Adapted Digital Exams January 25, 2010
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Access, Alternative Assessment, Assessment, Curriculum, Dyslexia, digital technologies, inclusion , add a comment
Adapted Digital Exams – East Lothian pilot
Candidates with additional support needs sitting SQA exams, currently have access to a variety of assessment arrangements which allow them to demonstrate their skills and knowledge e.g. reader, scribe or extra time.
A new assessment arrangement has recently become available. This gives candidates an opportunity to sit digitally adapted question papers provided by the SQA. Candidates with difficulty accessing a standard exam paper as a result of visual, physical, reading or writing difficulties, can now insert answers directly on to the question/answer paper on screen and use speech technology to have text read out.
East Lothian secondary schools are piloting adapted digital exams with a number of candidates this session.
CALL Scotland, SQA, East Lothian ICT officers and Inclusion & Equality section are supporting
this development. It is anticipated that Adapted Digital Exam formats will be available to increasing numbers of East Lothian SQA candidates in future.
For further information on Assessment Arrangements see the SQA site.
Thanks to Linda Gaughan (Inclusion and Equality Officer) writing in the ICT Education Newsletter.
Some more equal … June 22, 2009
Posted by Hilery Williams in : ASL Act, Access, Additional Support, Alternative Assessment, Assessment, Curriculum, Curriculum for Excellence, Dyslexia, English as an Additional Language, Hearing Impairment, Support for Learning, inclusion , add a comment
The Outreach Team had an interesting day recently looking at the new Curriculum for Excellence outcomes and experiences for Literacy and English and Health and Well Being.
One of the outcomes under the Responsible Citizens heading started a lively debate which raised the whole issue of inclusion and equality:
I can evaluate environmental, scientific and technological issues.
We discussed case studies of students with English as an additional language (including those who use British Sign Language) and wondered if such an evaluation carried out in English would be fair to them. Surely if it is their knowledge and understanding of, say Biology, that is being assessed, then a full answer in their native tongue would be a truer representation than one done in a second language.
If this does not happen, pupils who use English as an additional language are not fully included in Curriculum for Excellence until they are proficient in written English. We decided that their abilities in their own language must be acknowledged; just as learners with dyslexia are entitled to have poor spelling overlooked if the content is understood.
This of course raises enormous issues about availability of translators, apart from the more deep seated issue about a right to be included.
Thanks to Janet Storey for the fascinating lead on this discussion.
‘Books for All’ February 6, 2009
Posted by Morna McDonald in : Access, Additional Support, Alternative Assessment, Curriculum, Dyslexia, English as an Additional Language, ICT, Literacy, Resources, SFL, Uncategorized, Visual Impairment, inclusion, reading , 3comments
CALL Scotland recently ran this course in East Lothian - we’re all really enthusiastic and I’ll try to summarise here.
‘Books for All is about learning materials in accessible, alternative formats, for people who have difficulty reading ordinary printed books.
Most people think of Braille and Large Print when they think of alternative formats but in fact there are many more types of accessible textbooks, workbooks, worksheets, assessment and examination papers and other learning resources.
Similarly, it is commonly assumed that the pupils who need alternative formats are blind and partially sighted. In fact, there are many other groups of “print-disabled” pupils who can benefit from learning resources in alternative formats. For example:
Students who have a physical difficulty with holding books or turning pages can benefit from audio books or materials in a digital format on the computer.
Students with specific learning difficulties, dyslexia, or reading difficulties can read material if it is printed in a larger or different font, or on coloured paper, or displayed on computer. Many pupils with reading difficulties can also access information by listening to audio books, or by having the text read out by a computer.
Students with learning difficulties may benefit from simplified language, books printed in a simpler font or layout, or from books with symbols, or from audio books.
Students with hearing impairment may need simplified language, audio books or multimedia resources with signed video.’
At the course we learned about the copyright law and how to use a variety of free software to create accessible materials for our students. Many of these facilities are embedded in Microsoft Word.
We found out how to add comments to text, use document maps and headings, add recorded voice to text and loads more. The Scottish Voice (Heather), WordTalk and sources of free texts made this course really valuable. Now all I need to do is work my way through then CD rom and workbook!
“Blogs and Online diaries should be part of school curriculum ” says Thinktank October 8, 2008
Posted by Joan MacRae in : Access, Additional Support, Alternative Assessment, Curriculum, Home Teaching, ICT, inclusion , add a commentCharles Leadbeater introduced his lecture at the Scottish Learning Festival on 25/09/08 with a You tube clip of a teenage boy playing guitar in his bedroom. The clip had had 49 million hits!
A report in the Guardian 6/10/08 points out the claims of the Think tank, Demos, (with which Leadbeater is associated), that young people “are being failed by adults who are not paying proper attention to this new medium.”
“The study.. considers how their enthusiasm and skills can be encouraged.”
“The report makes recommendations to help adults cope with the changing online environment and calls particularly on schools to help youngsters understand the long term implications of living their lives in a semi-public way.”
“Schools should prepare young people for an era where CV’s may well be obsolete, enabling them to manage their on-line reputation .” says the report, “we need an educational response that extends beyond the focus of safety towards broader questions of privacy and intellectual property.”
I was personally concerned about the information my teenage daughter was relaying about herself on Facebook, especially when she realised that her boss had added herself as a friend.
Politicians see youngsters as apathetic and unreachable, according to the Guardian.
“The (UK )government is pouring money into this because they feel young people should be making themselves heard”…”but bloggers say it feels contrived.”
Barack Obama in the United States, on the other hand, is said to be the first ‘Youtube politician’ because “he gets that you can’t control it. His campaign team get that its about the enthusiasm”…”he encouraged (young voters) to exercise their creative urges online, instead of simply dictating his ideas to them.”
Exam papers go digital May 9, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Access, Alternative Assessment , 1 comment so farTESS reports that an alternative to scribes and readers used by pupils requiring support in exams has been launched.
Scotland is the first part of the UK to offer digital papers to exam candidates, as an alternative to scribes and readers for pupils requiring support.
With the exam season fully underway this week, 209 pupils in 48 schools will use the adapted question papers to sit 509 examinations over the course of the next few weeks. This follows successful trials of adapted digital papers in 2006 and 2007 by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and CALL Scotland (the Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning team at Moray House School of Education).
Should we shed any tears as Standard Grades are abolished? April 29, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Alternative Assessment , add a commentThe Herald Society reports on the National Qualifications review announced last week by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, and gets views from EIS General Secretary Ronnie Smith, Brian Boyd, Professor of Education, University of Strathclyde, Howard McKenzie, Acting Chief Executive of the Association of Scotland’s Colleges, Michael McGrath of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, Bill McGregor, general secretary of the Headteachers’ Association of Scotland, Jim Docherty, deputy general secretary, Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association and Judith Gillespie of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council.
National Qualifications Online April 22, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Access, Alternative Assessment , add a commenthttp://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/exampreparation.asp
NQ Online has a collection of resources and web links to help teachers, students and parents prepare for exams. These include:
· Sunday Herald Exam Guide (Spring 2008)
· Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) 2008 Exam timetable
· SQA past paper service
· collection of interactive materials to help students to become effective learners and manage their own learning. This resource focuses on important exam issues such as essay writing and memory skills.
Laptops for Exams June 14, 2007
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Alternative Assessment, Dyslexia , 1 comment so farHave a look at this from today’s news:
The Herald
SQA to allow dyslexic students PCs in exams after trial success http://www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.1463815.0.sqa_to_allow_dyslexic_students_pcs_in_exams_after_trial_success.php
Children with dyslexia in Scottish schools will be able to sit electronic exams rather than the traditional paper version after a successful pilot scheme. Scotland’s exam body has approved the scheme after a small study found that dyslexic pupils coped better with digital exams using laptops rather than having questions read to them and writing out answers in longhand. The British Dyslexia Association has welcomed the move, which it said would give new independence to dyslexic learners.
Comments welcome!
Parental concerns March 7, 2007
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Alternative Assessment, Dyslexia , add a commentLaw Primary is well on the way to becoming a Dyslexia Friendly school. I was asked to speak to Law parents on 22nd February. Several people raised interesting questions. I hope I answered them adequately.
One of the major concerns was that of transfer to high school and alternative assessment arrangements. Mention was made of perceived inconsistencies in provision across the region. Parents were also keen to find out what tests we did, how early dyslexia may be identified (I steered them away from using the term diagnosis), the role of Educational Pyschologists, and the relationship between dysleixa and numeracy difficulties.
Neil Barnes (HT) reported back to me that a group of parents is setting up a support network to meet in school once a month. I have agreed to attend a meeting at some point to talk about an issue to be mutually agreed. Neil felt that the meeting had successsfully allayed fears. I certainly enjoyed speaking to the parents - there were about 30 there - and feel it’s a good way to develop partnerships. I’ve been asked to meet with a parent (and the child’s teacher) to discuss more specific concerns.
Support for Us February 9, 2007
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Alternative Assessment, Dyslexia , add a commentAfter an in-service I did in November on Assessment and Dyslexia, several people thought it would be helpful to meet occasionally to share ideas/case studies to support each other.
The one this term was on Friday 26 Jan. The next will be on 18th May @ St Gabriel’s Primary School, 1.30 - 3.
It was gratifying to welcome 10 people at the January get together. This included 2 class teachers and one teaching head.
Part of the intention was to make some sort of social network and there was certainly a lot of chat along with the chocolate biscuits.
However, we also discussed specific issues:
- SQA Alternative Assessment Arrangements - referred to in an earlier post;
- Agreement with the principles of formative assessment, but some unhappiness with the work overload implications;
- SfL teachers also felt that the burden of paperwork sometimes distracted from the ‘real’ job of teaching;
- The Aberdeen model of a network support for learning team - based in a secondary school with SfL teachers covering both sectors.
At our next meeting we plan to address the teaching of reading for those who struggle. We shall bring examples of resources we like and suggestions about methodology.
It would be great to have an even larger group to work collaboratively. I’d be grateful to hear if you plan to attend - just so I can get more biscuits and ensure there are enough chairs. And thanks to Irena for offering her wonderful new room at St. Gabriel’s. Hope to see you there.
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