Online assessments have become a crucial part of academic life in the current digital era. It is becoming much more essential for faculty to give students online assessments in light of the growth of distance learning. Yet, for teachers, administering online tests can be a challenging endeavor, particularly if they are not familiar with the tools and methods required to do so successfully.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapid shift towards online learning and assessments, resulting in adoption of numerous ERP solutions. The pandemic forced many educational institutions to close their physical campuses and switch to remote learning, making online assessments more critical than ever. As a result, educators had to adapt quickly to ensure that students’ learning outcomes were being measured accurately.
During the pandemic, online assessments became essential because they offered several benefits. Firstly, they allowed students to take exams from their homes, eliminating the need for them to come to the campus physically. This helped to maintain social distancing guidelines and reduced the risk of exposure to the virus. Secondly, online assessments allowed educators to assess students’ learning outcomes despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Finally, the online assessment ERP solution provided a way to collect data on student learning, which could be used to inform future teaching strategies.
Key Guidelines for Faculty Regarding Remote Online Assessments
- Assess Institute Needs
The needs of the institute must be determined before choosing the best online assessment platform. This entails taking into account variables including the number of students and professors, financial limitations, and current technology infrastructure. It’s also crucial to take into account the kinds of evaluations needed for the course and the level of support required from the provider of the online assessment tool.
- Choose the Right Online Assessment Platform
Choosing the online evaluation software that best suits your needs might be difficult because there are so many options on the market. Selecting a system that is simple to use and enables you to construct a range of assessment types, such as essays, multiple-choice questions, and short answer questions, is critical.
- Set Clear Guidelines for Online Assessments
Your students should receive precise information on how to access the tests and how much time they have to finish the test. Guidelines on how to submit the assessments and the format they should be in should also be provided. As students are taking the tests, clear instructions help to avoid confusion and guarantee that everyone is on the same page.
- Develop Quality Assessment Content
It’s important to create tests that measure student learning outcomes precisely and are pertinent to the course topic. Ensure your instructions are precise and brief and give examples of the kind of responses you expect. It’s also crucial to make sure that the evaluations are in line with the course objectives and difficult enough to accurately gauge student learning.
- Use Technology to Monitor Student Activity
Some online assessment tools have features that allow you to monitor student activity during the assessment, such as browser lockdown and monitoring the student’s computer screen. Additionally, online proctoring solutions can be used to monitor the students in real-time, ensuring academic integrity is maintained. Online proctoring uses advanced technology like video, audio, and artificial intelligence to monitor students during an exam.
- Provide Timely Feedback
Student performance can be improved with the help of feedback, which enables them to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. Several types of feedback are provided by instructors, including written remarks, audio comments, and rubrics. It’s crucial to give feedback as soon as possible, ideally one to two weeks after the examination.
- Ensure Accessibility
All students, including those with disabilities, should be able to take examinations. It’s important to offer students with hearing or visual impairments alternate exam formats. Online tests should also work with screen readers and other forms of assistive technology.
- Create a Backup Plan
The final step in taking online assessments remotely is to create a backup plan. Technical issues can occur during online assessments, such as internet connectivity problems or server downtime. It’s important to have a backup plan in case of such situations. You can provide students with an alternate date for the assessment or have a backup assessment ready to administer.
Conclusion
Taking online assessments remotely can be a challenging task for faculty, but with the right tools and strategies in place, it can be an effective way to assess student learning outcomes. In the current pandemic and post-pandemic world, online assessments have become even more critical as they allow for a safe and convenient way to assess student learning remotely.
