ME TOO Harry - experience in enjoying making it work - and we are also upbeat about it
I manage Blackboard here in College and have successfully trained lecturers to use it
for online testing (both self assessment and final exams) across a variety of subject areas.
Bernadette Hilditch
St Helens College
Curriculum On-Line Co-ordinator
e-Learning Consultant (SAIITT)
________________________________
From: Blackboard/Courseinfo userslist on behalf of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu 2/8/2007 14:38
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Online assessment using Blackboard
My experience at the Westminster Business School, is luckily far more up-beat
than Mark's comments
I have for the last 2.5 years run exams in Excel applications using Bb with
student numbers of around 350 - 400 at the same time!
I would not want to go back to mannually marking all those spreadsheets!
If anyone is interested, I can let them have either papers on the subject or
instructions we give to students before each exam.
There are plenty of critisisms of Bb and it's handling exam software, but I have
experience in making it work!
Kind Regatrds
Harry Temmink
Principal Lecturer &
School Senior Tutor
Westminster Business School
University of Westminster
35 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5LS
Quoting Mark Gamble <[log in to unmask]>:
> We do lots of high stakes CBE and wouldn't dream of using Bb. It's
> important that CB exams are as robust as possible and anything else
> takiing place on the same sytsem at the same time as a high stakes exam
> is, imho, a recipe for disaster. For whoever proposed the idea, suggest
> they consider the consequences of an exam lock-up when students are 65%
> through exam time - and was thse system capturing answers throughout?
> What about server performance, too, if you have 100 students taking an
> exam and some lecturer, in all innocence, starts a heavy-demand activity
> on your Bb system (at the same time as a dozen others decide the same
> thing)? And of course, can you ensure security on a server which is
> actually intended for all your students to access anyway?
>
> We use QMP and have 4 (yup, four) servers. Two, balanced, for the exams,
> one for test and one for open-access low stakes and general materials.
> And I have to say, we still have problems: the balanced pair went
> through a single switch - and, yes, it had to fail in the middle of an
> exam. We live and learn..... I wouldn't say QuestionMark is entirely
> straightforward to implement, either.......
>
>
>
>
> --
> Regards
> Mark
>
> Mark Gamble
> Head of Learning Technology
> University of Bedfordshire
> Tel (+44)1582 489260 Fax (+44)1582 489259
> Mob 07720 068605 Int ext 2260 / 6360 (mobex)
>
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 02/07/07 10:32 AM >>>
> Hi
>
>
>
> PCMD is eager to implement online high stakes assessment in the near
> future. As well as investigating the provision of QMP, I have been
> asked to consider the feasibility of using Blackboards built in
> assessment tools. Yes, that's what I thought....! :o$
>
>
>
> If anyone does have any experience of using Blackboard for really high
> stakes assessment, or has any advice on implementing this using
> alternative software, I'd be really grateful to hear your thoughts.
>
>
>
> Many thanks
>
> Tash
>
> --------------------------------------------
>
> Natasha Harden
>
> Teaching, Learning & Assessment Systems Leader
>
> Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistry
>
> Room C303, Portland Square
>
> Drake Circus, Plymouth
>
> PL4 8AA
>
>
>
> (01752) 238016
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
H J Temmink
School Senior Tutor
Westminster Business School
University of Westminster
35 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5LS
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