Where it has been embraced, technology has saved education – there’s no doubt about it. If the pandemic had struck before the advent of the internet, how would students have been able to keep learning or training at all?

Despite the widespread ramifications of the lockdown, we have truly been reminded of the power of technology to provide us with the means to communicate, share information, do business and to learn. As the coronavirus crisis continues, and many schools, colleges and training providers across the country have had to shut their doors, teaching online and assessing people virtually has never been more important. 

The entire education sector has seen a seismic shift in how it approaches teaching and assessment, and this is particularly true for apprenticeships. For the skills and FE sector, online training and learning was the peripheral method of delivery before Covid-19. But, within just a few weeks, we have seen the sector undergo a rapid phase of digital transformation, something that otherwise might have taken a decade, at least.

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At City and Guilds, apprenticeships have been one of our main areas of focus. Working with other organisations, we have found ways to adapt and digitalise, to ensure that learners continue learning and, crucially, complete the assessments that allow them to achieve quality apprenticeships – even during lockdown.

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While classroom-based tests may have been carried out supported by e-assessment for many years, we’ve had to revolutionise our approach, working with partners to create assessments robust enough for learners to carry out tests alone in their own homes while being invigilated online.

We launched an initial pilot with 10 training providers, including a remote assessment pilot with Seetec Outsource. To date, we have 161 centres signed up, 17 apprenticeship standards approved for remote invigilation and over 71 endpoint-assessment knowledge tests have taken place – it’s still very early days and we expect test numbers to be in the thousands by the end of the summer period.

Technology in assessment

E-assessment includes using technology to create and deliver a test as well as to mark it, invigilate or make judgements on outcomes. This could range from automatically marking a multiple-choice test using computer software, through to using video conferencing to facilitate an online discussion or view evidence remotely. It could even involve using virtual reality to demonstrate a skill, such as welding, flight simulation or machinery maintenance.

As well as improving efficiency and effectiveness of testing for those setting the assessments, e-assessment removes many barriers faced by learners, businesses, colleges and awarding bodies. For instance, where learners might already be engaging in distance learning, e-assessments can remove the need to travel to test centres or simply make the choice of test location and time more flexible – and thus make sure that geography and availability are no longer such obstacles. Remote assessment can also improve flexibility in the timing of assessments. The freedom offered by digital assessment is especially beneficial for apprentices, where learners and employers lack spare time to travel to test centres.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that not everyone has the same access to technology, from lacking the funds to purchase sufficient data contracts through to not having good enough broadband coverage – something the government must change, and fast, as we increasingly live our lives online. So, while we want to invest in digital and remote testing and see it as something enriching that’s here to stay, until the technology is even more affordable and democratised, it must be seen as part of a blended, more flexible offer.

Looking to the future

This mammoth move to online learning and assessment may have been born out of necessity, but it is not – and shouldn’t be – just a phase or temporary measure. For apprenticeships, rigorous online learning and assessment can bring a multitude of benefits for learners, training providers and businesses – and continued innovation will bring even more opportunities to improve the process for all involved.

Education often lags behind when it comes to digital adoption, yet these past few months have shown us all how possible it is to innovate at speed. Enhancements in AI mean we have the potential to continue pushing the boundaries of what can be judged and processed by a computer and there is so much more we can do together to drive this digital revolution. What we must avoid at all costs, as we come out of this current crisis, is any backwards steps to the familiarity of an old normal when the opportunity of a new normal could be so beneficial and appropriate.

Looking forward, bold policy-making and commitment from government will be essential, so that together we can create the future of more blended, flexible and digital learning and assessment.

David Phillips is managing director at City and Guilds and ILM