From 11 May 2015, more than 2,000 candidates from over 60 IB World Schools took part in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) pilot for eAssessment.
Assessment for MYP Year 5 students is optional for those IB World Schools that wish to award MYP certification and course results from 2016.
This was a significant step in the IB’s desire to become more digitized and apply cutting edge technology to assessment processes. IB programmes assess understanding and skills that go beyond memorizing facts and figures. In an era of rapid change and an ever-increasing flow of information, students need to demonstrate their ability to organize knowledge and use it critically and creatively. Students are increasingly digitally aware and engaged with technology, which is why the MYP is pioneering an innovative assessment model that gives students a richer experience, and their teachers access to a greater range of contemporary stimulus material and media content for questioning and discussion.
MYP eAssessment is designed as a rigorous and globally consistent assessment model to help achieve greater student outcomes and provide more quality assurance and recognition for IB World Schools. Students in the live pilot were assessed using on-screen examinations—including multimedia and interactive activities. Take a look at the video demonstration to see how it works.
Collaboration between the IB and the pioneering schools taking part in the pilot has been an extremely positive experience. Although the pilot week was not without its challenges, the schools and members of the IB support team in Cardiff rose to those challenges and worked together to make the experience a positive and rewarding one for the students.
Jeff Shaw, MYP Coordinator at participating pilot school Guangdong Country Garden School, China, said: “Our learners hardly use pen and paper anymore. We have to move forward with the times and MYP eAssessment does that.”
Carolyn Adams, Chief Assessment Officer, said: “I want to say a very big thank you to the schools, educators and students who took part in the pilot. The process has been enormously important to ensure the success of new initiatives like this, and we could not do it without the time and energy of all individuals involved.”
Find out more about MYP assessment—why the IB decided to make it available, what it means for students, and why it is electronic—from Gareth Hegarty, Head of MYP Assessment, in an interview on the IB community blog.
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The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) is for students aged 11-16.
The MYP provide a challenging framework that encourages students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world. New industry-leading onscreen examinations and ePortfolios offer exciting opportunities for globally consistent, reliable, and robust assessment of student achievement.
Central to its success is its rigorous and highly flexible framework that powerfully integrates with local educational requirements.
Find out more about the MYP.
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