Maximising the potential of ICT to provide authentic summative assessment opportunities

This paper reports on elements of a study that was conducted in Western Australia to explore the potential of various forms of digitally based external assessments for senior secondary school courses. One problem that needed addressing was how to provide students with authentic assessment opportunities, particularly in subjects in which performance is an integral component. Traditionally, assessment in many of these subjects was by way of a three-hour paper examination. This established a dichotomy for teachers in which the pedagogy of the subject was very different from the method of assessment. In wanting to maximise their student’s potential for success, many teachers taught to the examination, consequently sacrificing a practical performance approach to the subject for a more theoretical form of delivery