Mindless Rambling

Online (or web based) assessment is growing in use and variety on all levels from business and education even to the military. The growth of web based assessment is said to be growing because of the large advantages:

• scoring and reporting happens instantly
• results are avaliable soon after completion
• student feedback can be instantaneous and part of learning.

Web based assessment can also be a help for teachers in attempting to meet the needs of all students.

Web based assessments are positive in that different types of questions are able to be asked and are not limited like pencil and paper tests.  A mix of questions can be administered including multiple choice, knowledge based questions, interactive and performance based questions.

Some testing websites allow teachers to track student reading levels, some websites even offer measures of student performance against state or district standards at any time.  Online assessment is also useful in that often parents are able to access results.

Every school system will eventually adopt web based assessment as it is so useful.  The problem that needs to be solved involve adequate computer access.