Judging Text Presented on Screen: Implications for Validity

Abstract

Technological innovation undoubtedly offers many potential benefits for education and the assessment of learning, which have been acknowledged elsewhere. One area that is relatively under-researched relates to the practice of how assessors interact with longer texts that are presented on screen. This is an important area of study because there might be moves to scan or digitally capture longer texts, such as essays or portfolios that contain long textual chunks, and to deliver them online to assessors. This use of technology affords a number of benefits, including the opportunity to transfer data speedily. It also allows a number of assessors to view the same evidence simultaneously, enabling the timely checking of assessor reliability during the assessment process. This article explores the theoretical and limited empirical literature to discuss the potential impact that technology might have on assessors' judgments of texts presented on screen. The review cites literature from across a variety of educational settings where it is increasingly becoming common practice to capture and assess learners' work through digital methods.