AI-enabled educational assessment： an integrated approach to assessment of， for and as learning

Sheng Zhang， Xue Wang and Yuan Qi

In the era of Artificial Intelligence （AI）， a digital world is added to the physical world， which has brought about radical changes in the way people live， work and learn， thus resulting in transformation of relations of production and superstructure. In light of this transformation， the focus of education will have to shift from teaching knowledge and skills to fostering core literacies， which will become the primary purpose of assessment. This article sets out to analyze the dilemma of diagnosis-centered assessment and proposes an integrated approach to learning and assessment. It makes a theoretical case for the approach in the AI era by illustrating its concept， connotation and defining features. It also develops an assessment framework which is comprised of three key stages of higher order thinking activities， i.e.， generation and demonstration， engagement in the assessment activities， reflection and improvement. Key elements in each stage are identified to facilitate assessment of， for and as learning.

Keywords： assessment of， for and as learning; assessment concept; core literacy; Artificial Intelligence （AI）; assessment reform; assessment skill; educational assessment

Educational assessment in the intelligent era： implication， role and pathway

Qi Zhang and Dan Wang

Educational assessment impacts the overall quality enhancement and supply-side reform of education. It is argued that educational assessment should evolve accordingly by taking advantage of big data and intelligent technology to address problems of existing assessment practice. This article focuses on the “whole person” assessment with learning as the main target， and expounds on how education assessment should adapt to the changing learning modes and the multi-dimension learning outcomes. It explores the pathway of “knowing students”， “implementing teaching” and “developing overall quality”， drawing upon Confucius philosophy of education. It then goes on to discuss the role of intelligent technology-enabled assessment in terms of learning engagement assessment， identification of students personality and characteristics， innovation assessment， and expression ability assessment. The article concludes by arguing that the reform of educational assessment should be in line with the nature of education and make appropriate use of technology to deliver the goals of assessment.

Keywords： intelligent technology; educational assessment; individualized teaching; knowing students; scene calculating; model-building

Online teaching and innovation of Chinese elementary and middle schools during COVID-19： an interactive teaching perspective

Yijun Wu and Li Chen

Face to face teaching is not possible when schools are closed during COVID-19. In response to the initiative of “Disrupted Classes， Undisrupted Learning”， online teaching becomes the most important option to guarantee learning continuity in elementary and middle schools， resulting in an unprecedented mass online teaching practice. This study reports on a qualitative analysis from an interactive teaching perspective of 100 cases selected from the BNU collection of excellent online teaching classes in primary and middle schools during the lockdown. Five online teaching modes are identified with four innovative features. The Internet-enhanced transformation are discussed in three aspects： teaching space， teaching philosophy and pedagogical relation. Findings from the study have implications for the use of the innovative methods and the integration of the Internet into basic education.

Keywords： compulsory education; basic education; online teaching mode; online learning; case study; COVID-19; transformation and reform

Synchronous “presence” and online “face to face”： a review of 26 papers on overseas online synchronous video teaching

Wenge Guo， Mengzhe Zhang， Qin Xu， Jing Lei and Yang Liu

During COVID-19， synchronous video conferencing becomes the mainstream mode of online teaching. Hence， traditional online education theories may not be able to explain this kind of pedagogical practice effectively. The current study conducts a literature review of 26 research studies on synchronous online video teaching on ERIC in an attempt to identify the features and key components of such practice. Findings from the review show that when teachers and students “are present” synchronously， and communicate “online face to face”， students sense of presence， engagement and satisfaction is significantly enhanced. It is also found that there are many similarities between synchronous online video teaching and face to face teaching in that both modes have learning activities planned in advance， making it possible to use different tools in the platform flexibly to emphasize “focus of attention”. Finally， it appears that online synchronous video learning is becoming an increasingly popular social learning behavior. Put another way， the online video conference interface has become the “first scene” of communication， while the physical scene has become the “backstage”.

Keywords： synchronous presence; online face to face; asynchronous video teaching; asynchronous online teaching; media-assisted communication; online focus of attention; online education; online learning; COVID-19

Elements of open education： an invitation to future research

The COER Group， Center for Open Education Research （COER）， University of Oldenburg， Germany

This paper explores elements of open education within the context of higher education. After an introduction to the origins of open education and its theoretical foundations， the topics of open and distance learning， international education issues in open education， open educational practices and scholarship， open educational resources， MOOCs， prior learning accreditation and recognition， and learner characteristics are considered， following the framework of macro， meso， and micro levels of research in open and distance learning. Implications for future research at the macro， meso， and micro levels are then provided.

Keywords： open education; open learning; distance education; flexible learning; online learning; open educational resources; internationalization

（英文目次、摘要譯者：侯松巖）