In 2000, there were 100 attendees at the first ever Innovations conference. Fast forward twenty years, where we welcomed 1,300 people from more than 30 countries.
This year’s conference showcased examples of the powerful ways we’ve transformed the traditions of testing by challenging the status quo and innovating new methods of measurement.
Recent advances in machine learning, intelligent tutoring systems, and multimodal data collection are blurring the boundary between learning and assessment. Ideas that were once firmly in the realm of science fiction are now closer than ever to becoming reality.
One standout area is artificial intelligence. As Conference Chair Rory McCorkle observed in his panel discussion: 2019 is the year of AI.
“Many sessions, product demos, sponsors, and testing organizations discussed the impact of AI,” McCorkle noted. “There’s so much potential to revolutionize learning, and assessment creation and content delivery through AI applications.”
McCorkle also pointed out that startup funding for AI companies doubled from 2015 to 2018 and the number of job openings for AI research, development and deployment exploded from 2015 to 2017, increasing 3500%!
Conference Vice-Chair Jerry Gorham called out the trend towards integration and blending of learning and assessment.
Gorham talked about real-time outcomes, analytics tools, and educators’ dashboards that allow us to identify weaknesses earlier in the learning process. He said shorter assessments and micro-credentialing that are gaining ground in non-traditional learning paths and he noted that group learning and collaboration are also emerging as things we can actively and accurately measure.
While we can’t predict the future, it’s clear that education technology is not just growing for the sake of growth. It’s growing in ways that matter – to personalize learning and focus on improving outcomes.
At ACT, we are dedicated to helping people achieve their education and career goals while enabling them to navigate a changing world. We are excited to lead an industry at the cusp of a bold transformation.
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