Abstract:

In recent years, the methods adopted for supporting learning assessment in Higher Education have undergone significant transformations, notably driven by the advancement in the adoption of digital technologies. This study contributed to the understanding of these changes by investigating the perceptions of HE teaching staff about using technology in assessment tasks. To this end, the research work builds on primary data collected via interviews with a selected sample of professors in HE Institutions. Data analysis was aligned with the approach and structure of the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (a.k .a. DigCompEdu framework).

The DigCompEdu framework offers a structured reference for describing and characterizing educators' digital competence, proposing six main dimensions of competency: Professional Engagement, Digital Resources, Teaching and Learning, Assessment, Student Empowerment, and Facilitating Learning through Digital Technologies. This research focuses specifically on “Assessment”, investigating how technologies are integrated into assessment processes and exploring how they can influence teaching practice and student learning.

Existing studies have supported that the implementation of technologies in assessment tasks can offer advantages for teaching and learning performance. Commonly acknowledged benefits include gains in personalization that can be enabled by technologies, increased efficiency in the management associated with the teaching and learning process, and the expansion in the range of formative assessment possibilities. Despite these benefits, many challenges seem to persist. The literature acknowledges persistent gaps in the development of digital skills among teachers, as well as in attitudes – namely resistance to change – also technological infrastructure issues.

The analysis of the interviews suggests that the effective implementation of technologies in assessment requires not only technical familiarity on the part of teachers but also robust institutional support and an organizational culture that favors innovation and continuous development. Based on the professors' perceptions and the DigCompEdu framework, this study proposes recommendations for training professors and strategies for integrating technologies into assessment, to improve the quality of teaching and the learning experience of students in higher education.

Keywords:

Assessment, digital technologies, DigCompEdu, digital competencies, educators.