We had the opportunity to be part of OER Week at Kennesaw State University today. To end a long and good day, I watched the Open Ed 2021 session entitled “Affordability, Accessibility, and Pedagogy, oh my! Developing Novel Digital Assessment Policy” by Kristen Morgan from Morgan Academic Consulting. Morgan is in Canada, and this was a pre-recorded session. Morgan defined digital assessment tools (DAT) as “pay-to-play online homework systems; most common include MyLab and Mastering by Pearson, Connect by McGraw-Hill…” Codes are single-use and time-limited. I didn’t think about students not being able to re-sell their codes! Morgan mentioned that the majority of textbook publishers include DATs with textbooks. BC Campus explored the use of some of these tools. The study found that students spent $78.29 CAD per student in a single term to access digital assessment tools. Beyond cost, there are accessibility issues with screenreaders and voice-to-text systems. Morgan mentioned issues with international access. In April of 2020, Morgan drafted a DAT policy that has been adopted. The process involved students at all stages! O-131 is now a landmark policy in Canada and, by default, made DATs banned with the possibility of exemptions. Their goal is to phase out exemptions in three years. Open test banks and tools like H5P and open question banks integrated with LMS are alternatives. Morgan asked: “Is your institution charging students to be assessed?” Morgan also noted that there is an institutional investment that is needed. In the BC campus of 11,000 students, this initiative has annual savings of between $350,000-500,000 CAD. Takeaways Morgan shared included the shift from grassroots advocacy to instituional support; involving student leaders in academic governance (and compensation and diversity is needed!); and that it only takes one to start a change! I had not considered the issues with digital assessment tools. This session was thought-provoking.
