Upcoming webinar alert: Training Staff to Use Digital Assessment Tools
Our next webinar will be on the above topic on Tuesday the 18th of November 2025 from 14-15:30 via Zoom. If you haven’t done so already, please register using the link at: https://www.alt.ac.uk/civicrm/event/register?id=1035&reset=1
The details of the three sessions are as follows:
1) Newcastle University’s Approach to Synchronous and Asynchronous Training using Inspera Assessment for Digital Exams
Presented by Kimberly May-O’Brien (Learning Enhancement and Technology Adviser at Newcastle university.)
Kimberly will be presenting about Newcastle University’s successful implementation of Inspera Assessment, which has resulted in a 70% increase in digital exams over recent years. She will discuss how the digital assessment team overcame common challenges such as assessment integrity, technical reliability, and varying digital literacy levels among staff and students. The presentation will showcase their multi-faceted training approach, including asynchronous resources like a comprehensive “one-stop shop” website with videos and guides, strategic communication campaigns to boost engagement, and inclusive support extending to IT Service Desk, Student Health and Wellbeing teams, and exam invigilators. Kimberly will share practical tools such as query flowcharts for troubleshooting and explore the psychological aspects of institutional change, demonstrating how the team fostered a culture of innovation while transforming assessment practices from simple replacement to genuine pedagogical enhancement, all whilst maintaining the University’s commitment to student-centered learning.
2) Beyond Tools and Training: Cultural Transformation in Digital Assessment at the University of Warwick
Presented by: Yihua Huang, Natasha Nakariakova (Faculty Digital learning consultant and Faculty Digital learning adviser)
Yihua and Natasha will be presenting about the University of Warwick’s innovative approach to building sustainable digital assessment capability through a distributed model that moves beyond reliance on central teams to create a networked culture of practice across the institution. They will explain how their approach reframes staff development from one-off technical training to cultural transformation, embedding digital assessment literacy and confidence within local academic, administrative, and technical teams while balancing central policy with departmental flexibility.
The presentation will feature two contrasting case studies that illustrate this distributed model:
(a) the Department of Economics, where administrative staff were empowered through structured mentoring and shadowing to lead first-line support during high-stakes online exams for over 500 students, significantly reducing pressure on central services;
(b) the School of Engineering, where doctoral researchers were mobilised through technical and pedagogical training to develop high-quality question banks, becoming co-designers who bridge academic vision with digital delivery. Yihua and Natasha will share Warwick’s emerging framework for digital assessment capability, key metrics for evaluating readiness and sustainability, and transferable lessons demonstrating their strategic transition from doing digital assessment for staff to enabling staff to own digital assessment practice through distributed expertise, peer learning, and cultural change.
3) Approaches to training and development for the scaling of digital assessment tools from a trial to an institutional level of use at Coventry university
Presented by Misrah Mohamed & Martin Jenkins (Academic Developer & Academic Development Lead at Coventry University).
Misrah and Martin will be presenting about Coventry University’s institution-wide implementation of Inspera, its chosen digital assessment platform, and the strategic approaches taken to scale from initial adoption to sustainable, university-wide practice. They will discuss how Inspera was selected to support management of assessment workflows and implement a new assessment strategy featuring developmental pass/fail assessments with multiple attempts, with a phased roll-out beginning with developmental assessments before expanding to other types. The presentation will outline their comprehensive training strategy, which required all staff to complete training before platform access and began with a core group of ‘super users’ before expanding through an ongoing staff development programme that evolved in response to both platform developments and user feedback. Misrah and Martin will explain how strong coordination through an Implementation Group and Inspera Board, along with regular feedback loops between Schools, central services, and system administrators, ensured strategic alignment and continuous improvement. They will share impressive outcomes demonstrating the success of this approach: trained users increased from 961 to 1,271, scheduled tests surged from 1,888 to 8,911, and student submissions grew dramatically from 17,581 to 104,141 between August 2024 and September 2025.