EDUCATION-FEB10-PG27:Page 6 02/02/2010 16:44 Page 27
ICT - Networking and Communications
What we really protect,
is your pupils
AQA awards DRS five
The leaner, faster, superior computer protection.
year electronic marking
contract worth £40 million
D
RS has been AQA’s technology partner since 2003, when, after
a successful pilot, the awarding body appointed it to improve
marking standards through electronic marking. With access to
electronic marking technologies, including imaging techniques,
AQA examiners and markers can mark scripts efficiently and
effectively without the logistical problems faced with paper script
marking. Over nine million scripts are marked using e Marker®
with 20,000 home based and centre markers submitting marks
over the DRS e-Marker® infrastructure.
The new contract, worth £40 million will see the introduction of
new techniques for the marking of Long Form Answers
(LFA). These are typically essay type answers which are written
free format in answer booklets. LFAs pose a number of problems
when trying to optimise electronic marking because of the need
to automatically recognise the location of individual
answers. However, DRS has developed a unique process which
enables most answers to be segmented automatically without
manual intervention. The facilities available to markers using the
LFA module have also been radically improved to enable
convenient manipulation of on-screen essay images.
Andrew Bird, AQA’s Deputy Director General, comments: “This
will ensure that we can keep delivering the best possible
technological support to our assessments, to the ultimate benefit
of all our learners.”
Tony Lee, DRS Chief Executive added “DRS is proud to be AQA’s
partner in the successful delivery of examination marking. We are
very much looking forward to continuing our relationship with
AQA and to further developing e-Marker® to meet the changing
requirements of examination marking.”
u01908 423760 uwww.drs.co.uk
Protect your
schools now at
www.eset.co.uk
February 2010 www.education-today.co.uk
27
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