Online Writing Assessment:

1
Online Writing Assessment Making Evaluation Real
Relevant
March 22 Leslie C. Perelman perelman_at_mit.edu Prin
cipal Investigator MIT Online Assessment Tool
(MOAT) MIT / Microsoft iCampus Alliance
2
Topics

• Motivation
• Solution
• The Vision
• The Future
• The Vision Made Real

3
Motivation

• Limitations of
• Timed impromptu
• Unauthentic context for writing
• Portfolios
• Reliability consistency
• Crowded orientation week
• Results with no feedback with no time for
  reflection
• Writing not on computer

4
Solution

• Development of online writing evaluation
• Based on readings
• Time for
• Invention
• Revision
• Editing
• Students and their advisors receive
• Text of essay
• Substantial feedback
• Accommodates learning disabled students

5
The Vision Develop national service using
standard software tools that

• measures the actual set of writing skills
  students will need both in college and afterwards
  
• reflects each institution's specific educational
  priorities
• reduces significantly IT and administrative costs
  through economies of scale
• provides a platform for collaboration and the
  sharing of best practices in writing assessment
• creates a national digital research database of
  student essays

6
The Future

• 2002 Under iCampus grant partner with four
  schools to run Ver. 1
• 2003 Recruit several more schools for Ver. 2
• Create two ongoing entities
• Consortium of colleges universities
• Policy educational issues
• Online Essay Evaluation Service
• Implementation
• "Machine validation of human readers"

7
The Vision Made Real

• MIT Online Assessment Tool (MOAT)
• Funded by the MIT / Microsoft iCampus Alliance
• Enabled by Microsoft's .NET software