Innovation in Teaching, Learning and Assessment in the 4IR era: The Case Study of the South African Marking App – The Marking App
Kabelo Mahlobogwane, Thuli Madonsela Foundation (South Africa)
Abstract
With the rise of mobile technologies and the proliferation of applications, teachers can now use mobile applications to improve learning and teaching in schools. While there is a lot of research about the use of mobile applications to facilitate learning and teaching, there is a scarcity of empirical information about whether such mobiles applications can also simplify teacher’s administrative duties and what teacher’s attitudes are towards these mobile applications. This article presents a marking application designed to gather, process, and return the grades produced by the application using learner handwritten scripts, rubrics and memorandums prepared by the teacher when setting the assessments while it also gives learners access to immediate feedback, multiple assessment opportunities, online support, and study resources. It The paper discusses the application’s online marking system's architecture criteria, features, and application as well as reactions from teachers. We adopted online semi-structured interviews to explore the views of teachers in the education sector and messages of support for the app received from several teachers globally, to understand their readiness and acceptability of 4IR technologies for teaching and learning in education sector. The Marking App has a range of benefits compared to traditional marking methods. These include such as scalability, real-time assessment of marking status, decreasing the risk of human error when compiling marks, enabling teachers to mark remotely and to revise their marks after submission and reducing administration and marking load that is usually experienced by teachers. The app’s goal is to support teachers and learners so we can have improved education outcomes at the end of the academic year.
References
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