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Past Webinars hosted by CommPartners (2011-2016)

Past Conference Virtual Conferences

Current NCTA Webinars

Testing at a Post-Secondary Institution During a Pandemic
Originally Aired Monday, June 1, 2020

Presenter: Dr. Cindy James, Thompson River University

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on testing services in higher education. In most cases, testing centers have closed and/or transitioned to virtual services. Eventually testing centers will reopen, but how will testing services be provided during a pandemic? This presentation is designed to answer that question based on experience. Specifically, the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Assessment Centre resumed limited testing services at the beginning of May. To reopen, the Centre had to revamp its procedures in order to adhere to social distancing and other pandemic protocols. During this webinar, an overview of these changes and their impact on testing will be presented.

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DIY Online Testing in a Pandemic, Exam Creation, Administration, and Proctoring for Educators
Originally Aired Thursday, May 4, 2020

Presenter: David Foster, Caveon

Due to recent global events, remote learning and assessment have become critical factors in helping students to complete courses. Caveon is now offering educators at every level (including NCTA members) the free use of the exam development platform, Scorpion™, to move exams online, schedule them with students, and proctor them— all using their own resources.This DIY model integrates with popular LMS systems, takes surprisingly little time to implement, and suits the current learning models and economic conditions of present day and future educators. In the webinar, you’ll receive:
•    A high-level description of the free tools available to educators
•    Guidance on how to get started immediately
•    Basics of how to DIY your own online test creation, administration and proctoring
•    Highlighted features of Scorpion Pro (the paid version of the platform)

 

Online Testing in a Pandemic: How to Promote Academic Integrity and Achieve Valid Results

Presenters:
Donna McPartland, McPartland Privacy Advising LLC
Jarret Dyer, College of DuPage and President, National College Testing Association
Rachel Schoenig, Cornerstone Strategies, LLC and Chair, ATP Workforce Skills Credentialing Division
Ray Nicosia, Educational Testing Services

Going online is about more than the technology. It includes legal, privacy, and security considerations to help ensure that assessment results are valid and achieved with integrity. This session is designed by experts to help academic institutions as well as education and credentialing programs think beyond the online testing technology. Speakers offer a worksheet for evaluating technology capabilities as well as checklists for educators and program directors to use to create a robust, secure, and effective online test event.
This session is free and will be offered numerous times to reach those in need of this information. To ensure quality, the content will be recorded and then experts available after the session to engage in Q&A. Please feel free to share this.

How to Prepare For a Successful Pilot: Sharing a Proven and Repeatable
Process
Originally Aired Thursday, January 16, 2020

Presenter: Shawna Belleau, Director of Sales, Akindi

Before you invest in new technology, you want to determine if it’s the best solution for your organization. In this session, presenters will discuss how to prepare for a successful pilot—sharing a proven and repeatable process informed by first-hand experience piloting a web-based assessment software. Attendees will learn how to account for critical factors, like how to identify potential roadblocks and engage early adopters. This session will also answer specific questions, such as, “When should I coordinate a pilot?” and “How can I collect feedback data?” This step-by-step pilot guide will help attendees strategically plan and smoothly execute pilots, without unnecessary stress or costly mistakes.

PowerPoint Presentation

Creating Your Mindfulness Gameplan
Originally Aired Thursday, November 7, 2019

Presenter: Rachel Leveille, University of Rhode Island

Simple, brief mindfulness activities can help you to be more focused and productive - and, less stressed! A growing body of research shows how deep the benefits of mindfulness are on both the body and mind. Now there is movement in higher education to use more mindfulness in the classroom and the feedback from students and faculty is that minimal efforts can reap big rewards. How can we incorporate mindfulness into testing centers? How can we use these techniques to support the communities we serve and invite more equanimity for ourselves? Join us for this webinar to experience mindfulness activities, brainstorm how you can use them in your testing center, and create a plan for incorporating mindful practices into your everyday life.

The Impactful Proctor
Originally Aired October 15, 2019

Presenters: Scott Greene, Scantron
Alex Ortiz, American Council on Exercise

Proctors are entrusted with an incredible responsibility.  Not only must they safeguard test content, ensure exam security and standardization is upheld, and enforce a variety of policies and procedures, but also perform their duties in a way that allows the candidates to perform well.  The environment the proctor provides and how he or she goes about conducting the daily tasks has impact on the candidates.   We will explore why this impact is important and ways in which the proctor can have optimal impact.  We will also discuss the various impacts on the proctor from a variety of sources that influence the proctor’s ability to do his or her best.  Best of all, Alex Ortiz from the American Council on Exercise will walk proctors through suggestions regarding what they can do within the test center that will promote health, energy, and a positive frame of mind so that proctors can prepare to have a positive impact on the candidates who test at their centers. 

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NCTA Certification
Originally Aired Friday, April 12, 2019

Presenter:Rosie Summerhays, Salt Lake Community College - South City Campus

Are you interested in Test Center Certification? Then, you won't want to miss this webinar. It will cover the application requirements, examples, tips and tricks, and things to remember when applying for certification.

Assessment 102:Developing Continuous Improvement Based on Self Assessment
Originally Aired Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Presented by: Kristen Vickery, Anne Arundel Community College

Building off of the Assessment 101 webinar, Assessment 102 will discuss developing continuous improvement within testing offices based on a CAS self-assessment. The work products developed at the end of a self-assessment will be reviewed along with templates used to create and action plan, as well as, how you link your work to division goals and strategic plans.

By the end of the webinar participants should be able to:

  • Participants will gain an understanding of what continuous improvement is and a brief history of the term.
  • Participants will be able to identify the purpose of the different self-assessment appendices.
  • Participants will gain knowledge of Bloom’s taxonomy for creating measurable action items.
  • Participants will have access to shared document resources to use in creating action plans to use for action planning.
  • Participants will be able to analyze  goals and apply that knowledge in matching goals to strategic initiatives.
 
 

Assessment 101: Introduction to Testing CAS Standards and Self-assessment
Originally Aired Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Presenter: Kirsten Vickery, Anne Arundel Community College

Assessment and accreditation is common language within higher education. For some offices these activities are new and additional training is needed or can be useful in refreshing previously learned information. Assessment 101 is the first part of three online webinars that will help in refreshing knowledge or learning it in order to move your office forward with activities surrounding assessment and accreditation. The Outcomes identified for this webinar are as follows:
  • Create understanding of CAS as a self-Assessment tool
  • Apply newly learned information to your institution
  • Evaluate assessment opportunities for your Testing Offices and what will be your role
By the end of the webinar participants should be able to:
  • Provide an overview of CAS
  • Discuss how assessment in a testing office can be used
  • Apply real samples of how self-assessment is completed
  • Understand the concept of continuous improvement and analyze where their institution is functioning

Publishing in the Journal of the NCTA
Originally Aired January 18, 2019

Presenters: Sara Rieder Bennett, Ph.D., The University of Akron
Cindy James, Thompson Rivers University
James Wollack, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Wendy Shirey, Ph.D., Bellevue University
Laura Woodward, Ph.D., Wayne State University

The Journal of the National College Testing Association (JNCTA) is a professional, peer-reviewed publication which focuses on the trends, practices, research, programs, policies, and activities related to examination development and administration. In this session, the editor, editorial board members, and an author will share about the process of preparing, submitting, reviewing, and revising a manuscript in the JNCTA. We will also explore NCTA grants for research proposals. The panel will provide advice on the process, including discussion of resources and tips to help streamline the publishing process. Participant interaction and questions are encouraged as the panel guides discussion of potential topics for publication.

Best Practices: The NCTA Grants Program
Originally Aired Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Presenters:  Wendy Shirey, Bellevue University
Bill Thelen, Central Washington University
Ever wonder what an approved grant application looks like? Curious what topics have been successfully used by your colleagues? In this webinar, we share information about the grants program best practices.

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 An Introduction to NCTA
Originally Aired Friday, November 2, 2018
Presenters: Rachel Hample, Temple University
Chris Dayley, Utah State University

Want to learn more about what a NCTA membership has to offer? Join us for a webinar on Friday November 2 where we will provide an overview of the organization, including NCTA’s industry certifications, professional development opportunities, and testing resources.

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Value of Testing Inside and Outside the Industry

Originally Aired March 7, 2018

Presenters: 
Naora Ben-Dov, Woodbury University
Jarret Dyer, College of DuPage
James Wollack, PhD, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Click here to download the PowerPoint Presentation