How Universities Can Shift From Offline To Online Exam
Today, the internet has taken over every industry. Teaching and evaluation methods are being revamped as a result of the growing use of information and communication technologies in the field of education. The industry is undergoing a fundamental shift, with the shift from offline to online exam, commonly known as “Offline To Online Exam”, becoming increasingly common.
Online education provides a number of advantages, such as portability, independence, a reduced need for infrastructure, accessibility, etc., but it also has certain drawbacks. When switching to online education, many institutions, colleges, and even individuals encountered numerous challenges.
As universities move more and more exams online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they are running into a plethora of issues. Issues such as avoiding cheating, ensuring secure access to exams, ensuring fairness among students, and maintaining security during the exam creation process are becoming increasingly important. Learn how universities are working to solve these problems to make sure that students can still take their exams virtually.
Although many softwares are available today that have made online education simple that we didn’t use back then. So, using them is a little difficult for both universities and students. However, universities had to overcome their stakeholders’ concerns in order to shape the various aspects of the examination. But, there are obstacles that prevent universities from adopting online exams. They understand the advantages of the online examination ecosystem and don’t oppose the new transition.
Problems that were faced by universities while shifting to online exams
Shifting to Online Examination
The education industry is aware that switching to online exams is necessary. The fact that the prestigious institutions have already adopted online testing underlines its significance. It is necessary to go from offline to online learning in order to reduce exam anxiety.
Challenges faced by Universities
Improper management of time
One of the key considerations for when professors deliver lectures from their homes or any other location rather than from an institution is time management. Teachers can’t ignore their other obligations when they are at home, because there are many of them. Teachers are unable to concentrate on work due to interruptions from other family members, children, etc.
So to overcome this problem, one must arrange for themself a unique location or area where they can work effectively and attentively. Both instructors and students can focus better during lectures if there is a designated space or area for them. This will improve communication between teachers and students. These issues arise for students even when they watch lectures online. So it’s crucial to organize time accordingly to make it easier to manage work with other household duties.
Increased Chances of Cheating
Even though it is not possible to stop students from using books and notes, organizations can utilize advanced technology to prevent students from googling the answers to questions. It’s simple to glance over the notes covertly and locate answers, even with the webcam on. However, one must acknowledge that, unlike in physical exams, they cannot prevent every student from cheating.
Instead, organizations should prefer an online proctoring software which acts as an invigilator during the exam and keeps an eye on the activity of the students. An outstanding online exam tool has a cutting-edge proctoring feature that lowers the likelihood of cheating.
The remote proctoring tool with AI eliminates shady behavior during the exam. In order to facilitate exam proctoring, it provides warnings about certain tolerance limits beyond which it can take strict actions. Additionally, multi Factor Authentication lowers the danger of impersonation. It entails taking pictures of the students holding their ID cards.
Bandwidth Issues
Online exams require a strong internet connection. One significant concern that every educational institution, as well as many students, encounters during the online exam is a network problem. In online classes, if the network is unstable, and if it goes down, the connection between the lecturer and the students is severed and it is not certain when they will be able to reconnect.
According to human psychology, once focus is lost, we are unable to comprehend as well as previously. When there is a weak network, the voice can also break, making it difficult for students to understand what the professor is saying during an Offline to Online Exam.
Professors experience the same problem because of a bad network connection. They are unable to display what they want on screen. This has an impact on the time frame that the university or other educational institution chooses to finish one course. The course takes longer to finish and is still incomplete due to a bad connection. This issue seems commonplace yet has a significant impact on online education. Students struggle to understand lecturers, and because of their poor understanding, they have several doubts.
Privacy Concerns
Every teacher and student has learned how to use a laptop, browse the internet, and begin or enroll in online programmes over the past two years. It’s a different story when it comes to administering online tests in a safe setting. When conducting online tests, it is important to prevent student impersonation while also preserving their privacy (registration number, login information, etc.).
To handle this, institutions must either invest in a high-end online examination software which is encrypted with a secure socket layer. Additionally, depending on the number of students taking the exam at the same time, enough staff will be needed to make sure everything runs properly and handle problems as they emerge.
Difficulty in Evaluation
Every university has a specific policy and set of rules for grading essays and other examination components. Unfortunately, this level of customization is absent from the majority of online testing systems. No online examination method, even one that is customized, can match the precision of a physical assessment.
Universities and teachers are unable to better comprehend their students as a result. Physical evaluation, on the other hand, enables teachers to spot students who are weak in particular subject areas and provide them with additional classes.
However, flexible test software like Pesofts does feature cutting-edge digital evaluation capabilities with on-screen online marking abilities that guarantee proper assessment.
How can things be made simple with online examination software?
The Covid-19 pandemic’s most severe consequence was the elimination of face-to-face instruction. Significant learning difficulties were being faced by students. To adapt to the changes, colleges and universities rely on online testing software. It is capable of achieving the goal of strengthening the security of digital content.
Teaching The online exam software is an automated application that contains all of the necessary components for the online test. With remote proctoring software, the exam becomes trustworthy. Additionally, it offers a tool that allows educators to create examinations online. Additionally, so that students can sign up for online tests, its student management data retains the understudies data.
A variety of exams, including Offline to Online Exam, can be created using online exam software. Question and answer sheets are not required to be printed by institutions. This saves a tonne of time. Despite the fact that institutes want a specialist to monitor a student, little human interaction occurs. It lowers the cost of logistics for institutions and colleges. Any student, regardless of their location, can take an Offline to Online Exam using an online testing system. They don’t have to travel very far to take an exam.
Conclusion
Despite all the challenges posed by this paradigm shift to online exams, online examination softwares is there to aid universities and to facilitate smooth conduct of examinations. The software used for the online exams is designed to make them quick and paperless. The exam’s robust security system guards against cheating and upholds exam integrity.
Additionally, it guarantees an informational flow. This technology is being used by prestigious universities and coaching facilities to manage extremely concurrent tests. An important development in the field of education is the use of online tests to evaluate students’ knowledge. It is transforming the laborious examination procedure with quicker assessment and report generation.
Writer & Publisher
Manjeet Mehta CEO @Pesofts
Manjeet Mehta is a professional writer and also the CEO @Pesofts, He passes out from IIT Roorkee in the year of 2013 and started their own business with thinking of the growing education sector with the help of technology. You can check out LinkedIn him and follow here LinkedIn