How e-exams help provide speed and security

Sunday, 5 February 2012

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Digital Inclusion, Education IT

By Jianggan Li | 3 September 2007

A school in one of India’s smallest states is pioneering the use of e-exams to help create a consistentcy, security and ease of use in its examinations system.

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The main catalysts for the e-exams have been changes in teaching methods, including distance learning, and project-based learning, all of which call for a more user-friendly exam method that provides fast feedback, says Dr K Jayakumar Vice Chancellor, Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical & Technological Sciences.

Also, students today, being computer-literate, are comfortable taking online exams. In addition, e-exams save time and money on the school’s end. The sequence of questions can also be different for each student.

“E-exams help speeds up the whole examination process and provide immediate feedback to students and to the management,” he says.

With proper design of questions and their random presentation, the possibility of having to deal with instances of cheating is very slim.
“There is also a greater perception of credibility associated with electronic assessments and objective grading. E-exams also enable realise a consistent grading methodology,” Dr Jayakumar continues.

But information security is crucial during e-exams, he explains. Student authentication is checked with the use of digital cameras, bio-metric identification and cross-matching information furnished in earlier forms. Such checks are also complemented with spot checks of photo identity cards and other forms of identification.

A high level of security is also enforced on persons handling systems which process the examination questions. The purpose, timing and the reasons for access to applications, nodes, information, and question banks for various assessments are closely guarded and access to them are strictly regulated, logged, and audited.

Network security Network security is ensured through the use of encrypted passwords, transaction IDs and restricted physical entry. CCTVs are also installed at strategic places along with security personnel. System logs, activity logs etc. are maintained as part of the standard operation procedures.

The team administering the test is different from the team which manages the systems and applications, and the team which locally invigilates tests. This ensures that the scope for unethical or misdemeanor acts are minimized, says Dr Jayakumar.

Overall architecture Fault tolerant architecture is employed through the use of clusters, raid controllers, disk arrays, as well as back-up devices and disaster recovery routines, to ensure high availability and system reliability. Periodic testing, system audits, and diagnostic maintenance routines reduce the risk of a system crash, denial of request, security breaches, and such other failures.

Users can get feedback on how well they were doing through performance metrics designed to measure compliance with standard procedures.

Audit trails and electronic traces were designed to facilitate fault diagnosis and pre-emptive corrections. Adherence to standard operation procedures and compliance with established process patterns were monitored through triggers and event notifiers. The design template and process artifacts are specified, documented, communicated and referenced using standard UML (Unified Modelling Language) notation and diagrams.

Dr Jayakumar says that if he had to run the project again, he would try to anticipate process problems in the registration of students, such as in the validation of identity, or the failure to comply with standard instructions and operating procedures.

But he says that instances where mistakes were done were noted. Changes in the process, including more debriefings, revised instructions, supervising mechanisms and audit mechanisms, were carrried out after review.