digitalLEARNING-Feb-2011-[28]-Takers Take it Online

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Takers Take it Online With the advent of Online Examinations, the nexgen procedures have been found to be more secured, uninhibited by the data loss possibility, resulting in unbiased evaluations

By Jaydeep Saha

T

en-years back an exam without pen, pencil and paper would have been absolutely beyond belief. But for the Facebook generation, who wake up by checking their mails, Google for verifying the time and go bed

by Tweeting ‘good night’, the old system of pen and paper is definitely not going to work. However, today, by virtue of online examination, the old system has become almost obsolete. Thanks to our outstanding advancement in IT and software, online examinations have made the entire examination process not only hassle-free but also accessible to all. In an online examination system a student answers all exam queries through his computer and later submits them to the organisation taking the online examination. These answers

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are then evaluated by examination software which already has the answers to the questions fed into its system. The answers are checked and scored instantly thus saving a lot of time which is usually spent by the professors in reading and checking the answers one after the other.

Globalisation has opened the gates of success for millions across the world.

People today are not just competing with strong challengers from the same state, but with the best people from across the world through the use of new online examination system.

Moreover, several other features make online exams well-accepted by the student fraternity. The first and foremost issue with the students is always the time factor to which e-exams come as a

relief where answering is just a matter of click. Other factors are that no physical presence is needed for taking the test as starting and completion time are both recorded by the server and cannot be manipulated. Online exams are flexible, involve auto-grading, no wastage of time during evaluation, instant availability of results and are totally secured (beware of hackers though!).

How do Online Exams work?

Online exams are basically software based. Just the way in an exam department, various people are given different tasks and duties like enrolling students, managing the questions papers, checking answer scripts etc. Examination software also have various working units or

components called modules. There can be various modules such as the student details modules, authorization module, subject and question management system, examination paper management, examination evaluation module and finally the result generation module.

This online exam system is ideal for multiple choice questions and other derivative questions. For every question asked, the student needs to select the right answer provided from the given choices. Once the questions are answered and then submitted to the examination system, the software will score the student after analysing his answers with the ones already fed into its system.

After the evaluation is performed, the result of the examination is also generated by the system based on its scoring method. The generated result comprising the students score, time taken for the exam to be completed and the number of students passing through the examination is then sent to the student within minutes of the examination.

Online examination in India For a country like India, e-examination is a great way to cover spread and reach to the masses. In addition e-examination brings in quality and efficiency to the process of conducting exams. In the near future we are going to see many exams converting into an online format, the initial ones would be the competitive objective type followed by others.

It is important that students get used to some practice of manoeuvring mouse, keyboard controls to focus more on solving the questions at hand than worrying about the technology side of things. If a student is exposed to few online mock exams which can simulate a real exam scenario, he or she can become efficient in no time. Technology is increasingly becoming apart of the learning process and, in a natural progression, has entered the testing and evaluation area as well. Increase in computer usage has accelerated the process and made it possible for e-examinations to be carried out not only in Tier 1 cities but in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as well.

A student from India can today take examinations in the US, thus competing with other global competitors from across the entire world through the new web based exam systems Advantages of Online Examination software/system • Proctors can register to administer the online exam right from their computer • Online exam classes can be created in minutes and proctored immediately • Class progress can be monitored during the exam • Access exam results instantly • Upon completion of the exam, examinees are notified whether they have passed the exam • Once the entire class is finished, exam results are accessible instantly • Certificates are mailed to Instructors/Proctors within 24-48 business hours of grading the class

Advantages for Examinees • Examinees may take a practice exam on-line • Examinees can review selected questions before completing • Examinees know immediately if they pass the exam

One can come up with the question that India, being a developing country, with not many computer savvy people, especially in the villages, isn’t it unfair on the part of rural students? To this Neel Vertikar, Vice President, GurujiWorld Technologies Pvt. Ltd. says, “One of the ways to reduce the impact would be localisation of the interface and making it more user friendly than the traditional mode. For example, in GurujiWorld we have devised an online exam engine called Guruji Online Examination System (GOES). We have instructionally optimized the system keeping in mind the anxiety and pressure students undergo during exam, thus, enabling students to focus on answering questions than on unimportant activities like figuring out software interface, locating un-attempted questions, time reminders etc,” adds Vertikar.

Aparna Natarajan of Edutech.com says that it is not entirely true that rural candidates are at a disadvantage when it comes to online competitive exams.

Our experience in conducting online

English language examinations for college students in Andhra Pradesh has proved that even students from semiurban and rural backgrounds are comfortable giving computer based tests, once they are given basic training.

Besides, with computer infrastructure now spreading to smaller towns and villages and computers becoming more accessible to people, the familiarity and usage with the device will only grow. “But, to ensure that rural students are not left behind, many competitive exams are now considering blended delivery option. A gradual transition is the best way to make the online examination process more inclusive” adds she.

Many exams in India have become online in the past few years. BITSAT, IGNOU, Manipal Admission Test, IIJNM, MAT, CAT, GRE and many other exams have gone online. These are generally conducted on PC (Personal Computers). For some the student just needs an internet connection and he or she can sit at home and take the exam whereas

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“One of the ways to reduce impact would be localisation of the interface and making it more user friendly than the traditional mode” Neel Vertikar

Vice President, GurujiWorld Technologies Pvt. Ltd

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for some exams one needs to be in a centre where there are 100s of Computers connected to the main server.

“I find this system of online exam very good. It saves a lot of time unlike the OMR sheets where we had to darken the right answers for at least four to five seconds to completely fill the given space otherwise our exams would go wrong.

However, there is a disadvantage as the rough work is generally done in paper and thus it decreases concentration each time we change the interface”, says CAT taker Dipak Prasad Ram.

How should one prepare for Online Examination Online and offline tests are similar in

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many ways and most of the principles that apply to traditional tests hold good for online tests as well. There are some differences, but it is not difficult to master the process of taking a computer based exam. Most assessment providers have ensured that onscreen navigations are intuitive with ‘easy to follow’ instructions. However, if students are taking the computer based tests for the first time, they should keep certain things in mind.

“Master the login process to access the test. This will either be explained to them by the invigilators before the test or will be available on the computer screen as instructions”, says Aparna Natarajan of Edutech.com, adding in any case, the process will be made as simple as possi-

ble for students to navigate and one just needs to follow the instructions.

“Also one has to get familiar with the test in advance and the best way to prepare for any test is practice, practice, practice. The same goes for online tests as well. Take a mock online test if available” says Natarajan. At the time of the online test, all the instructions should be read carefully. Above all, one should be relaxed and confident while taking the test and should not panic or feel afraid if a snag hits. Most online tests are invigilated or proctored and there will always be someone to help if one needs anything clarified.

Implementation of e-exam in universities and distant learning courses The current format of examinations across various courses in science, engineering and arts require paper based assessments for descriptive inputs.

This may not be entirely feasible in an e-examination format. However, from the learning perspective, it is important that the students are periodically assigned formative assessments to evaluate learning outcomes. These outcomes can be used as a decision support for the teachers and students to address the developmental needs individually as well as collectively to ensure better results. This can only be possible if the administrative effort involved in administering tests is minimal and the comparative reports are available ondemand. The obvious choice is to consider blended delivery for formative and summative assessments in universities.

With technology, universities now have the option to progressively move towards automation. Many universities are now considering the automation of the authoring, scheduling and reporting system. The delivery of assessments can be blended using online or OMR for objective type of question and paper based for descriptive type of answers.

Such investments can dramatically reduce administrative effort and will ensure better faculty utilisation and learning outcomes. \\