The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a massive shift to remote learning around the world. With students unable to physically attend schools and universities, online platforms have become essential for conducting classes, assignments, and exams remotely. This unexpected disruption has accelerated the development and adoption of online exam platforms that revolutionise remote education assessments.
As online exam platforms become widespread, teachers and administrators face new challenges in implementing them effectively. Extensive training is also crucial for successfully rolling out these platforms at scale across institutions. Teachers must be skilled at setting up customised exams with advanced security settings enabled. IT teams must manage technical complexities like integrating online proctoring systems with existing learning management systems and student information databases.
Enabling Remote Exams
Online exam platforms such as Think Exam have made it possible for schools and universities to conduct proctored exams remotely. These online exam platforms utilise advanced technologies like identity verification, plagiarism detection, lockdown browsers, and video and audio monitoring to ensure academic integrity during remote exams. They have been crucial for enabling the continuity of remote assessments during the pandemic’s disruptions.
Flexibility & Convenience
Online exam platforms provide the flexibility for students to take exams remotely from any location. This removes geographical barriers and enables greater inclusion for students who cannot physically attend test centres. The flexibility and convenience afforded by online exam platforms also allow institutions to scale assessments to large remote class sizes. Students can take online proctored exams at times suitable to their personal schedules.
Advanced Security & Proctoring
Leading online exam platform utilise AI-driven proctoring solutions to monitor test takers via webcam feeds. Suspicious behaviours like improper eye movements or the presence of unauthorised materials can be automatically flagged to prevent cheating. Lockdown browsers provided by these platforms also prevent students from accessing anything else on their devices during an online exam. Robust multi-factor authentication ensures that the right students are taking the proper exams. Such advanced security measures are essential for maintaining academic integrity – something vital for institutions conducting remote online assessments.
Data-driven Insights
Sophisticated online exam platforms provide a treasure trove of data-driven insights to educators. Analytics dashboards track detailed, quantifiable metrics on student performance and behaviours during online exams. Institutions can identify patterns and gain valuable insights to refine their remote assessment processes further. The data also provides transparency for reviews and audits. Such analytics are beneficial for improving remote examination quality and fairness.
Customisation for Different Needs
Modern online exam platforms allow for extensive customisation to serve diverse needs. Institutions can choose from various proctoring methods, including recorded video reviews, live remote proctors, and AI-driven automated options. Extensive custom exam settings are available, including time limits, question randomisation, lockdown browser restrictions, and more. The flexibility serves varying requirements – from small classroom quizzes to large-scale standardised tests.
Enhanced Accessibility
Online exam platforms open up remote assessments to students with disabilities via assistive technologies. Options include screen readers, magnifiers, flagging, transcription services, and specialised hardware/software support. Closed captioning is provided for deaf students. Such accessibility enhancements remove barriers and increase inclusion for students with disabilities. In addition, features like text-to-speech translation also serve students without fluency in the exam language.
Cost Savings
Leveraging online exam platforms for remote assessments significantly reduces costs for institutions when compared to traditional in-person exams. Savings are achieved by eliminating expenses related to physically procuring, transporting, and setting up secure test papers. Proctoring costs are also minimised by using technology instead of in-person human invigilators. Students taking online proctored exams also save money on travel and lodging expenses to reach physical exam centres. The result is faster exams at reduced costs.
Compliance Standards
Trust is crucial for educational assessments. Leading online exam platforms comply with strict global regulatory standards to allay security and privacy concerns. Compliance includes ISO certifications, EU GDPR standards, accessibility mandates, and cybersecurity frameworks. Adherence to such stringent regulations inspires confidence in these platforms’ ability to conduct high-stakes remote exams that impact student futures securely.
The Way Forward
Online exam platforms have quickly emerged as the critical technology for enabling remote assessments due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruptions. Their advanced security, flexibility, insights, and compliance capabilities have allowed institutions to quickly transition from traditional in-person exams to remote online models while ensuring credibility. Education will remain heavily remote-driven going forward. Online exam platforms are vital strategic investments that provide resilience and continuity for remote assessments now and in the future.
Conclusion
Online exam platforms have decisively proved their worth for securely conducting remote assessments at scale and with integrity. Their technologies mitigate cheating risks, enhance accessibility, and generate helpful performance analytics – all while delivering the convenience, cost savings, and compliance needed for impactful learning assessments. These robust solutions have transformed remote exams from a challenge to an opportunity. With learnings and experiences from the pandemic, online exam platforms will continue reshaping and enhancing assessments in remote.
