Technology-Enhanced Assessment: Opportunities and Threats to Lecturers

There is much discussion about assessment as being the centre of the learning process, but assessments are often narrowly focused on certifying qualifications and reporting achievements, driven by institutional, societal, and ethical demands. The assessment of learning should serve a central purpose and practically encompass “for and as learning” more than serving selectively for awards and achievement reporting. It is increasingly recognised that lecturers need to be prepared for a changing and increasingly digital world by assessing the knowledge, skills, dispositions and attitudes needed for their students to succeed. Despite the many innovative possibilities and potential for rethinking assessment purposes offered by technology, there are also numerous risks as well. The study reported in this chapter was premised on an interpretive research paradigm and qualitative research methods were used to identify opportunities and threats of technology-enhanced assessment. Standardised institutional student evaluation surveys regarding modules and teaching were used to collect data about aspects of technology-enhanced assessment. Thematic analysis was used to identify and describe both opportunities and threats to lecturers associated with technology-enhanced assessment. The findings of the study showed that technology-enhanced assessments provide lecturers with opportunities to design diverse, effective, personalised, and multi-modal instructional processes and to enhance student engagement. Connectivity and lecturer competencies to design valid online assessments were a threat to technology-enhanced assessments.