The Seven C's of Comprehensive Online Assessment: Lessons Learned from 36 Million Classroom Assessments in the Cisco Networking Academy Program

Abstract

During the last 6 years, the Cisco Networking Academy™Program has delivered online curricula and over 36 million online assessments to support instructors and schools teaching computer networking skills to students. This chapter describes the context of this work and lessons learned from this endeavor. Through discussions with stakeholders concerning the central aspects of the Cisco Networking Academy Program assessment activities, seven themes have evolved, each starting with the letter C: claims, collaboration, complexity, contextualization, computation, communication, and coordination. These themes address many aspects of assessment, including design, development, delivery, and the management of assessment resources, which are all necessary to ensure a quality assessment program.