You are in : Training > Training Categories > Assessor, Moderator, SDF and ETDP

Assessment Manager

Rural educators receive accreditation

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:26

Green Rainbow was selected by Footprint to be a partner in the assessment process whereby their community based educators become fully fledged accredited facilitators.

Footprint’s focus has been on training basic financial literacy skills. The content of the programme, Money fo’ Sho’, is generic in nature. They source enthusiastic and ambitious people from target communities and up skill and support them to become peer educators or trainers for the communities within which they live. Then they equip the educators with picture-based training materials that are both language and literacy-free, so that all South Africans can have access to the learning presented.

With the educators being scattered in rural locations, it makes it expensive and time consuming for an assessor from Footprint to be present at every session during which the educators need to be assessed towards achieving their Facilitation Qualification. Susan Westcott, Footprint Project Manager says “Learners can load up their evidence in Limpopo, for example, and our assessors can assess it online here in Johannesburg (or anywhere else). Feedback is done through the same process. It saves time and money and makes accredited learning a lot more accessible.”

Footprint has partnered with Green Rainbow and through the use of the Assessment Manager. This “in the cloud” application is an online workflow manager which allows learners to submit their assignments electronically, and then gives access to assessors at their workstations, saving printing costs, courier costs, travel costs and allows for swifter assessment.

For this qualification through Footprint, checklists, observations sheets and reports were uploaded from remote sites, and made available to assessors who are situated in Johannesburg.

To overcome the challenge of Authenticity of evidence, Footprint included multimedia (video and voice recordings) of educators delivering courses and attached specific assignments related back to that videotaped session. Coaches or field operatives were present to complete observation sheets further authenticating the work submitted by the educators.

Furthermore, the support that Footprint is able to offer the educators is focused and specific according to the information that they are receiving from the educators, thus making better use of limited resources and offering a more cost effective solution to Footprint’s clients. “Apart from helping us to assess learners in remote areas, it is also a useful tool for managing the assessment records and evidence” says Susan.

On the 22 July 2011, the ETDP conducted an external moderation of this qualification and upheld the results. This is a leap forward in the use of technology in the assessment process.

SAQA’s Deputy Director: Registration & Recognition, Margaret Barretto has indicated that Assessment guides and instruments are agreed by the quality assuring body when accrediting a provider to offer a qualification or part qualification. The quality assuring body is responsible for the quality assurance of the delivery, external moderation and verification of the learner results and for the upload of these achievements to the NLRD.

No provider may assume that they can use any assessment instrument, either manual or electronic, without the full approval of the quality assurance body responsible for the unit standards or qualification. The approval of the assessment strategy and instruments would take place as part of evaluation of the criteria for accreditation of the provider and be agreed up front.

There should be no confusion at the stage of the final summative assessment as to the instruments to be used or the mode of delivery of the assessment. Should the quality assurance body have approved the use of electronic assessments at the time of the accreditation application, then the external moderators should take this into account.

This project has been a true example of partnership between Footprint, The ETDP Seta and Green Rainbow in taking assessment into the next progressive phase.