The main point of contention between the traditionalists and those wishing to push the bar on technology in education is whether or not traditional exam assessment is indicative of a students abilities in a certain subject areas. Throughout modern education ICT is used to support and enhance learning yet when it comes to the all important exam assessments students are forced into sweaty school halls and, in isolation, encouraged to recall facts and figures under pressured circumstances. I think I may be showing my opinion in this matter however this is not an academic paper so never mind!!!

The project which we have developed these tools for enables students to be assessed for their Design and Technology course work through various different means; photographs, voice recordings, drawings, written work and mind-mapping. These tools are all controlled through a parent/client application which leads the students through predefined questions or requests which require them to use the creative tools to evidence parts of their work. e.g. Sketch your initial designs for new type of pill holder / Take a photo of your prototype / Mind-map some ideas for new features.

Whilst the work is being created it is being immediately stored in the individual students online portfolio. The evidence and work collected facilitates a more subjective approach to student assessment called ‘Comparitive Pairs’.

Although this system is currently being piloted for Design and Technology only, I hope that further down the line that this type of assessment could be used more widely and potentially offer an alternative to archaic pen and paper type assessment.

The creative tools we have developed at Ultraviolet are a painter tool, text editor and mind mapper. All the tools were created in Flex / AS3. As concepts they are in no way groundbreaking, in fact at some points during development it seemed a little fruitless re-inventing the wheel, but the functionality for each tool is prescriptive to the project and clients needs.

Feel free to play and let us know what you think. Or if you find any bugs!! *Gulp*