Online Diploma Exams

I recently attended a workshop at the Calgary Regional Consortium on Quest A+ diploma exam administration. The session was delivered by two Alberta Education associates, the primary presenter being Jeremy Wiebe Manager, Online Assessment. The presentation was very well done, and the participants had a chance to work with Quest A+ in both facilitator and student roles.

Before we got hands-on experience with Quest A+, Jeremy and his co-presenter Dan, gave some background information on the program, its province-wide implementation, and the changes to Provincial Achievement Tests (now called Student Learning Assessments—SLA). Provincial assessments (diplomas and SLAs) will be increasingly offered in an online environment, and in April 2015, all diploma exams will be offered to students only in digital format (except for those with special accommodations). Some changes have already been made in regards to the online process.

·         Alberta Education is supplying digital format diplomas for teacher perusal.

·         digital format SLAs will be written in September 2014

·         Quest A+ is already being used in many areas for Part A diplomas

·         Math/Science field tests are now exclusively digital

Many Part A (written response) exams are already online. Alberta Ed sees three main benefits to this: Data Security, Ease of Administration, and In-Exam Security. 

Data Security:
Student responses are uploaded every 2 minutes, or every 100 characters as well as every time a student clicks save. If there is an interruption to the internet, student responses are still backed up locally, so no data is lost. These responses are then uploaded automatically so the student can continue writing the exam without interruption (and the student will not be notified that anything was amiss). If there is a hardware issue, the student can switch machines and the most that would be lost is 99 characters. 

Easier Administration: 
The program keeps track of the elapsed time on an individual student basis and will automatically shut off as soon as time runs out. An extra time accommodation, and any other accommodation, can be enabled prior to the exam by the facilitator on an individual student basis. If there is an interruption to the exam (such as a fire alarm), the facilitator can click "pause all" and all exams will be paused. The facilitator can also pause an individual exam if the situation calls for it.

In-Exam Security 
In order to use Quest A+ in an exam situation, Locked Browser must be enabled. Once Locked Browser for Quest A+ is enabled, it automatically shuts down any running programs, and closes all other web browsers, tabs, and windows. Students are not able to insert a CD or USB while the locked browser is activated, and Quest A+ exams will not run without the locked browser. The software also disables functions such as screen sharing and disallows access to all other files and software on the computer. Students can bring their own devices to write the exam as the security features are built into the Locked Browser software, not on individual machines. The exams can be written using Google Chromebooks (CBE has purchased these for student use), desktops, and laptops. To date, there is no mobile device capability. 

The facilitators encouraged teachers to use Quest A+ with their students to prepare them for the impending change. Teachers can help to prepare students by using practice exams. To date, there are practice exams for all diplomas except ELA 30-1/2. Alberta Ed is working with publishers to make the readings available online. They expect they will have practice exams in the next few months.

Alberta Education has codes for instructors to use with Quest A+ to simulate an actual exam writing experience (requires student log-in and teachers can set accommodations). An unlimited number of students can use one code for practice exams, and so an entire class could write the same practice exam. Students get immediate feedback on their scores with a list of their incorrect items. Students can then go back and redo any incorrect items. I will be contacting Jeremy shortly for codes and will share them with any interested instructors. Please let me know if you would like codes for your class(es).

For more information, please see the Prezi that Jeremy and Dan provided. I’m also happy to answer any questions you may have about the session.

Maureen Stewart

Curriculum Development Exam Lead

Alberta Writes Conference

Alberta Writes 2

Conversations about writing: Exploring shared responsibility for the teaching of writing in Alberta

As part of the WriteForward project team I recently attended the one-day conference on teaching writing Alberta Writes 2. The focus was on Alberta education and the perspectives of educators on writing across the curriculum. Roger Graves (University of Alberta) and David Slomp (University of Lethbridge) presented and co-hosted the event with presentations from Robin Bright (University of Lethbridge), and Heather Graves (University of Alberta). The presentations were relatively short to allow the focus to be on conversation with conference attendees at the round tables. The conversations at the table were then shared with the larger group (about 100 people), and as the conversations were happening, a facilitator recorded notes on the Alberta Writes 2 blog.

The presentations asked the participants to read samples of student writing, and then discuss the merits, challenges, and strengths of the writing. The conversations around the student samples were interesting and intriguing. At the table with me and the WriteForward project coordinator Deanna Jager, were three English professors from the University of Alberta. Their experiences with writing and teaching writing were quite different from mine, allowing for some captivating conversation. In discussing the student writing (all from high school or post-secondary), with our table and the larger group, several key questions and themes cropped up.

Gaps at all levels

The entire group at the conference seemed to feel there were writing gaps at every level and a stronger emphasis needs to be placed on writing across all courses. Those with a high school perspective voiced concerns that the students were not fully prepared to write for high school, and those with a post-secondary perspective voiced concern high school didn’t fully prepare the students for post-secondary. It was clear there were concerns at all levels about student writing and their ability to communicate in a written format and complete written assignments.

Putting pen to paper

Another observation that stood out was about student ability to translate thoughts to paper. A student may fully understand a concept or idea taught in class, or with background knowledge, but many students have difficulty “putting pen to paper” to explain that concept. This was interesting from a WriteForward perspective in that we are developing an assessment tool for adult literacy learners, and yet students in high school and post-secondary have difficulty with writing and writing concepts. This may inform the WriteForward framework in terms of audience and skills developed in the assessment tool.

Technology, students and writing

As an assessment tool, WriteForward will develop adult learners’ writing skills and abilities. There has been discussion around the medium of the writing (pen and paper or using technology). One of the comments made was pertinent to our technology discussion. The facilitator Robin Bright stated students are writing more in their daily lives than ever before. They’re writing emails, texts and social media posts daily, often many times a day. There is a disconnect for the students, however, in that they don’t think of these acts as “writing”. This is interesting and made me wonder if the same is true for adult literacy learners. What do adult literacy learners consider to be writing? How can we determine their thoughts on writing and what writing is to them?

What difference does genre make?

When we are thinking about writing, the question of genre and structure is important. At the conference, there was discussion about genre and how that changes a person’s writing. Robin Bright brought up the idea of teaching genres in writing so that students can write well in a certain genre (she used the example of letter to the editor). Writing well in a genre allows the students to have a voice in their writing. She also stated that some of the most interesting writing and writers are ones who challenge conventions and “resist” the normal conventions and genres. I think this speaks to the importance of taking risks in writing, and allowing students to take those risks. If the students feel they are in a safe and respectful place, and they feel confident in the genre, they may take more risks, allowing them to expand their skill set.

Does spelling count?

Many of the teachers were concerned about the spelling in one of the writing samples we received. I thought this was interesting, especially in terms of taking risks, and fostering writers who take risks. The paper in question was written by a grade 10 student. It was a persuasive essay on the legalization of marijuana. The essay was an interesting read and the writer’s voice and passion were clear and consistent. The writer made several spelling mistakes, but all words were phonetically spelled, and I found the spelling errors did not detract from meaning or from her argument. Some of the participants felt the spelling was a distraction. I had the sense that spelling was important to some of the instructors at the conference. Thinking about WriteForward, I wondered if and at which point in the assessment we will assess spelling.

Other questions that materialized for me need further reflection, and I feel these are questions all teachers should consider. These questions were:

·         What do learners value as writers?

·         What do teachers do in inhibit writing?

·         What can teachers do to promote writing?

·         What are some successful writing prompts? Are they written, oral, or visual?

·         How do you incorporate theory in the classroom?

The conference was very interesting and provided great food for thought in looking at the writing assessment of WriteForward. The Alberta Writes team is hoping to host a conference in Calgary on writing and the workplace, and I look forward to attending this as well. The conversations from our day at Alberta Writes 2 were incredibly valuable and provided many questions for consideration. I was thrilled to be invited and participate in the conversation.

Deanna Jager has also recorded her thoughts and reflections on the conference which you can find on the WriteForward website.