Innovation in Assessment Technology for Seamless Testing Experience

1. Using Technology to Successfully Ride the Swelling Tide of Assessment Specifications NCTA 2011 – Making Waves in Testing Steve Brown - OSU Stillwater

2. Who Am I? • Steve Brown • Technology Manager • University Assessment and Testing • Oklahoma State University • Stillwater, OK

3. Who Are We? • A comprehensive land-grant university system with more than 35,000 students, 7,400 employees, and campuses located in Stillwater, Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Okmulgee.

4. Who Are We? • University Assessment and Testing is comprised of two distinct units: • The Testing Center serves our main Stillwater campus, NOC, and community with full array of testing and scanning services. • Under the leadership of the Assessment and • Academic Improvement Council, University • Assessment directs the institutional, program, • general education, as well as student/alumni • satisfaction and the student experience assessment.

5. Needless to say… …there’s plenty to do! • Effectively Manage Resources • Room Resources (e.g. capacity) • Manage Scheduling (e.g. eligibility) • By Test • By Type • Manage Resources • Client / Test Company Database • Including special requirements • Schedule Appointments • Keep Logs • Produce Reports

6. You Know How It Is… …we’ve all been there! Technology holds a promise…

7. It’s Not As Easy As You Would Think… • … But Then, Few Things in Life Are • Pre-built solutions are a bummer • costly, risky, and/or not flexible enough • Building our own “ground up” solution time and cost prohibitive, WIPEOUT!!! • Custom HTML with PHP • Security concerns • Requires full-time developer • Rapid Application Development (RAD) • Radical Dude!

8. BUT You Know How It Is… …we’ve all been here too! One Thing Always Leads to…

9. Another, and Another, and Another… • … when our Directors found out “we can do that” … then they wanted to: • Advanced eligibility tracking • Advanced Center Resource Control • Center Schedule, Block Rules, Remote Locations • Automatically Report Official Test Results to Departmental Contacts • Send Appointment Confirmations • Gather and Report Customer Feedback • Online Exam Submission

10. DEMO

11. Surf’sUp!

12. BUT You Know How It Is… …it can’t be that easy! If it sounds too good…

13. How We Learned to “shoot the curl” • No one glove is ever going to fit all • Rapid Application Development (RAD) • Requires a hosted environment • Requires some technical skills • The True Key to “Hang 10” Is • Building on shared experience • Networking with peers • Shared problem solving

14. Steve Brownsteve.brown@okstate.edu405-744-9651