the e-assessment life cycle from what to assess to how to measure student performance. (Abstract by author)

Successful use of information and communication technologies depends on usable designs that do not require expensive training, accommodate the needs of diverse users and are low cost. There is a growing demand and increasing pressure for adopting innovative approaches to the design and delivery of education, hence, the use of online learning (also called E-learning) as a mode of study. This is partly due to the increasing number of learners and the limited resources available to meet a wide range of various needs, backgrounds, expectations, skills, levels, ages, abilities and disabilities. The advances of new technology and communications (WWW, Human Computer Interaction and Multimedia) have made it possible to reach out to a bigger audience around the globe. By focusing on the issues that have impact on the usability of online learning programs and their implementation, Usability Evaluation of Online Learning Programs specifically fills-in a gap in this area, which is particularly invaluable to practitioners.

A fully online prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) tool for internationally educated nurses (IENs) was developed and tested by an inter-professional team at Ryerson University. The tool consisted of two stages: a self-assessment component followed by a multiple-choice examination and narrative (vignette) evaluation. The purposes of the study were to describe the demographic profile of the IEN registered nurse (RN), to develop the benchmark responses that demonstrate competency at the entry-to-practice level of the typical IEN RN, and to describe the experience of completing an online PLAR tool. A mixed-method approach was used. Findings demonstrated that IEN RNs who immigrate to Ontario, Canada are of various ages and come from a wide spectrum of countries. The PLAR process holds promise for an objective assessment of IEN’s eligibility to write the Canadian Registered Nurses Examination (CRNE) and to meet a global need. Further testing of the tool across a broader sample is required. (Abstract by authors)

For many reasons the use of computer-assisted assessment (CAA) is increasing.
Although computer-based examinations increase in use, research is lacking about
students’ perceptions of online assessment in general and of categorized fields of
online assessment systems. The aim of the study was to investigate students’
perceptions of the use of CAA and to investigate the potential for using student
feedback in the validation of assessment. To determine the students’ perceptions of
online assessment, an examination Web site was developed and implemented as
part of the assessment of Masaüstü Yayincilik (Desktop Publishing), a course given
by the Department of Computer Science at Kocaeli University, Turkey. The study
was descriptive, using a paper-based survey and interviews for data collection.
Participants were third-year students enrolled in the course. Descriptive analysis
of the questionnaire and interview data showed that the most prominent features
of the online assessment system were immediate feedback, randomized question
order, item analysis of the questions, and obtaining the scores immediately after
the exam. Participants reported the effectiveness of the online assessment system.
Although there is much room for improvement in online assessment systems in the
near future, such systems are accepted by computer-friendly youth. (Authors' abstract)