Posted on April 15, 2021
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Why people are exploring the options for online examinations
If the past year has taught us anything, we need to be flexible in the face of a rapidly changing environment. That’s why online examinations have become a popular option for ensuring continuity and providing certainty for both candidates and your organisation.
For many organisations, centralised exams remain the preferred option. Shifting to computer-based exams rather than physical paper-based exams provides an alternative and enables online examination options. This flexibility is especially attractive to training organisations that need to consider the needs of remote students and those with physical accessibility needs – and, of course, the uncertainty that is part of life in a pandemic.
The case for online examinations is strong. Providing an online examination environment reduces concerns due to border closures and hotspots that can prevent students from travelling to a physical exam location. It also means that concerns about venue safety can be successfully managed in the event of border closures, providing business continuity during such instances for candidates, assessors and supervisors.
Online testing also provides greater flexibility and options around examination timing and locations to better suit the needs of all students. Either as an alternative to or in conjunction with traditional in-person exam management, online exams are quickly becoming a mainstream choice for various organisations.
Next-gen online exam platforms can allow for a range of testing formats beyond the stereotypical multiple-choice test. Options are available for a range of examination formats, including specialist medical exams, scenario-based assessments, and oral exams. Online exams are rapidly becoming a sophisticated choice for a range of complex testing needs.
Digitising the exam mix
The place for in-person exams is always going to remain. But the vast majority of organisations can simply no longer avoid and need to embrace the potential that comes from digitising paper-based exam forms to a computer-based format.
Whether you want to offer the choice for remote online examination or continue with centralised exams at your chosen venue, digitisation offers a range of benefits. These include:
More efficient exam delivery
Improved governance with all papers stored online
Faster, more accurate marking
Inclusive options for candidates with accessibility needs, including capabilities for sitting the exam at a remote location or at home
Reduced administration and preparation time.
What are the pros and cons of digital exams?
Of course, just like paper-based exams, there are pros and cons to digital examinations. To help you understand the choices available to you when considering a shift to computer-based exam papers, here’s a breakdown of some of the main issues to consider.
Increased Flexibility
When you embrace digitisation, online exams can be done from a candidate’s home or workplace, providing the necessary IT infrastructure is available. By eliminating the barriers like travel and accommodation costs, candidates may also be able to progress in their career faster. While it’s not something that needs to be available to every candidate, online exams are a valuable addition to maintain continuity when appropriate.
Integrity
Computer-based exams eliminate issues associated with paper-based exams, like markers not being able to read handwriting. Candidates can feel confident that they will be assessed more fairly, based on the quality of their responses, not the neatness of their penmanship.
Also, if you opt to offer remote online exams, it goes without saying that the integrity of the exam process is vital to upholding your organisation’s reputation and the validity of the qualifications you are bestowing. A good online examination environment ensures suitable technology restrictions so candidates can only access relevant systems and software from their device during the exam, with remote proctoring available to supervise candidates.
Exam Paper Security
As for paper-based exams, the security of papers both before and after the examination is critical. For example, it’s important to provide certainty that past students can’t save the exam paper (whether paper-based or online) and then share it with future students.
It’s also vital that appropriate steps are taken to save the exam papers and student data securely in future auditing or reassessment requirements. For paper-based exams, this can mean storing reams of paper for several years, often needing manual management. In contrast, for online exams, an automated data storage policy can be implemented.
Also, remote proctoring often involves capturing video footage of the student’s exam environment. As this is often a home-based location, students will need reassurance about how video footage is stored, who can access it, and what meta-data may also be captured as part of the examination process.
Hosting Location
Knowing where your exam environment is hosted is also essential. Ensuring exam servers and online environments are hosted locally in Australia does provide additional peace of mind when it comes to data security. Our robust infrastructure provides scalability for a fast and responsive environment with minimal lag time.
Considering a pure online approach?
If your organisation is evaluating an exclusively online approach, there are additional factors to think about too.
Culture
An important part of the learning experience is often the interpersonal relationships developed between students and training staff. An online learning environment can make it harder to create this sense of camaraderie and community, but it can be done.
Various options are available to allow for interaction between students and supervisors throughout the examination process, depending on what’s appropriate for your needs. This can include interactive presentations of assessment material and online oral examinations with two-way participation.
Remote Proctoring
Remote proctoring is essential to ensuring the validity of the examination process. This usually involves installing monitoring software on the candidate’s PC to ensure a fair and equitable assessment approach. The software is used to:
Limit access to the internet outside of the assessment environment
Video and audio monitor the student and their environment
Provide support to students in the event of a loss of internet connection.
As this is an approach that may be new and unfamiliar to students, it’s important to engage candidates to build trust in the technology. Making the registration and necessary software downloads as simple and straightforward as possible is important, as is providing clear guidance on what support is available should something goes wrong.
How do you make the shift from paper-based to digital exams?
Any change to a new system comes with challenges, of course. But with extensive experience in providing exam management, both in-venue and online, Cliftons has a proven approach to help guide you.
There’s a lot to consider, and we can help. This includes:
Creating a secure online environment
Providing an accessible platform across multiple devices, browsers and operating systems
Managing remote proctoring and invigilation to ensure exam environment integrity
Support transitioning from paper-based to computer-based delivery
Support for specialist medical, oral, scenario-based, custom exam and assessment environments.
It doesn’t need to be an either/or choice between traditional and online examination delivery. We can work with you to strike a balance between in-venue and virtual exam models, as well as hybrid options to best suit the needs of your organisation and your students.
How do you make the shift from paper-based to digital exams?
Any change to a new system comes with challenges, of course. But with extensive experience in providing exam management, both in-venue and online, Cliftons has a proven approach to help guide you.
There’s a lot to consider, and we can help. This includes:
Creating a secure online environment
Providing an accessible platform across multiple devices, browsers and operating systems
Managing remote proctoring and invigilation to ensure exam environment integrity
Support transitioning from paper-based to computer-based delivery
Support for specialist medical, oral, scenario-based, custom exam and assessment environments.
It doesn’t need to be an either/or choice between traditional and online examination delivery. We can work with you to strike a balance between in-venue and virtual exam models, as well as hybrid options to best suit the needs of your organisation and your students.
Ready to see if digital exam options are right for your organisation?
Our team can talk through your organisation’s specific needs and help you to assess the various options. As a one-stop shop with a proven approach, we can seamlessly manage the entire exam management experience.
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