This link has been bookmarked by 18 people . It was first bookmarked on 04 Mar 2008, by Thieme Hennis.
-
20 Mar 14
-
18 Mar 14
Cris CrissmanDownes proposes a radically new assessment system based on recognized accomplishment.
-
01 Sep 11
-
22 Jun 11
Andrea CastanoHow does this happen? It beaks down into two parts:
- first, a mechanism whereby a person's accomplishments may be displayed and observed.
- second, a mechanism which constitutes the actual recognition of those accomplishment-
How does this happen? It beaks down into two parts:
- first, a mechanism whereby a person's accomplishments may be displayed and observed.
- second, a mechanism which constitutes the actual recognition of those accomplishments. -
We have already seen quite a bit of work devoted to the first part. We have seen, for example, describe the creation of e-portfolios, intended a place where a person can showcase their best work.
-
credentials are not reduced to necessary and sufficient conditions (competences). Any body of achievement may be posited as evidence for a credential.
- these bodies of achievement - profiles and portfolios - result from interactions with a wide range of agencies and represent a person's creative and skill-based capacities
- considerations of these achievements for credentials are open, that is, the public at large may view the profiles and portfolios being accepted, and rejected, for given credentials
- there is no monopoly on the offering of credentials; any agency may offer credentials, and credibility of the agency will be based on the fairness of the process and the difficulty of the achievement
Yes, this is a very different picture of assessment than we have today. It replaces a system in which a single set of standards was applied to the population as a whole. This was an appropriate system when it was not possible for people to view, and assess, a person's accomplishments directly. No such limitation will exist in the future, and hence, there is no need to continue to judge humans as 'grade A', 'grade B' and 'grade C'.
-
-
08 Sep 10
-
11 May 09
-
05 May 09
-
17 Jul 08
-
22 Jun 08
Nils PetersonFine piece, transformative. "were students given the opportunity to attempt the assessment, without the requirement that they sit through lectures or otherwise proprietary forms of learning, then they would create their own learning resources."
Downes learning2.0 outcomes_assessment learning_community end_of_LMS
-
When posed the question in Winnipeg regarding what I thought the ideal open online course would look like, my eventual response was that it would not look like a course at all, just the assessment.
-
The reasoning was this: were students given the opportunity to attempt the assessment, without the requirement that they sit through lectures or otherwise proprietary forms of learning, then they would create their own learning resources.
-
In Holland I encountered a person from an organization that does nothing but test students. This is the sort of thing I long ago predicted (in my 1998 Future of Online Learning) so I wasn't that surprised. But when I pressed the discussion the gulf between different models of assessment became apparent.
Designers of learning resources, for example, have only the vaguest of indication of what will be on the test. They have a general idea of the subject area and recommendations for reading resources. Why not list the exact questions, I asked? Because they would just memorize the answers, I was told. I was unsure how this varied from the current system, except for the amount of stuff that must be memorized. -
As I think about it, I realize that what we have in assessment is now an exact analogy to what we have in software or learning content. We have proprietary tests or examinations, the content of which is held to be secret by the publishers. You cannot share the contents of these tests (at least, not openly). Only specially licensed institutions can offer the tests. The tests cost money.
-
Without a public examination of the questions, how can we be sure they are reliable? We are forced to rely on 'peer reviews' or similar closed and expert-based evaluation mechanisms.
-
there is the question of who is doing the assessing. Again, the people (or machines) that grade the assessments work in secret. It is expert-based, which creates a resource bottleneck. The criteria they use are not always apparent (and there is no shortage of literature pointing to the randomness of the grading). There is an analogy here with peer-review processes (as compared to recommender system processes)
-
What constitutes achievement in a field? What constitutes, for example, 'being a physicist'?
-
This is a reductive theory of assessment. It is the theory that the assessment of a big thing can be reduced to the assessment of a set of (necessary and sufficient) little things. It is a standards-based theory of assessment. It suggests that we can measure accomplishment by testing for accomplishment of a predefined set of learning objectives.
Left to its own devices, though, an open system of assessment is more likely to become non-reductive and non-standards based. Even if we consider the mastery of a subject or field of study to consist of the accomplishment of smaller components, there will be no widespread agreement on what those components are, much less how to measure them or how to test for them.
Consequently, instead of very specific forms of evaluation, intended to measure particular competences, a wide variety of assessment methods will be devised. Assessment in such an environment might not even be subject-related. We won't think of, say, a person who has mastered 'physics'. Rather, we might say that they 'know how to use a scanning electron microscope' or 'developed a foundational idea'. -
We are certainly familiar with the use of recognition, rather than measurement, as a means of evaluating achievement. Ludwig Wittgenstein is 'recognized' as a great philosopher, for example. He didn't pass a series of tests to prove this. Mahatma Gandhi is 'recognized' as a great leader.
-
The concept of the portfolio is drawn from the artistic community and will typically be applied in cases where the accomplishments are creative and content-based. In other disciplines, where the accomplishments resemble more the development of skills rather than of creations, accomplishments will resemble more the completion of tasks, like 'quests' or 'levels' in online games, say.
Eventually, over time, a person will accumulate a 'profile' (much as described in 'Resource Profiles'). -
In other cases, the evaluation of achievement will resemble more a reputation system. Through some combination of inputs, from a more or less define community, a person may achieve a composite score called a 'reputation'. This will vary from community to community.
-
-
04 Mar 08
-
What we can expect in an open system of assessment is that achievement will be in some way 'recognized' by a community. This removes assessment from the hands of 'experts' who continue to 'measure' achievement. And it places assessment into the hands of the wider community. Individuals will be accorded credentials as they are recognized, by the community, to deserve them.
How does this happen? It beaks down into two parts:
- first, a mechanism whereby a person's accomplishments may be displayed and observed.
- second, a mechanism which constitutes the actual recognition of those accomplishments. -
Eventually, over time, a person will accumulate a 'profile' (much as described in 'Resource Profiles').
-
Through some combination of inputs, from a more or less define community, a person may achieve a composite score called a 'reputation'.
-
In still other cases, organizations - such as universities, professional associations, governments and companies - may grant specific credentials. In such cases, the person may put forward their portfolios and profiles for consideration for the credential.
-
Most of the latter part of this post consists of speculation, based on models we have already seen implemented on the web.
-
-
12 Jun 07
-
06 Jun 07
Page Comments
Would you like to comment?
Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.