Practical assessment on the run – iPads as an effective mobile and paperless tool in physical education and teaching

Roslyn Franklin; Jubilee Smith

doi:10.3402/rlt.v23.27986

Practical assessment on the run – iPads as an effective mobile and paperless tool in physical education and teaching

Roslyn Franklin School of Education, Southern Cross University, East Lismore, Australia
Jubilee Smith School of Education, Southern Cross University, East Lismore, Australia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.27986

Keywords: mobile e-assessment, iPad, online rubrics, physical education, teacher education, pre-service teachers

Abstract

This paper investigates the use of iPads in the assessment of predominantly second year Bachelor of Education (Primary/Early Childhood) pre-service teachers undertaking a physical education and health unit. Within this unit, practical assessment tasks are graded by tutors in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings. The main barriers for the lecturer or tutor for effective assessment in these contexts include limited time to assess and the provision of explicit feedback for large numbers of students, complex assessment procedures, overwhelming record-keeping and assessing students without distracting from the performance being presented. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate whether incorporating mobile technologies such as iPads to access online rubrics within the Blackboard environment would enhance and simplify the assessment process. Results from the findings indicate that using iPads to access online rubrics was successful in streamlining the assessment process because it provided pre-service teachers with immediate and explicit feedback. In addition, tutors experienced a reduction in the amount of time required for the same workload by allowing quicker forms of feedback via the iPad dictation function. These outcomes have future implications and potential for mobile paperless assessment in other disciplines such as health, environmental science and engineering.

Keywords: mobile e-assessment; iPad; online rubrics; physical education; teacher education; pre-service teachers

(Published: 18 December 2015)

Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2015, 23: 27986 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.27986

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Published

2015-12-18

How to Cite

Franklin R., & Smith J. (2015). Practical assessment on the run – iPads as an effective mobile and paperless tool in physical education and teaching. Research in Learning Technology, 23. https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.27986

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Issue

Vol. 23 (2015)

Section

Original Research Articles

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