Technological developments

The IB Assessment Division has the challenge of fulfilling the demands of both contemporary academic technologies therefore the developing variety of Diploma Programme candidates global while maintaining the caliber of the Diploma Programme’s evaluation criteria.

When it comes to growth, we are able to use Ecuador as one example associated with sorts of development we have to be ready for utilizing the quantity of IB World Schools in the united states developing from 20 schools in 2014 to 500 in 2018. The resulting increase in applicant figures ensures that IB’s Assessment Division has to be prepared.

Richard Penrose, from Diploma Programme Assessment Operations, informs us how he and his colleagues tend to be establishing by themselves up for success facing this challenge.

I believe i could group our work into two crucial places: technological advancement and examiner recruitment.

Technological development in DP assessments

Considerable investment inside our technological solutions over the past five years has enabled united states to effortlessly manage future increases in candidate figures in particular topics and in certain areas. In presenting new technologies to assessment, the primary consideration is that IB viewpoint and curriculum targets tend to be upheld and allowed. We have been mindful to ensure that the technology doesn't drive everything we do, but enables it.

Online storage space and marking (eMarking)

Almost all assessment product is now kept in electric kind and, because of the end of 2016, virtually all evaluation material from IB candidates will likely be brought to IB examiners in digital type. Examiners mark the tests on computer system displays utilizing something called RM Assessor, which also captures and checks the markings awarded. We have been very pleased with this system that will be already obtainable in the IB’s three formal languages: English, French and Spanish, and can quickly be accessible in Japanese also.

It’s a competent system that permits us to move assessment product between examiners quickly minus the chance of losing product “in the mail” and it improves the dependability of marking. Schools in addition benefit simply because they can save the significant costs of mailing coursework tests by publishing all of them into the IB’s Information program (IBIS) alternatively.

Online tests are arriving!

Significant planning is underway for migration of DP exams from paper to on-screen. We are incredibly stoked up about this important development the IB. This means that exam documents will no longer be imprinted and couriered to schools, students will rather remain on-screen examinations on a pc, laptop or tablet. We are going to involve some on-screen diploma exams readily available as an option from 2018.

By offering on-screen examinations we will be able to examine understanding, comprehending and skills in much better plus interesting ways; furthermore the strategy that IB students among others when you look at the IB neighborhood happen asking united states for. We shall also be in a position to provide examinations to schools much more firmly, faster, and without printing costs, courier expenses and customs dilemmas. It'll let us get prospects’ answers digitally also.

Look out for more info from united states on this exciting development.

Examiner recruitment

Examiners are obviously important to the evaluation process and some big local projects, like those with the governing bodies of Ecuador and Japan, need the recruitment of significant numbers of examiners with particular language and topic expertise. To aid these tasks, we identify recruitment options permitting us to a target individuals and schools aided by the skill establishes we require. Besides, we also review our processes to ensure that our company is working with examiners into the most efficient techniques.

All these advancements in IB evaluation not just allow us to supply an improved evaluation solution to existing IB World Schools, and to efficiently scale-up our evaluation activities to satisfy demand from brand new schools and candidates, wherever worldwide they might be.