The challenge: Future-proofing assessments
VIS recognized the IB’s timeline for digitizing Diploma Program (DP) exams—with a projected pilot as early as 2026. For Joseph, this raised important questions:
Typing & Digital Skills: Students need practice typing and responding in a secure digital environment to be confident test-takers.
Rich Question Formats: As the IB eAssessment evolves (like MYP eAssessments), teachers want the freedom to embed multimedia and use interactive question types beyond standard multiple choice.
Lockdown & Authenticity: With the rising influence of AI and online resources, VIS needed a system to safeguard academic integrity—especially for high-stakes tests or accommodations when students aren’t always in a supervised classroom.
Teacher Time & Adoption: Technology initiatives compete for teacher attention. The platform had to be easy to learn and responsive to teacher feedback—otherwise, it could stall due to lack of engagement.
The solution: engaging, secure, and AI-Powered AssessPrep
After exploring multiple online testing tools, VIS chose AssessPrep for its feature depth, robust lockdown browser, and ongoing innovation—particularly around AI. Joseph describes AssessPrep as:
“Closer to what IB eAssessments already do—embedding video, audio, hotspot tasks—so it feels more authentic for our MYP and, eventually, DP students.”
Pilot Phase with Early Adopters
Voluntary Teacher Group: Joseph recruited about 10 teachers from various subjects (including foreign languages) to trial AssessPrep.
Feature Feedback Loop: One foreign language teacher requested dictionary support for French or Spanish—and saw the platform integrate updates quickly.
Strategic Support: Although AssessPrep’s training team was available, VIS leveraged its in-house tech integrator to pace the rollout. This flexible approach let staff experiment on their own schedule without overloading them
Robust security & lockdown browser
The SEB (Safe Exam Browser) integration was critical for preventing unauthorized app switches or AI usage during tests:
“Teachers here worry about authenticity in an AI world. With AssessPrep’s lockdown app, we can keep assessments secure, even for students with accommodations who test in different locations.”
This security advantage differentiated AssessPrep from simpler tools—giving teachers confidence that online tests maintain academic rigor.
AI Generation & AI Grading
As AI became a hot topic in education, AssessPrep’s AI features caught senior leadership’s attention. Joseph set up a mini-assessment for administrators, showcasing:
AI-Powered Question Creation: Quickly generate or adapt questions from a pool of IB-style prompts.
AI-Assisted Grading: The system suggests marks and feedback for each student’s short-answer or essay response, allowing teachers to confirm or adjust.
“AI is the strongest pull now. We’re building teacher skills around how AI can help generate and grade questions. It’s also how we convinced our leadership that AssessPrep is worth investing in.”
Impact & results
Though VIS is still expanding usage, the school sees key benefits:
Teacher adoption grows: Staff intrigue around AI and lockdown proctoring has steadily increased. Joseph notes, “The more people see how it secures tests and saves time, the more they want to try it.”
Future-ready students: By typing answers, exploring multimedia prompts, and practicing in an eAssessment-style interface, students build vital skills for potential IB on-screen exams.
Time-saving assessments: The AI assistant lightens teacher workload—drafting question sets, generating prompt ideas, or auto-grading short responses. Teachers remain in control, verifying or customizing AI outputs.
Strategic leadership support: Demonstrating AI’s immediate impact convinced VIS leadership to support a broader roll-out, ensuring ongoing budget for professional development and platform expansion.
Next steps: Scaling up & paper mode
As of 2023, VIS is only halfway through its full adoption plan. In the coming semester, Joseph plans to:
Present AssessPrep to a larger audience of faculty, highlighting new features—particularly the Question Bank updates and enhanced AI grading.
Introduce “Paper Mode”: Teachers can create an eAssessment but deliver it on paper. “It’s the best of both worlds,” Joseph explains. “We can meet the needs of subjects that aren’t ready to go fully digital, yet still centralize grading and data.”
Run More High-Stakes Pilots: Try AssessPrep for internal MYP summative exams, further aligning with the IB eAssessment structure.
With these initiatives, Joseph expects an even stronger teacher uptake and student familiarity—a step closer to bridging VIS’s present-day assessments with the IB’s digital vision.
Final Word from VIS
“When we realized DP exams would go online, we had to start preparing our students today. AssessPrep’s robust lockdown, AI-driven features, and responsive support made it stand out from other edtech tools. It’s not just about digital tests; it’s about evolving our entire assessment practice.”
—Joseph O’Rourke, MYP Coordinator
