The assessment industry is evolving rapidly to meet increasing demands with a growing focus on sophisticated and specialized tools. As features once seen as mere add-ons are now emerging as full-fledged products in their own right. The balance between generalist and specialist software becomes crucial as the demand for a comprehensive, easy-to-use digital assessment solution becomes increasingly evident and necessary. In light of this, we’ve set out to craft the next-generation of TAO products with the clear goal of empowering educators and assessment professionals through data-informed instruction derived from learning and evaluation to enable learners to succeed.
At its core, the digital assessment journey is like a never-ending cycle with four main steps: Authoring, Rostering, Delivery, and Analytics. We understand that each step matters, and they’re all connected, making sure you get the best out of your assessment process.
Authoring with Efficiency and Robustness
We acknowledge that the requirements for authoring questions and tests vary drastically from one organization to another. With that in mind, we’ve meticulously designed our platform to support professional content creators in crafting assessment assets, ensuring that educators aren’t left behind or overwhelmed. Recognizing the challenges of crafting a test from a blank page and the need to save time, we’re in the process of integrating an AI assistant. You can get a glimpse of this future experience here. Stay tuned for updates and the evolution of our Authoring capabilities
Seamless Rostering for Diverse Structures
Rostering doesn’t follow a one-size-fits-all approach. With this in mind, we’ve designed TAO to be adaptable, accommodating the varied structures of different organizations. Whether you’re part of a complex hierarchy or a simpler school structure, we’ve got you covered. TAO can seamlessly integrate with your existing Student Information System (SIS) or allow you to replicate your specific structure within our system. Assigning students to exams is easy, quick, and straightforward for educators in less complex settings.
Delivery: Reliability and Inclusivity
We recognize the delivery experience as the heart of assessment. Particularly in high-stakes summative tests, reliability is paramount. As such, we’ve focused intensely on scalability, test integrity, and uncompromising security. To achieve this, we’ve developed an extensive set of security plugins and offer in-depth monitoring features, including On-site and Remote Proctoring. For learners, our TAO Advance interface ensures an inclusive, accessible, and distraction-free environment, making even the most intense summative exams more manageable. Moreover, recognizing the core of formative assessments, TAO Advance can also be leveraged to guide student learning through daily activities and tasks.
Continuing with our focus on the assessment delivery phase and understanding that not all evaluations are automated, we recognize the importance of those that require manual grading. Thus, we’ve introduced TAO Grader. Whether you’re grading regular classroom open responses or managing large-scale scoring in a professional setting, TAO Grader is equipped to meet your needs
Analytics: The Heart of Insightful Decision-Making
Closing the loop is our powerful analytics tool, TAO Insights. In an era where fragmented data can hinder the generation of actionable insights for making informed decisions, TAO Insights stands as a secure and centralized solution. More than just an analytics tool, it acts as a comprehensive data warehouse, aggregating evidence from the entire TAO ecosystem. Whether it’s optimizing individual learning paths or ensuring equitable evaluations based on personalized needs, TAO Insights provides flexible reporting designed to track progression in the classroom and beyond.
As we introduce our suite of products, harmonizing them for a unified, easy-to-use experience is crucial. The refreshed TAO experience promises seamless integration, encompassing our flagship next-generation offerings. Discover more about the TAO evolution and our intensified commitment to addressing educators’ challenges in crafting formative and summative assessments —watch the demo video here.
