Remote learning means we need to radically rethink assessment

Students have not had an easy year, with recruitment fears as they joined our universities over the impact of Brexit; staff taking industrial action on an unprecedented level, and now universities closing down or changing study patterns as the Covid-19 virus sweeps through. Responsible educators now need to plan ahead, ensuring that our students have robust, transparent and equitable assessment processes that enable successful progression and exit qualifications. How can we be sure? The challenge is: How can our rapidly approaching assessments be fair and equitable to all, yet maintaining the quality of our degrees, and meeting the standards demanded by professional bodies and future employers? Those of us advocating strongly for the digital approach may already have the skills to move learning online, to embrace and encompass digital making, align our courses with online digital pedagogies and can work with our learners to motivate and even inspire those we lead through their brave new learning journeys. Institutions need to start realising the huge potential of our Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), and move from transmission models – from the VLE as repository, to the VLE of inspirational and critical pedagogy