Digital Assessment SIG: Review of the Year

The Digital Assessment SIG has thrived since its birth at the start of the 2024/2025 academic year. We now have 128 subscribers to the Jisc mail and have delivered 3 successful webinars with 10 presentations by 13 excellent speakers. For those of you interested in YouTube statistics our most watched webinar, Generative AI and Digital Assessments has so far gained 338 views and still counting.

Given the success of these webinars, next year we will explore the following topics, along with growing two subgroups in AI and Accessibility of Assessment:

• Staff Development for using Digital Assessment Tools, October 2025
• Digital Exams and Paper Script Scanning, December 2025
• Marking and Feedback of Digital Assessments, February 2026
• Digital Assessments and Student Voice, April 2026

Over the summer we will be sharing two blog posts where we invite you to step inside the inner workings of the SIG with a view from our SIG Co-Chairs and officers on the activities we have completed this year and a description of their own experiences as members of the Digital Assessment SIG. Starting with our co-chairs.

From our Co-Chairs

Gemma Westwood – Senior Digital Education Developer, University of Birmingham

I co-created the digital assessment SIG with Alison and Helen, our other co-chairs following a year-long project at the University of Birmingham where we completed a large-scale trial of two digital assessment tools. During this process we made many discoveries that did not seem to fit into other existing special interest groups. We longed for a place to discuss our findings, thoughts and experiences with the wider sector as well as to hear the experiences of others in terms of digital assessment, outside of the networks facilitated by tool providers or hopeful open sector information requests. Discussions with others in this situation made us realise that this space was needed elsewhere too.

My favourite part of this year is how the SIG has grown from being a loose idea of a discussion forum into a well formulated series of webinars and blogs that have tackled some of the pressing topics in this area. I cannot praise the dedication of the SIG officers enough for making this happen, for the members of the SIG for supporting these initiatives and for their individual contributions this past year. I am proud of how the SIG has begun to support research in specific areas, with SIG officers coordinating subgroups on generative AI in summative assessments and working together with the accessibility SIG to set up a task and finish group to provide support and guidance to the sector on procuring accessible digital assessment tools.

As a Co-Chair I have had so many opportunities from being a part of this SIG that I have not had before. For example, our first webinar was the first time I acted in the role of webinar host (rather than as a presenter), where I learned rapidly that timing for a host is key. I have also had the opportunity to represent the SIG on the EAA podcast Back to the future: a new review of the JISC 2020 report on the five principles for the future of assessment which was also my first experience of being on a panel discussion.

In terms of next year I am hoping that we can expand the reach of the SIG, working more closely with fellow SIGs on mutual interest projects and to begin to share the outputs of these in an open format. As well as to continue to expand both the webinars and the blog, with a hope to bring people together in person to highlight what is happening in digital assessment across the sector.

Helen Greetham – Digital Education Developer, University of Birmingham

When my colleagues Alison, Gemma and I were discussing routes to share and discuss our work and the possibility of creating an ALT subgroup was suggested, I wasn’t sure what to expect! I’ve generally been a bit of a passive ALT member, appreciating the excellent journal articles and news items it sent my way, but never sure how to become more involved in the organisation. It’s been great to have this chance to dive in and contribute to sector-wide discussions.

Over the past few years I’ve been submitting a lot of conference papers and session proposals to all kinds of events, and one of my favourite parts of being an officer is the insight I’ve gained from seeing this process from the other side. It’s an enjoyable challenge to sort through all of the wonderful submissions we get for our monthly webinars, trying to select talks which work together and create a larger narrative in conjunction with each other. These events always prompt some really useful, practical discussions.

In the next year I’m hoping to meet face-to-face colleagues who I’ve only ever known in virtual spaces at the ALT conference. I’m currently working on the opening stages of a project with the Accessibility SIG to create a task and finish group to provide sector-wide guidance for procuring accessible digital assessment tools, and I’ll be excited to see what comes from that over the next academic year! 

Alison Gibson – Head of Digital Education, University of Birmingham

In 2024-25 the University of Birmingham digital assessment team ran a proof-of-concept project, where we evaluated different assessment tools to see which requirements they met. I was determined from the beginning of that project to ensure we were engaging across the sector, as we were in the privileged position of having dedicated time and resource to complete digital tool evaluations. 

What we found, as we did the rounds of various conferences, was an overwhelming desire from colleagues at other institutions to hear about and share experiences of digital assessment tools, away from the influence of vendors. And so, the idea of the Digital Assessment SIG was born: a place to share good and bad assessment experiences, strategic goals and projects, find commonality amidst the noise of EdTech, and have discussions that don’t dissolve into sales pitches.

While I’m now less actively involved than at the beginning, I’m delighted to see the SIG growing in membership and engagement. Working siloed away in our institutions can become habitual, but we have so much to learn from each other, and the events that the co-chairs and members of this SIG are arranging are the perfect way to do that.