It's funny how things coincide sometimes. Today a student came to our office, wondering if we could help her develop an assessment in support of her dissertation. For some reason several students have made this request this year, while none used to before. Personally I think it's a wonderful thing, and testament to how students now view technology as an integral and important part of their lives and careers. It also shows how they are much less subject to pigeonholing technology.

For years the Centre for Interactive Assessment Development has been supporting lecturers by developing rich assessments. The university of Derby has in general adopted a far more innovative approach then most, progressing e-Assessments far beyond the domain of the multiple choice quiz. still the applications sought for innovative assessment practice have been rather limited. Primarily assessments were measurements of learning, mostly summative or formative only in the sense of providing practice and a benchmark for a later summative exercise. Assessments that actually teach, or diagnose are a relative new addition to our portfolio. Assessments for other purposes, such as research or evaluation, have never even been considered as part of the centres value and expertise. This is something I am desperate to change. I'm glad at least students seem to agree with me on that one.