Curriculum, learning and teaching
Counting the costs and benefits in transition to a digital world Juliette Mendelovits and Ling Tan compare the results of paper and online tests We live in a digital age – a truism that applies to much of our day-to-day lives. Education is increasingly moving from paper and print to screen and keyboard. The trend is inevitable and in large part welcome, but as educators we need to understand the impact the digital world is having – both positive and negative – on student learning. One area in which the change from print to digital is being studied closely is in large-scale learning assessments, especially those that attempt to track progress over time. The biggest international survey, Programme for International Spring
Autumn |
| 2016
Student Assessment (PISA), has grasped the nettle and moved almost entirely from paper-based to online assessment over the last decade. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is experimenting in a similar direction. Since a key purpose of these assessments is to measure trends over time, it is essential to understand what the impact is on trend lines of changing from paper-based to digital. ‘If you want to measure change, don’t change the measure’ is a byword of longitudinal assessment – but if you must change the measure, you need to investigate the effect of the change.
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