Rm Regulatory News (RM.)

18 Nov 2005 09:38

RM PLC18 November 2005 RM wins Innovative Project of the Year award at the 2005 Computing Awards A major e-assessment project, which RM is delivering on behalf of theQualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), has been named Innovative Projectat the Year at the 2005 Computing Awards for Excellence. The project, which was awarded to RM in February 2003, is a highly innovativeapproach to assessing key stage 3 (14-year old) students in the curriculumsubject of ICT. It provides both a sophisticated 'on screen' testingenvironment and a national testing infrastructure that collects, processes andreports test results. In 2005 the test was taken by nearly 50,000 pupils in over 400 English secondaryschools. A national pilot targeting 3,000 schools will be undertaken in 2006,with the test expected to become statutory in 2008. Commenting on the award, Tim Pearson, RM's CEO, said: "I'm delighted that the work we're doing in partnership with the QCA has beenrecognised at the Computing Awards. It's a clear illustration that some of themost innovative work in the field of ICT is happening in education - and that RMis at the heart of it. "The key stage 3 ICT Project is an enormous innovation in the way secondaryschool pupils are tested. Pupils are provided with a set of ICT tools and giventasks to complete - our test environment analyses their performance and providesthem with feedback on their ICT capabilities. It's a completely new way ofdelivering a test and points the way for further developments in the rapidlygrowing area of e-assessment." - Ends - For further information, please contact:Phil Hemmings, RM plc 08709 200200Fiona Laffan/Mark Antelme, Brunswick 020 7404 5959 Notes to editors: RM is the UK's leading supplier of ICT and other products and services toeducation. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is the non-departmental public bodytasked with maintaining and developing the school curriculum and associatedassessments, and accrediting and monitoring qualifications in schools, collegesand the workplace. The key stage 3 ICT project provides a completely new approach to assessment.Working within a dynamic on-screen environment, and equipped with a set of ICTtools (including a word processor, spreadsheet, file manager, web browser andemail) pupils are asked to complete tasks which allow them to demonstrate theirlevel of ICT capability. An underlying marking system captures every action thepupil carries out, and through the course of the test, analyses evidence of ICTcapability against which a national curriculum level can be automaticallyawarded. The test is delivered across a nationwide infrastructure, which also supportspractice and familiarisation activities to help teachers and pupils prepare forthe test, and provides an invigilation system for schools. The infrastructureis used to collect and process test data and, following formal moderation, testresults are returned automatically to schools. The Computing Awards are the leading and largest event for IT business leaders.A Computing Award is an award for excellence and the recognition of a team andan organisation's achievements. The award for the most Innovative Project ofthe Year 2005 was presented on 16 November at the Battersea Arena in front of1,000 of the IT industry's most influential people. The key stage 3 ICT testwas judged as the most innovative IT project of the last 12 months by a publicor private sector organisation. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange