Welcome Note
I am honored and delighted to welcome you to the International Symposium on Virtual Assessment Tools, Challenges, and Way Forward to be held on 26th and 27th of June 2021 at The Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University Sukkur, Pakistan. Due to pandemic face-to-face learning is replaced with online learning and the next item on the agenda to be addressed is assessment. During pandemic online proctoring companies got a chance to capitalize their business as education system was reshaping and they experienced 900% growth in business by selling the high-tech blend of webcam watching workers and eye-tracking software designed to observe the students during exams. According to the survey published in nysenate website about online exams of nearly 500 respondents out of which 74.7% describe the experience as negative, while less than 8% reported positive. While, students in Netherlands, Australia, USA, and Pakistan have protested against online assessment methods, and usage of Artificial Intelligence based proctoring test method has raised lots of questions that should be discussed. The assessment methods have vital role in academics and the challenges that are being faced nowadays due to online education needs to be understood and addressed properly for better learning outcomes. The challenges might be related with the use of technological tools for the assessment of students and teachers. Each challenge should be evaluated and analyzed in order to overcome the problems faced by the stakeholders.
Keeping in view of issues faced by academicians this symposium will assemble renowned speakers from all over the world to share their experience of using virtual assessment tools, to share the challenges they might have faced, and the measures taken to address these challenges. We are all acutely aware of the growing crisis related with education system. Thus, it is timely that this symposium will enable you to meet and discuss critical issues in this escalating problem.
The major outcomes that we expect from this symposium are a national and international framework for the changing education systems around the world. The renowned national and international speakers will also be talking about the global codes of conduct and best practices in the assessment methods around the world with examples of education system of various countries including Pakistan. This symposium will have sessions such as panel discussions and keynote talks, the major outcome of this symposium will be the betterment of our education system as well a unique confluence of networking, entertainment, learning under one roof.
We welcome you to this symposium and look forward to your participation.
Thank you,
Yours sincerely,
Imtiaz Ali Brohi, PhD
Convener of the Symposium
Director – Quality Enhancement Cell
Chairperson – Department of Information & Communication Technologies
The Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University, Sukkur, Pakistan
Introduction
“All hands-on deck, we need to move everything online as quickly as possible”. The message circulated among all universities since the lockdown initiated throughout the world. The world has seen a dramatic change during the COVID-19 pandemic in almost every sector of life and higher education institutions (HEIs) are not an exception. There is a crucial link between the institutions and the society, and higher education institution is a subset of society (Francois 2015; Gary et al, 2013). Research in the HEIs culminate in societal development, while the shift in the ways the society/environment operates also determines the functionalities of the HEIs (Adedayo, 2015; Mark, & Sar, 2015 and Sasere & Makhasane, 2020). Since the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic on the social landscape, the delivery of education in the HEIs through virtual classroom teaching has been revolutionized. The HEIs have shifted from physical classrooms to home-based/ online classes to stop the spread of the virus. The closure of educational institutions has negatively affected education delivery and assessment. The HEIs throughout the world have redesigned their education delivery systems and also the assessment systems (Zhang, Wang, Yang & Wang, 2020). However, the success rate of online learning and assessment varied among countries (Crawford et al, 2020). Some HEIs transited to online learning education via Learning Management Systems like e-learning portals, social media, etc. But some HEIs grappled with the online/virtual teaching and learning with very little or no result at all. During the transition from traditional classes the most vital and challenging phase has been the assessment methods.
Keeping in view the relevance of the issue to the today’s education model, it is timely to determine the best practices adopted across the world in the virtual assessment. This symposium focuses on the virtual assessment tools, the challenges, and the way forward in education. The basic purpose of the symposium is to gather renowned speakers from all over the world to share their experience of using virtual assessment tools, to share the challenges they might have faced, and the measures taken to address these challenges.
Scope
We at The Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University Sukkur have identified some areas related to the current education scenario which is highly affected by the pandemic. There is a need of discussions and deliberations to understand various tools used in virtual assessment, the challenges during this pandemic and the way forward to meet the challenges. It is vital to understand the new strategies being implemented in virtual assessment globally. Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University Sukkur is planning to organize an “International Symposium on Virtual Assessment Tools, Challenges, and Way Forward” on June 26th and 27th 2021 at the Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University Sukkur which will bring together educators to address challenges in virtual assessment and provide insights for future.
Organizers
Patron
Vice-Chancellor
The Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University (BNBWU) Sukkur
Convener
Director Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC)
BNBWU Sukkur
Co-Convener
Head of Campus
SZABIST Larkana
Symposium Secretary
Chairperson Department of Linguistics and Human Sciences
BNBWU Sukkur
Finance Secretary
Chairperson Department of Management Sciences and Technology
BNBWU Sukkur
Joint Secretary
Chairperson Department of Education
BNBWU Sukkur
Dr. Shahzad Naseem
Controller of Examinations
BNBWU Sukkur
IT Support Team
Assistant Director IT
BNBWU Sukkur
Mr. Nasrullah Dahar
Assistant Director IT
BNBWU Sukkur
Marketing Team
Deputy Director Marketing
BNBWU Sukkur
Shahzaib Hassan
Web Manager
BNBWU Sukkur
Barkha Teekam
Web Developer
BNBWU Sukkur
Theme
The theme of this symposium revolves around virtual assessment tools, challenges and way forward. This symposium will draw collectively research fellowships from diverse fields in collaboration, to share their research findings and latest ideas. The main intention of this symposium is to integrate interdisciplinary inquiry to deliver the best pedagogical solutions available to face this novel form of teaching and learning.
Attending this remarkable event will help participants sharpen their skills and refine their ideas as well as approaches by meeting with their peers and counterparts. They will also have the chance to meet experts and high-level delegates, and share ideas and research findings from past and present. Participants can build new networks to meet different personalities and learn about the latest teaching and learning trends.
This symposium serves as a unique confluence of networking, entertainment, learning, and in one ensemble. This event will require you to develop and challenge participants with their ideas and proposals for further exploration.
Subthemes
Artificial Intelligence in Assessment.
Technological Pedagogical Tools.
Digital Transformation.
Challenges and Opportunities in Online Learning.
Psychological Effects of Online Learning.
Hybrid Engagement Skills
Contextual Learning in Humans and Machines.
Leadership and Professional Skills
Speakers
InternationalSpeakers
Dr. Christine Coombe
Associate Professor of General Studies at Dubai Men’s College, Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Dr. Ahmar Mahboob
Associate Professor at the Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney, Australia
Dr. Mark Feng Teng
Center for Linguistic Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
James Buckingham
Instructor Education & Technology, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
NationalSpeakers
Dr. Bhawani S. Chowdhry
Professor Emeritus/Advisor and Former Dean and Meritorious Professor, Faculty of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro.
Dr. Sarosh Hashmat Lodi
Vice Chancellor,
NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi
Dr. Faizullah Abbasi
Vice Chancellor,
Dawood University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi