The need for professional development for online assessors/educators is well documented in the literature. Assessors in all environments need the opportunity to discuss their approaches, but more specifically as a requirement of the Australian Quality Training Framework, ‘to review, compare and evaluate their assessment tools, evidence and judgements’.
It would be useful to be able to take advantage of the online infrastructure developed for learning so that it could be used by assessors both for formal professional development and also for sharing resources, ideas and problems. An assessor network could be useful in sharing information that could assist online assessment developers and deliverers to save time and money and to continually improve their practice.
The crux of this issue is the resourcing required to establish and maintain a community of expert practitioners along the lines of the Computer Assisted Assessment Centre (CAA Centre) in the United Kingdom. This centre became a focal point for discussion and professional development on online assessment issues. Projects conducted under the auspices of the centre included the Online Tutoring E-book and annual conferences focussing on online assessment.
Low-cost mediums for networks such as listservs do exist. They are an important support
mechanism for people with similar interests or experiences from around the world (see ITForum: a Listserv for the Instructional Technology Community <http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/home.html>). Discussions relating to instructional technology are illustrated by examples from a range of countries and international experiences. However, a more interactive tool might provide a bank of data encompassing resources, principles, hints, techniques and methodology that assessors could both contribute to and borrow from.
There is evidence from the interviews that a range of mechanisms for sharing and validating resources are already in existence. Respondent 6 (TAFE manager) talked about the development of online access to a database of assessment tasks and strategies linked to training packages available to teachers throughout her region. The material will go through a validation process and will be tagged as such. This is seen to be helpful to teachers who are often uncertain about complex packaging rules detailed in the training packages.
One issue with developing a central network is that of sharing information and intellectual property. Vast amounts of assessment materials are already available online through various websites. Gathering and validating the information from publicly accessible websites such as the following websites would be an excellent starting point:
✧ National education website: <http://www.education.gov.au/>
✧ National Assessors and Workplace Trainers site: <http://www.nawt.com.au/index.html> ✧ Rural Training Council of Australia’s site: <http://www.rtca.com.au>
✧ Curriculum Council of Western Australia: <http://www.sea.wa.edu.au/> ✧ Reframing the Future: <http://www.reframingthefuture.net/overview.shtml>.
Other websites containing useful information for assessors in specific industry areas also already exist.
The notion of VET teachers sharing resources throughout Australia on one collaborative website would seem logical. However, respondent 44 (designer/deliverer private company) speaks of the interstate antagonism that she encountered when seeking funding to design and develop an online assessor network that would be developed with input from several states. A number of centres around Australia are currently trialling methods to assist assessors to communicate online about issues relating to their work and the assessment process.
An online assessors’ network has been trialled in Western Australia in 2002. The network includes 260 member organisations from across industries and sectors. It is locally driven and centrally supported by the Western Australian Department of Training. (Further information is available from <[email protected]> [08] 9235 6805.)
The network hosted a chat room facility, discussion board and email facility. It was important to make it easy for people to access the online communication platform. Online tools such as automated member recognition enabled an immediate customised response. Email communication was used to support and encourage members to use the online site. The network now has an internet website with a direct hyperlink to the new site.
The network needed ongoing facilitation to sustain it and to expand the discussion. Members have discussed areas related to specific training packages which has allowed the development of: ✧ opportunities for peer review of assessment resources
✧ self-assessment guidelines for assessors.
Structured teacher professional development for delivery and assessment online might also be an area to be investigated. For those about to design and deliver online training and assessment, an
Finding solutions 75
online course may help prepare them for the complexities of the medium. Respondent 43 (TAFE manager) delivers online training to future online designers and developers. The notion of online training was supported by respondent 6 (TAFE designer/deliverer), who mentioned the difficulty of introducing the notion of online to the majority of teachers. Forty per cent of staff at his college did not use computers and 25% did not know how to use computers. The need for adequate training was supported by several interviewees who recommended adequate staff training before delivering online courses.
There is perhaps a need for further research or an issues paper examining the feasibility of providing ongoing resourcing for maintaining a professional network, which would include conferences specific to the issue of online assessment, banks of validated assessments and strategies for incorporating online assessment into both face-to-face and online delivery.
Summary
The online medium can and is being used to support assessors in their work. Organisations
offering online courses could provide more support to assessors through using their online facilities and professional development. Assessors need professional development and an online
environment would provide the ideal medium for learning.