Welcome to this Questionmark podcast. Questionmark podcasts bring you news, ideas, and advice about assessments and learning.
Joan Phaup, Questionmark: This Joan Phaup, and I’m very pleased to be talking on the phone with Dr. David Metcalf, who will be the keynote speaker at the Questionmark 2010 Users’ Conference. David is a senior researcher at the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Simulation and Training, and he’s an online faculty member at Walden University. He’s an expert on blended and mobile learning, and I’m very interested in finding out what he sees on the horizon for people involved in assessment. David, welcome.
David Metcalf, University of Central Florida: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Joan: Can you tell me about your work at the Institute for Simulation and Training?
David: Well there’s a lot of exciting stuff going on here at the Institute, with 200 people involved in various aspects of simulation and training for the military, for corporate, for academic, and even for some humanitarian and non-profit applications. We get to see a lot of the latest technology, and apply some of the best theory from psychologists, from historians, from a number of different disciplines, and kind of take an interdisciplinary approach. It’s not all about the technology. A lot of it’s about the learning, the knowledge in cognition. My particular lab, the Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab, is responsible for looking at some of those convergence points that are starting to happen, particularly around mobile games and simulations, virtual worlds, collaboration systems, some of the different Web 2.0 technologies that we’re exploring. And then what happens beyond that too as we look at the research and development paths going forward. So we’re quite excited about some of the trends that are going on right now and how they’re starting to converge.
Joan: So what changes do you see ahead for learning and assessment?
David: Well that’s an interesting question. We’ve been looking at some of the trends that we’re seeing and some of the ways that assessments are being done in light of these new technologies and new techniques that are coming about because of the Web 2.0 trends of user-generated content and some of the abilities to put information out on the web in new and unique ways, whether that be through twitter, blogs, podcasting like we’re doing here today, and then also how that combines with some of the more traditional online methods and e-learning methods. So some of the things that I’m interested in are, you know, things like group ratings. You know we’re seeing new ways of doing measurement every day. The way that narrative can be assessed or measured. And of course simulation and games, and how performance-based testing is being integrated into those delivery mechanisms too, and almost in kind of a stealthy way, where people aren’t always aware that assessment is going on, but I assure you it is in the background. Even when we fill something in in the google search blank, we’re actually contributing to some assessment measurement of how many people have looked for that particular bit of information. I’m also really excited about some of the things that we see in dynamic computer-adaptive testing that are possible because of the new technologies that we’re seeing, and the ways that e-portfolios can be used, too, to assess things that were normally not all brought together in one common assessment, things that go well beyond the paper and pencil test or the multiple choice test, and start to have an integrated picture of what someone’s performance, their competencies, their whole knowledge skills and abilities look like, whether(?3:28) that be performance of a particular physical task in conjunction with the cognitive knowledge that they have. Those are things that are quite exciting. I think that some of the things we’re going to find is that the way that mobile and other technologies that we would blend into the mix is going to fundamentally change both the way that we learn and the way that we assess people and measure them too. So it’s an exciting time for us.
Joan: What do you think assessment professionals can do now to get ready for the future?
David: Well I think just like anyone who’s involved in the development of instruction, we need to have an understanding of some of the new technologies. We don’t want the technologists to lead in this new era that we’re entering. We want to make sure that we are looking at the process, whether we’re looking at good instructional design, good assessment design, and make sure that we are taking a lead in those areas. But in order to do that, we have to understand the technologies. We also have to understand some of the social issues or changes that are coming about in the dynamics of our workplace, and also for those that are doing consumer testing, things like that, some of the societal changes in general. We need to know about some of the trends like how on the go our workforce is, that they are not always sitting right the desktop. They can’t always go to a testing center. And yet we still need to measure them and understand what their performance is. Those are things that aren’t going to change fundamentally, but that we will see some changes because of the technologies and the social dynamic of the way that people are working.
Joan: Sounds like you’re going to have a lot to talk about when you come and see us in Miami next March. Can you tell me what you’re most looking forward to about coming to the Questionmark Users’ Conference?
David: Well I think it’s great to get a whole group of users together who are interested in assessment kind of aligned around a common theme. And I hope that we can explore some of those boundaries and expand some of those boundaries that we’re all facing when we look at assessment and broaden the scope. How do we look at mobile? How do we look at games? How do we look at simulation? And how can we together kind of learn about how to use that? How can we apply some of the best theory and put it into practice, no matter what role we have within the assessment space? And also to hear some of the newest things that Questionmark is thinking about too, and how they see their role in this fast-changing area.
Joan: Great. Well we’re really looking forward to seeing you, and thank very much for your time.
David: Thank you. It’s been a pleasure talking to you today.
|
Podcasts 
