Major universities around the world are expected to embrace an Australian-designed open source software system which will revolutionise the marking of exam papers.
Suitable for any kind of student assessment that can be converted into a PDF, the ReMarksPDF system will deliver new forms of feed back to students and advanced moderation and quality assurance to institutions.
The system is now under development by Bali based company Mitrais on behalf of ReMarksPDF Pty Limited, a company set up by the University of New England (UNE).
Mitrais is undertaking the project to develop the system using the SCRUM Agile methodology.
ReMarksPDF managing director and project leader, Professor Stephen Colbran, said the catalyst for the development of the marking system was poor quality and slow feedback to students from markers.
“Among the reasons the project was accepted for a $250,000 Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Priority grant are the limited options available for feedback to students and poor or inadequate records on which electronic portfolios of student achievement might be based.”
The system is suitable for marking any type of student assessment. For example, a play can be marked by an electronic marking rubric which is stored on the system. Any student assessment that can be converted into PDF including media elements (video, audio, text etc) can be marked using the system.
ReMarksPDF will provide students with feedback including audio and emoticons, legible comments and backed up copies of marked assignments as the basis of future student electronic portfolios.
The PDF markup editor is expected to be in prototype form at the end of December this year. Mitrais has already completed development of a version that adds similar functionality to Word 2007. This is available for evaluation.
Product architect Stephen Colbran is a Professor of Law and until recently was Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Planning and Renewal) at UNE in Armidale, NSW.
He explains that the new software will be available to members of a closed open source community, typically represented by some of the world’s major universities. They will licence the right to access and use the latest versions of the software. They will also be able to make additions and variations to the software which, when approved, will be distributed via the ReMarks company website. They can also purchase support and training.
“Mitrais suggested the SCRUM Agile development methodology largely from our joint experience in developing the Word version. We found that iterative development suited our purposes and style of working. We researched the methodology extensively before committing ourselves to this path,” he said.
ReMarks researched and evaluated having the software produced in Australia, India and Indonesia.
“We chose Mitrais after an extensive due diligence. We spoke to dozens of their Australian clients and tested their capability with the Word project. We also visited Mitrais in Bali to judge for ourselves, based on face-to-face meetings with their staff,” Professor Colbran said.
Mitrais already has clients in the learning management business and the creation of the ReMarks Feedback Management system will enhance Mitrais' worldwide reputation for producing quality software and enterprise level systems.
For further information please contact:
Professor Stephen Colbran
Managing Director
ReMarksPDF Pty Limited
Email: stephen.colbran@remarkspdf.com
Mobile: 0407 261 092