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About SmarterMeasure

How it works

SmarterMeasure is a web-based tool which assesses a learner's likelihood for succeeding in an online learning program. SmarterMeasure indicates the degree to which an individual student possesses attributes, skills and knowledge that contribute to success in online learning, including:

• Self-motivation
• Time-management skills
• Self-discipline
• On-screen Reading Rate and Recall
• Persistence
• Availability of time
• Ability to use a laptop, printer, software, and the Internet
• Typing speed and accuracy

There are two versions of SmarterMeasure available (1) Higher Education and (2) Secondary School. The higher education version is designed for undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities. This version is also appropriate for use at technical and career colleges. The secondary school version is developmentally appropriate for high school students. Multiple reading passages exist for students in grades 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and college.

SmarterMeasure does not rely on simple self-assessment questions with obvious "right" and "wrong" answers. Rather, SmarterMeasure uses a sequence of activities to measure the degree to which students possess the traits needed for success in studying at a distance.

SmarterMeasure provides an immediate score and diagnostic interpretation of results to the student and to their prospective school.

SmarterMeasure includes five major assessment components that measure:

• On-screen Reading Rate and Recall
• Technical competency
• Individual attributes
• Preferred learning styles
• Typing speed and accuracy

Benefits of Using SmarterMeasure

Research literature shows that maintaining high retention rates in distance education programs is a significant challenge. SmarterMeasure serves as an early warning device to identify students who may be deficient in the skills and attributes necessary for successful distance learning and who may, therefore, be at risk of dropping out of distance education programs.

Educational institutions invest heavily in attracting and recruiting students. However, there is little return on the investment when students quickly drop out of the program. SmarterMeasure not only helps schools to identify the students who are likely to drop out, it also provides resources for remediation so that at-risk students can improve.

As individuals, students also invest thousands of dollars in their education and may be hesitant to study at a distance for fear that they might not do well. SmarterMeasure helps students to recognize their strengths and provides resources to strengthen their weaknesses. Students who are confident of their READIness are much more likely to enroll in a distance learning course.

Each year schools which use SmarterMeasure are surveyed to identify how they use SmarterMeasure and how their students are benefitting from it. View the Annual Reports: 2009 | 2008.

Integrated Features

Reporting - Each student who takes SmarterMeasure receives immediate feedback in the form of an individualized report that shows his/her score for each of the various SmarterMeasure components. The scores are presented in textual and graphical formats. Licensed institutions receive a summative report detailing overall usage, as well as the individual SmarterMeasure scores of their students. View a sample report.

Solutions - If the instrument determines that a user is not ready to study at a distance, links to potential remediation resources are provided. At this point the participating institution may also provide additional resources.

Ease of Interpretation - Results are presented in easy-to-interpret charts and graphs instead of confusing columns of numbers and figures. The on-screen report consists of colorful charts that indicate the participant's level of READIness in reading rate & comprehension, technical competency, individual attributes, typing speed & accuracy, and preferred learning styles.

Description of SmarterMeasure

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

SmarterMeasure, formerly known as READI (Readiness for Education At a Distance Indicator), is a patent-pending, web-based, 105-item assessment which measures a learner's readiness for succeeding in an online learning program. SmarterMeasure indicates the degree to which an individual student possesses attributes, skills and knowledge that contribute to success in online learning. SmarterMeasure includes five major assessment components that measure:

• Individual attributes
• Learning styles
• Technical skills
• On-screen Reading Rate and Recall
• Typing speed & accuracy

PERSONAL INFORMATION

The opening screen of SmarterMeasure collects demographic information such as name, email address, age range, gender and the number of online courses the person has taken. In addition to these standard demographic variables, schools can add custom variables to the opening screen.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

The personal attributes section of SmarterMeasure measures traits, habits and attitudes that impact one�s goodness of fit of distance education as a delivery system. The six attributes which are measured are time management, procrastination, persistence, academic attributes, locus of control, and willingness to ask for help. There are 24 items in this section with each of the six attributes being measured by four items. The items are measured on a four-point likert-type scale of not like me at all, not much like me, somewhat like me, or very much like me.

LEARNING STYLES

The learning styles section of SmarterMeasure measures the preferred learning styles of the student. The learning styles inventory is based on the multiple intelligences model which measures the following seven learning styles: visual, verbal, social, solitary, physical, logical, and aural. There are 35 items in this section with each of the seven learning styles being measured by five items. The items are measured on a three-point likert-type scale of the statement is nothing like me, the statement is partially like me, or the statement is very much like me.

ON-SCREEN READING RATE AND RECALL

The on-screen reading rate and recall section of SmarterMeasure consists of passages which are selected by the institution based on the appropriate Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level for the participants. The section begins with an instruction screen which informs the student that they are about to read a passage and then be quizzed on their comprehension of the passage. Participants are notified that they will not be able to view the passage during the assessment and that their reading is being timed. The On-screen Reading Rate and Recall assessment contains eleven items which are each measured by a multiple-choice item containing three choices.

Version 6.0 of SmarterMeasure (Released January, 2009) contains multiple reading passages at grade levels 8 through 12. Comprehension of these passages is measured by ten items which based on the following five categories of comprehension: sequencing, factual information, inferential information, cloze process and the main idea of the passage.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCY

The technical competency section of SmarterMeasure measures the degree to which the participant possesses basic instructional technology skills. In this section students demonstrate mastery of the technology skills through ten technology related tasks. The tasks are identifying a properly formatted email address, following a link on a web page, opening a file, identifying an appropriate software application for a specific task, downloading and listening to an audio file, working within a file structure, identifying an email attachment, saving a file, printing a file, and using a search engine. Mastery of the tasks are indicated through ten multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

The technical knowledge section of SmarterMeasure measures the degree to which the participant possesses knowledge of items related to instructional technology. In this section there are seven technology usage items which measure the degree to which the participant uses specified instructional technologies. This item is measured through multiple choice items containing four choices. The technology in your life section contains two items through which the participant indicates the level at which they integrate technology into other areas of their life. This section is measured through a dropdown menu of numerical choices which indicate the appropriate frequency of the technology integration. The technology vocabulary section contains ten items which are measured by four-choice multiple choice questions. The personal computer / Internet specification section contains four items and allows the student to report facts about the primary computer and Internet connection which they will be using to participate in online courses.

TYPING SPEED AND ACCURACY

The typing speed and accuracy section of SmarterMeasure is a skills test through which the student demonstrates their typing skills. Participants are first allowed to select the orientation of the sample passage to be typed in relation to the typing input window. Students then type the text. The score report visually presents their errors and typing rate.

SCORE REPORT AND GUIDE TO INTERPREATION

Immediately upon completion of SmarterMeasure students are provided a score report and a guide to interpreting the scores. Scores for each of the five constructs measured by SmarterMeasure are presented through color-coded graphics and explanatory text. Students are provided their composite scores through a color-coded chart ranking their performance on a four-point scale of opportunity for improvement through strength. The student's individual SmarterMeasure scores are compared to the national averages through a color-coded scatter plot. SmarterMeasure scores are presented through visually appealing graphics resembling speedometers, radars, and dart boards. Explanatory text is provided for each item scored in SmarterMeasure. The report is concluded with over thirty links to additional resources for remediation and support.

CUSTOM USER INTERFACE

The SmarterMeasure assessment is provided to students through a custom user interface which is based on the visual identify of the student�s school.