Assessment in Focus

In the fourteenth episode of the Assessment in Focus podcast, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Professor Ian Pickup, Pro Vice Chancellor of Students at The Open University, for an open and honest conversation on the future of learning, grading, and academic integrity in the age of GenAI.

In the third episode of Season 2 of the Assessment in Focus podcast, host Ishan Kolhakkar sits down with Dr. Patricia Broadfoot, Professor Emeritus of the Sociology of Education at the University of Bristol, to dissect the profound evolution, systemic barriers, and uncertain future of educational assessment.

In this episode of Assessment in Focus, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Professor Sam Brenton, Director of Lifelong Learning at the University of London, to challenge the traditional boundaries of higher education. In this episode, Sam argues that assessment is inherently a learning act. If we designed education from scratch today, learning and assessment would be seamlessly integrated, not di...

In the season two premiere of Assessment in Focus, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Naomi Winstone, Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Surrey and co-author of Designing Effective Feedback Processes in Higher Education. In this episode, Naomi shares game-changing insights into how institutions can shift from high-stakes "grade justification" to meaningful, continuous learni...

In this episode, Peter Alston and Laila Barbe from BPP University join Ishan Kolhatkar to discuss ‘assessment for life’ - the concept of aligning assessments with future skills, overcoming digital transformation barriers by embracing change and leveraging leadership to drive innovation. And finally, transforming the student experience using digital tools. Explore Ishan’s blog posts: https://www.in...

In this episode of Assessment in Focus, Simon Trevers, part of the Inspera Awarding bodies team, joins Ishan Kolhatkar to discuss the importance of assessment integrity, global trends shaping the future of education, the critical need for accessibility in assessments and the importance of formative assessments. Explore Ishan’s blog posts: https://www.inspera.com/author/ishan-kolhatkar/ Find out ho...

In this episode of Assessment in Focus, Dale Hansen, Learning Designer from the University of Queensland discusses the importance of innovating assessments, the need for easy-to-use technology, and the cultivation of a trusting culture within an educational environment. Explore Ishan’s blog posts: https://www.inspera.com/author/ishan-kolhatkar/ Find out how Inspera can help with your assessment st...

Joining Ishan in this episode of Assessment in Focus are Stephanie Conway and Edel O’Neill from SOAS, discussing students wanting to take their assessments digitally, student communication to drive engagement and assessment innovation. This episode was recorded in March 2025. SOAS has since delivered their 2nd examination season using Inspera. Explore Ishan’s blog posts: https://www.inspera.com/au...

In this episode of Assessment in Focus, Ryan Lufkin, VP of Global Academic Strategy at Instructure, joins Ishan Kolhatkar to explore the relationship between technology and educators. They discuss how technology should scaffold, not replace, the teacher-student connection, the importance of AI literacy, and why mastery-based assessment is shaping the future of learning. Explore Ishan’s blog posts:...

A new episode of Assessment in Focus podcast has landed. This time, Ishan is joined by Svetlana Mazhurnaya, Director of Academic English Assessment, and Phil Smyth, Deputy Director of Academic English Assessment at the International Study and Language Institute (ISLI)at the University of Reading. In this fascinating discussion they cover how institutions can collaborate when implementing new techn...

Our series of real stories of digital assessment transformation continues with this episode's guests: Christy Wilson and Dr James Yates from South Arkansas College. With host, Ishan Kolhatkar, they discuss how the future of assessment is about design orientation, how we teach critical thinking to students and how AI has changed the definition of academic integrity. Explore Ishan’s blog posts: http...

Episode 3 of Assessment in Focus features a name synonymous with feedback research and the impact of artificial intelligence in assessment, Prof Phillip Dawson, co-director of the Center for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (Cradle) at Deakin University in Australia. Hosted by Ishan Kolhatkar, he and Phillip discuss feedback literacy, the skills required by academics and graduates now t...

“Inspera’s been the enabler.” Watch episode 2 of Assessment in Focus - real stories of digital assessment transformation - with host Ishan Kolhatkar. This week, Professor Andrew Turner and Martyn Jenkins from the University join Ishan to discuss AI in assessment, the future and what they've learned in their own assessment practice. Explore Ishan’s blog posts: https://www.inspera.com/author/ishan-k...

In this first episode, Ishan is joined by Dr Linda Amrane-cooper, Director of Academic Practice and Michael Sawyer, Project Manager from the University of London. The University pivoted their digital assessment strategy during the COVID lockdown and now ~100,000 online proctored exams per year are delivered, submitted and marked per year globally. Together, they discuss the future of assessment pr...