FCT plans the use of Remote Assessment Systems in higher education

FCT is currently carrying out a set of actions that will help validate the possibility of using Remote Assessment Systems (SAR) in higher education. This pilot project is being developed by FCCN, the National Scientific Computing Unit of the FCT, and was triggered by the urgent need to promote remote assessment solutions for higher education institutions (HEIs), due to the abrupt mass migration to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SARs provide reliable identity verification and monitoring options for reliable teacher assessment, whether for remotely validating learning in a teaching program or for remotely organizing large-scale assessments. The activation of a project focused on the contracting of mature platforms, with several years of development and operation in HEIs around the world and with needs similar to ours, is currently underway, within the scope of the “ Nau – Sempre a Aprender ” project of the INCoDe.2030 initiative.

Four different platforms are being studied and compared, with the process being conducted jointly with representatives from universities and polytechnics, under the coordination of the FCCN unit team, which guarantees access to the SARs under analysis and promotes solutions so that they are concluded as quickly as possible.

As there is no “tailor-made” solution that guarantees to cover all the different needs presented by HEIs, such as online proctoring options, live proctoring, self-proctoring, identity verification, recorded tests and integration with LMS (Moodle, EdX, etc.), the selected solutions will be tested for one month, financed and purchased centrally and with real tests from HEIs already identified (and others that may be added), which will allow for between 1,000 and 3,000 tests to be carried out for each solution, depending on the format chosen, for a total of 3,000 to 9,000 tests.

Once this process is complete, those responsible for the HEIs will present a report with the results, which must include the learning, good and bad experiences, identified by teachers and students.

Another webinar is being planned as part of the Metared initiative, to be announced soon, which will mark the start of the project and in which details will be given to the various agents on how access to the platforms can be requested.