Scalable Assessment

Februar 2014

iversity The European Open Course Platform

Our Mission
We believe MOOCs can be a key instrument to deliver on the promise of the European Higher Education Area. As a European company we have a deep understanding of the Bologna Process and the opportunities a"orded by virtual academic mobility. Credit-bearing MOOCs can provide students with the invaluable opportunity to take courses from all over Europe. iversity aims to turn this theoretical possibility into a practical reality.

We use our strong roots in European academia to give students wings.

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The Bologna Process and the ECTS

Legal and Regulatory Environment

In order to harmonise the denition of academic credit across the European Higher Education Area (47 countries) the Bologna Declaration introduced the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The ECTS aims to make academic achievement comparable across the European Union and many other countries. Competency-based assessment lies at the heart of the ECTS: instead of time on task what matters are the learning outcomes achieved. Consequently online learning that delivers comparable results can not be classied as inferior to traditional forms of education. Moreover the Lisbon Convention of 1997 resulted in a shift in the burden of proof in academic credit recognition from students to institutions of higher education.

There is a legal basis for a Pan-European common market for academic credit.
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The Problem

Problem
How to provide high-quality assessment and feedback to thousands of students?

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Proctoring & Grading in Traditional Classes

Status Quo
Existing Solutions
On-Site Exam Hand-written on site exams under supervision of a professor or a teaching assistant on campus. Manual IDcheck. Computer-based Exam Software or browserbased exams administered in a university PC-pool. Manual ID-check. Written Assignments Essays, research papers or case studies that are submitted upon completion accompanied by a statement of authorship.

Proctoring

Grading

Instructors and TAs Exams and written assignments are graded manually by the professor or qualied teaching assistants at the institution hosting the exam.

Traditional proctoring and grading of exams and assignments is not scalable.

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Proctoring & Grading in iversity MOOCs

Going Forward
The iversity Solution
On-Site Exam Using a network of partner universities or test-centers allows for students from all over the world to take on campus exams. Corrector Cloud! Grading Based on scoring criteria set by the course instructors, a network of qualied correctors (e.g. Master students, PhD candidates) grades exams and papers equivalent to traditional teaching assistants. Online-Proctoring Online-Proctoring services (e.g. ProctorU) allow for identication and proctoring of students using their webcams. Written Assignments Essays, research papers or case studies that are submitted upon completion accompanied by a statement of authorship.

Proctoring

We are developing scalable proctoring and grading solutions especially for MOOCs.
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Our Solution: The iversity Corrector Cloud!

Students

Correctors

1 Students write term

papers, essays, case studies and pay for correction services.

iversity passes them on to a screened and approved pool of correctors (graduate or Ph.D. students).

4 Students receive in-depth

feedback and a grade.

3 Correctors use a grading

scheme to provide feedback and a grade to collect their payment.

We create a market place for correction services allowing quality online education to scale.
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Awarding ECTS-Credits in a MOOC

How It Works

2 Instructor denes grading criteria & the qualication needed to be a corrector (e.g. Masters degree)

3 iversity organises the exam (on-site or proctored online) using cloud grading

4 Students take an online-proctored nal exam or complete a written assignment. Students who successfully pass the exam are awarded ECTS Credits.

N.B. Criteria for successful completion need to be dened according to the ECTS guidelines.

There is a clear and simple process that enables students to earn ECTS-credits.
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Assessment in Higher Education Today

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Assessment in Massive Open Online Courses

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How Do They Compare?

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Traditional and iversity Examination

Regular Course
Proctoring Solution
Classic On Campus Exams

iversity MOOC
Grading Solution
Instructors and TAs

Proctoring Solution
On-Site Exam

Grading Solution
Corrector Cloud!

Instructors and TAs Computer-based Exam (PC-Pool on Campus) Automatic Grading Homework Assignment (Statement of Authorship) Online Proctoring

Corrector Cloud!

Automatic Grading

Instructors and TAs

Statement of Authorship

Corrector Cloud!

We are developing scalable proctoring and grading solutions especially for MOOCs.
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Comparing traditional and iversity examination

Grading & Proctoring

Instructors and TAs

Hand-written On-site Exam Computer-based Exam (PC-pool or online proctoring) Homework Assignment (Statement of Authorship) Non-Scalable

Auto-Grading
NA

Corrector Cloud!
Scalable

Non-Scalable

Scalable Scalable
(But quality concerns, not eligible for credits)

Scalable

Non-Scalable

Scalable

The iversity Corrector Cloud! allows for high-quality correction and grading at scale.
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Whats Next?

2014

2015

2016
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Toward a Common Market for Academic Credit

Timeline 2014
Pilot Projects First institutions decide to grant ECTS credits based on adhoc arrangements. Credit recognition based on faculty or institutional reputation.

2015
Credit Federation A group or groups of institutions agree on standards for awarding MOOC credits as well as their recognition.

2016
International Arrangements O#cial interinstitutional agreements by the relevant associations or government bodies that outline general rules for universal credit recognition.

iversity will build the virtual dimension of the European Higher Education Area.
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A Common Market for Academic Credit: A Four-Way-Win

Qui Bono?
Students get more freedom of choice and higher quality courses. They gain exibility in their studies and can take courses from professors from all over Europe. Universities can use MOOCs as a marketing tool and recuperate production cost through our revenue share model. Recognising MOOC credit enables them to expand their course catalogue. Professors get to teach thousands of students online. The high visibility of MOOCs allows them to gain recognition not only for their research, but also the quality of their teaching! iversity sells proctoring and grading services to students that want to earn university-level credits in online courses.

MOOCs for credit o"er great benets for all stakeholders in higher education.
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Come Join Us

The iversity Team

Come join us in bringing higher education into the digital age! Lets experiment with new teaching methods and deliver your course to thousands of students. Oh and before we forget: Instructors and institutions of higher education get to deliver courses on our platform for free!

We are looking forward to working with you!

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Breitscheidstrae 51 16321 Bernau/Berlin +49 (30) 577 093 38 www.iversity.org courses@iversity.org

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