The means of education today are expanding and diversifying. Education is no more limited to the four walls of a classroom. It has expanded to reach your fingertips as a result of advancing technology.
We are consuming information at a rate that humanity has not seen before, and it is because of the number of expansive sources that are feeding us with data having expanded magnanimously with globalization.
With changing times, many educational institutes are shifting to technology to make processes like Admissions, Exams, Fee Payment, etc. available online so that they are streamlined and can be tracked easily.
In this blog, I have covered all aspects of online exams and why there's an increase in the need for turning to technology for something we've all done before - give exams.
The hustle-bustle of conventional exams that begins with extended discussions on exam paper creation, which questions to put, heavy research, organizing the exam, invigilation, and ends with the final checking of the papers of the exam which may or may not have to be conducted again depending on whether the students flunk or not. Organizing pen and paper examinations is a herculean task that few are able to excel.
Online examination is the future of education. With the advent of technology, the idea of pen & paper is slowly becoming redundant and will soon be taken over by a better, newer, and advanced system of online exam tests. The combination of reachability, scalability, and security makes online examination the most desirable.
But first, let’s understand what online exams.
Online examination use the internet to conduct assessments, in which the candidates are evaluated on a fully automated software. It supports an easy to use interface for not only the test takers but also the conductors. In addition, the ability to generate immediate results saves time.
Online examinations are also a big result of distance learning/online courses due to their evident success across the globe.
Here is a simple comparison table of pen and paper exams against online exams:
| Pen and Paper Exams | Online Exams |
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To take an online proctored test from a remote location, candidates need:
1. a suitable device (Desktop PC/Laptop/Tablet/Mobile)
2. a proper Internet connection
3. a functional webcam and a mic
Online examinations are increasingly gaining much popularity, and rightly so. More and more universities are realizing the ease of having online exams against the traditional pen and paper that comes with a lot of baggage.
The big benefit of online examination is the saving of costs and time, both for the student and for the teacher.
Not much can be said about the disadvantages of online exams. These platforms are great tools for assessing the students, for both university and students. However, the dynamics could change if online assessment software is not used properly. For example, if the right kinds of tests are not used and the right questions are not asked during the examination, the results will not accurately measure the ability of a student.
One drawback could be that the student must be computer literate or at least be able to use a computer to take an assessment. This would be the basic requirement for any candidate taking up an online assessment test.
Technological problems can play havoc. For example, an unreliable internet connection can hamper with taking the test. In such cases, having an online assessment software would involve some costs.
Apart from that, you have to keep in mind that the students will take the exam on their own device in their own time with nobody to check up on them, so you have to alter your questions accordingly. You can add a timer to each question so there is no time to search for the answers anywhere.
Talview’s online assessment platform is a multifaceted tool that supports various test formats (among other things) such as Essay Tests, Coding tests, Grammar tests, Typing, and Psychometric tests. The platform is highly configurable and supports multi-section workflow to screen candidates between several sections of the assessment.
Talview’s remote proctoring does more than 18 checks including background voice activity monitoring, browser policing, and face detection. It provides an integrity score for those applicants/students who successfully complete the assessment.
Examity is another provider of online proctored exams with the help of artificial intelligence. They help keep the setup, scheduling, and test-taking process simple while offering flexible scheduling options for online courses.
Examity offers live proctored examinations. However, their proctoring and auto cheat detection functions come with a price. Examity exams do not work well in low internet bandwidth which can cause a big problem for regular users.
This is a customizable test that measures intelligence and personality. Recruiters can build several hiring profiles – lists of desirable traits and problem-solving abilities and compare each applicant’s results against these profiles.
Click here to know about other competitors in the Online Exam Software market currently.
It’s the age of computerized tests, automated scoring, technology-assisted assessment features, and automated essay scoring. Online assessment platforms will continue to become more intuitive as time goes by, and our dependability on them will persist. We do need and will continue to need online assessments more than ever and this is a necessary change for the changing trends.
The trick will be to choose the right platform for your requirements. Sometimes the most popular platform may not be the best for you. A platform with the required features to suit your needs is what matters – and as long as you remember that, you can continue assessing students satisfactorily via. an online examination platform.