Note: I’m posting this for some of my team members who are at an offsite conference (and still learning the ins and outs of blogging, which is ironic since this is my first “official” blog post and I didn’t even write it)…
We’re writing to you from sunny Palm Springs, where we’re here attending the 10th annual Association of Test Publishers conference. What is ATP you say? This is the conference where everyone passionate about Testing and Certification, comes together and talks about the latest innovations and the future of testing. We wish you were all here with us, engaging in the thought provoking conversations. But, since you aren’t, we thought we’d provide you with the emerging themes and get your participation virtually.
After the first day of sessions, we’ve seen three main themes emerge:
· Online Testing
· Web 2.0 and Testing
· The Economy and Testing
There’s been discussion, agreement, and disagreement about how these items will evolve the testing industry but we’re curious what your opinion would be if you were here in attendance.
· What creative ways can we use Web 2.0 type interactions in our MCP program? Community development? How do we maintain security of items in a Web 2.0 world?
· What impact do you think Online Testing could have? What requirements would you expect to see coupled with online testing in order to maintain value, security, and integrity of the exams?
· What impact is the Economy having on your decision to get certified?
So, attend the ATP conference vicariously by providing your thoughts, ideas, and comments and we’ll bring the voice of the MCP, back to the testing community.
Shelby Grieve, Stefani Okamoto, and Kristi Svor – MSL Assessments and Certification Exam Development
Posted by libertymunson
Comments
Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:17 PM by Edward Laverick
The idea of online testing does make me a bit nervous. I currently have to travel 82 miles to my nearest test centre and while I should (in theory) be the ideal candidate for online testing I would still rather have the knowledge that my certification is secure because all candidates had sat the exam in the same circumstances watched over by an invigilator.
I can see a use for greater web integration in the study side of certification however. I d be heartly in favour of online training and virutal classrooms run by real top flight MCT s.
Monday, March 02, 2009 7:17 PM by Shelby
Thanks for your comments...I completely agree with your concerns regarding online testing. I do think we ll implement some level of online testing in the future but I think you ll continue to see the requirement for a proctor anytime the exam is resulting in a Certification. Interestingly enough, most of the Testing industry agrees with us on this also.
There is a new technology that utilizes webcams and remote proctors, in place of a traditional testing center or in person proctor. In my opinion, it s a really interesting and creative solution but it comes with a whole list of concerns that I don t think are resolved, the biggest of which is scalability (really...how many remote proctors would it take to monitor a program the size of ours???) with reliability a close second.
It will be interesting to see how the internet and Web 2.0 impact the testing industry overall. You can watch for us to bring Web 2.0 concepts to our exam development efforts later this summer. As for online testing, I ll keep you all posted on our decisions for how we ll use this in the future.
~ Shelby