eMarking & Feedback

Assignment/assessment design

As you move your practice from paper to digital submission it is a good idea to review the assessment regime of your courses. Learning & Teaching considerations should, of course, take preference, but you can reflect on what adjustments could be made to acommodate the characteristics of the digital medium.

• Submission characteristics: consider the size/length/nature of what you are asking students to prepare and submit.
  • › Will students have the skills and means to create the submission?
  • › Does the submission size/length correlate with its relative credit weight?
• Feedback: Are you going to provide feedback on the submission itself or on a separate document?

Submission formats

You need to consider which format you are going to ask students to create and submit their work. Different file formats have different affordances and will have an impact on how you review, mark and add feedback to the submissions.

MS Word

Word documents allow students to easily add text, tables, graphs and images. Word documents are also easily editable by the marker in terms of adding comments, marks and feedback. More information on marking MS Word submissions.

PDF

PDF documents are more cumbersome to edit, but it is a useful format if you expect students to digitally submit assignments that are hand-written (partially or fully). For example: mathematical equations, sketches, drawings, etc. Students can scan their hand-written work and submit the resulting PDF file. You need to consider how students will access scanning facilities. More information on marking PDF submissions.

Ergonomics

Marking on-screen might mean that you are going to increase the amount of time you spend sitting in front of a computer. Make sure that you are as comfortable as possible and take regular breaks to avoid muscular and eye strain. According to the Health & Safety Executive's own research discomfort from working with computer equipment "can be avoided if users follow effective practice, set up their workstations properly and take breaks during prolonged use".

• › Guidance from the Health & Safety Executive in the UK.
• › Advice from the NHS on how to prevent repetitive strain injury.
• › Video on how to avoid back strain:

Equipment

Having the right equipment will help you be more efficient with your time and be a more effective on-screen marker. Which equipment is more appropriate for you will depend on the characteristics of the submissions you handle.

Desktop computer with 2 screens

Most modern desktop computers can have their graphics card upgraded so that they can support 2 screens. This setup will double the size of your desktop, making it easier to have several different documents up on the screen at the same time. This is particularly useful if you refer to different documents, websites or applications while you mark submissions. The downside of this setup is the lack of mobility. The cost of upgrading a PC to a dual screen setup is approximately £200 + VAT.

Widescreen laptop

A laptop is a good solution if you need to be able to use the same computer in different locations to carry on with your marking. A widescreen model provides a larger working desktop which will make it possible to display two different documents side-by-side. It can also be set up to connect to an external screen for a dual screen setup. The cost of a widescreen laptop is approximately £600 + VAT.

Tablet PC

tablet PCs allow for easy annotation of documents using their digital pen. Their screens can rotate and fold to adopt a notebook form. They can be very useful for marking and providing feedback on submissions that require significant hand-written/drawn input (e.g. mathematical equations). Their downside is that their screens are relatively small and their performance is modest (when compared to standard laptops or desktop computers). They are also likely to be phased out by all manufacturers in 2012-13 due to the advent of the new Windows 8 devices that are expected to supersede them. The cost of a tablet PC is approximately £1,300 + VAT.

Slate form factor device

These devices are also referred to as 'tablets'. They are mobile computers with touch screens and no physical keyboard. Their main advantage is that they are lightweight and can be comfortably held with one hand, but present many limitations for on-screen marking: lack of full operating system, modest processing capacity and small screen. The cost of a slate device is approximately £300 + VAT.

Interactive touch screen device

This type of digital pen can be installed on a desktop computer or laptop to enable on-screen hand-written/drawn annotations. They can be very useful of quick and brief annotations or marks on documents while marking. They are not ideal for large amounts of annotations as the angled writting position on the screen is not comfortable beyond a brief annotation. The cost of an interactive digital pen is approximately £80 + VAT.

Once you have identified the equipment that is more appropriate for your assessment practice you might want to discuss your needs with your head of department to explore how the university can support your requirements.