Yale Consolidates Language Testing onto OWL

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 12/04/12

Yale University has adopted a testing system in its Center for Language Study that allows instructors to customize exams for different languages and create assessments that can encompass speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The center is using OWL from OWL Testing Software to help students studying foreign languages and to offer services to students who speak English as a second language.

Usage began in the fall for language testing in coursework and placement exams. Previously, the university had multiple testing platforms to address 200-plus languages in use at the institution. Working together, the technology teams at Yale and OWL have integrated the testing software with the Yale student information system to allow OWL student, class, and scoring data to move between the two systems.

OWL also provides an authentication application programming interface to verify student identities through the university's identity servers and provide for single-sign-on.

The OWL platform is available as an on-premises application or delivered as a service. It includes a community library that lets customers share language test content and maintain test items in their individual online test item banks.

The testing platform is also in use at the College of Staten Island/City University of New York and New York's Columbia University, among others.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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