USING ONLINE TOOLS IN ASSESSMENT TASKS: HOW CAN WE HELP STUDENTS DEVELOP GOOD ACADEMIC PRACTICES? HLST Annual Conference: parallel workshop Dr Erica Morris Senior Adviser

Structure of workshop Introduction (10 minutes)  Academic Integrity Service  Aims of the workshop  Designing assessment tasks  Technology-enhanced assessment Activity (20 minutes)  Assessment at course or task level  Introducing an online tool Plenary (10 minutes)

Academic Integrity Service Promotes a holistic approach to student academic misconduct, which considers the pedagogical and management responses needed to address issues, such as plagiarism and collusion We are working to support the higher education community by  providing guidance on developing policies and procedures relating to academic integrity  highlighting resources that enable lecturers to focus on teaching and learning strategies that can deter student plagiarism  encouraging the sharing of best practice in the area of academic integrity academic-integrity

Aims of the workshop We will look at how online tools might be used effectively for assessment purposes to enhance student learning explore issues that might arise through the use of online tools for assessment purposes consider how assessment tasks can be designed in ways that might help students develop good academic practices (and help to deter student plagiarism and collusion)

Designing assessment tasks Approaches that might help deter plagiarism Students to draw on and make use of contemporary, real-life events Ensuring that a task includes 'milestones' along the way Providing students with opportunities to practise research, citation and referencing skills Helping students to understand what is meant by collaboration (or working together) (Bloxham and Boyd, 2007; Carroll, 2007)

Technology-enhanced assessment Online tools can be used to support student learning activities  Forums  Blogs  Wikis  Social bookmarking sites  ePortfolio tools

Online tools and student learning Comprehensive study of the use of social software 'Our investigations have shown that social software tools support a variety of ways of learning: sharing of resources... collaborative learning, problem-based and inquiry-based learning, reflective learning... Students gain transferable skills of team working, online collaboration, negotiation, and communication, individual and group reflection' (Minocha, 2009, p9).

Workshop activity In groups of two, or three In your group agree on a particular example to discuss and then use the handout to guide your discussion  Consider an example at the module or task level where an online tool is not currently used for assessment purposes  Educational context, existing challenges or problems...  Then take this module or particular task and consider introducing an online tool for the purposes of assessment  Type of tool, anticipated advantages of using tool...  Note any general concerns and issues (20 minutes)

Case studies Use of social software in further and higher education  Case studies Case studies Resources on the HLST Subject Centre website  Using online discussion forums as a learning tool Using online discussion forums as a learning tool Crispin Dale  Using a VLE to kill two birds with one stone Using a VLE to kill two birds with one stone John Erskine  Online learning sets Online learning sets Stuart McGugan

References Bloxham, S. and Boyd, P. (2007) Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education. Berkshire: Open University Press. Carroll, J. (2007) A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development. Minocha, S. (2009) A Study on the Effective Use of Social Software by Further and Higher Education in the UK to Support Student Learning and Engagement (Final Report). Available from 08.aspx [Accessed 9 November 2009] aspx

Subject matter can be key Diverse staff Individual needs Fit for purpose Targeted approach (re: motivating students) Time is needed