Reflections on BETT 2022

By Mark House

BETT is big and busy. After spent 3 full days there, I am also reminded how exhausting it is. Having had the weekend to recover, here a few quick reflections about the show, and what it might mean for RM Compare.

Assessment is a priority

Of course assessment has always been important, but as a domain it really does seem to me to be at a bit of an inflection point. Like everything else the pandemic has allowed practitioners to take a look at different assessment approaches. These efforts fall into 3 broad categories

The digitisation of assessment certainly provides the opportunity to look at each area differently. This is something the team will continue to do

Relatively absolute

A key understanding of RM Compare centres on the distinction between Absolute and Relative judgements. It was clear from the show that the use of Comparative (Relative) Judgement as a tool for assessment remains largely undiscovered or appreciated. Pretty much every other assessment 'solution' on show (and there were quite a few of them) took an absolute approach. However, the conversations we were able to have validated some our assumptions about the benefits of taking a comparative approach for lots of users in lots of use cases.

The importance of human dignity in assessment

There were a heap of products championing all sorts of auto-marking and assessment. Many of these were quite keen to tell me how AI and ML would transform assessment. However, talking to large number of people in depth re-enforced the understanding that there still a requirement for judgements and assessments to have a large human element. Most people, in most cases, are more than a little unsure of being judged by an algorithm.

In summary

BETT was fun and we learnt so much. It's going to take a while to work through all of the learnings. The team came away even more determined to make RM Compare even more brilliant. Please keep your feedback coming.