According to the Committee on the Foundations of Educational Assessment, traditional educational assessment does a reasonable job of measuring knowledge of basic facts, procedures and proficiency of an area of the curriculum. However, the traditional approach fails to capture the breadth and richness of knowledge and cognition. Such a concern arises because traditional assessment practices generally focus on assessing whether a student has acquired the content knowledge, but they often fail in assessing the learning process and higher-order thinking skills. At a time when traditional assessment is under increasing scrutiny and criticism, the nation is placing greater expectations on the potential role of the computer in educational assessment. It is anticipated that the appropriate use of computer technology would help enhance assessment at multiple levels of practice by incorporating ongoing and multiple assessment strategies into the learning process. Given this possibility, it is timely to review current computer-based assessment practices in educational settings. Furthermore, a review of some emerging assessment tools that incorporate interactive multimedia can also deepen one's understanding of the role that computer technology plays in assessment. This article discusses the fingertip effects of computer-based assessment in education. (Contains 1 table.)