Beyond multiple-choice with digital assessments

During the past decade, k-12 education systems have been increasingly relying on digital forms of educational assessments. Therefore, digital assessments have been integrated into the instructional process and curriculum in multiple ways to promote student learning inside and outside the classroom. When developing digital assessments, one of the most important elements is the type of items used in the assessment. As technological innovations continue to change the type of tasks we can measure using digital assessments, new types of items also emerge. Items in digital assessments can go beyond the limits of what can be measured on a paper-and-pencil assessment with traditional multiple-choice items. This article will provide a summary of different item types in the context of digital assessments and discuss how they differ from traditional item types.