How Online Examination System is Changing The Way Exams Are Conducted?

Online exam process

Online exam process

Introduction to Online Examination System

Covid forced People to start working from home. The education sector started opting for different, new and innovative ways of learning which resulted in conducting classes and exams online, in short, opted for an online examination system.

The statistics of education sector opting for online exams is very promising. By 2021, India’s online education market is claimed to grow by USD 1.96 billion and the online users around 9.6 million.

These figures are much better than the year 2016, when the market growth was only USD 247 million and the growth in the number of online users was only 1.6 million. Even the world statistics look very optimistic.

 The USA e-learning market is said to grow by $12.81 billion between 2020 and 2024. The worldwide open online course market could increase as much as $25.33 billion by 2025.

Thus, we can see that the online exams are gaining more importance day by day in the educational realm. Eklavvya is such an online examination system developed at Splashgain, which would help the users to conduct exams online with much more efficiency, reliability and security.

Hence, let us now understand the concept of online examination system in detail.

What is Online Examination System?

An online examination system is software designed to conduct examinations online. It is a web-based application which can be installed or launched on personal computers, laptops or even mobile devices.

This application is developed to computerise and automate the tedious process of conducting exams as also evaluating them. Hence, this application not only helps to conduct examinations but also helps to organize and schedule exams, assign proctors or supervisors for each student, provide remote proctoring services and assign faculty to evaluate the exams. 

The Eklavvya’s online examination system is carefully curated using the best and most advanced technology to provide a seamless experience to the users and ensure customer satisfaction. 

Why educational entities should adopt Online Examination System?

An online examination system is an application which can carry out many different activities solely which in reality would involve many different people and lots of manual work.

Eklavvya’s platform is filled with features and facilities which can help conduct online exams in the most hassle free and secure way. It not only helps to reduce the manual work but also customises the examination process to suit the customer requirements.

And most importantly it forbids students to leave their homes, avoid human contact and help the society by maintaining social distancing.

The educational entities such as schools, colleges and universities or even coaching classes should adopt an online examination system as they need to conduct examinations on a regular basis to measure the knowledge gained by students and their growth.

This also enables them to decide their passing or failure on the basis of their scores. This has a great impact on the career and future of the students.

Hence, it is indeed very beneficial for educational entities to adopt digital and progressive methods of conducting examinations. An online examination system like Eklavvya is the best and the most convenient way of conducting online exams. 

Online Examination System vs Traditional Examination System

The traditional examination system is designed to make students sit together and write the exams. The students are supposed to study together and then write the exam under the supervision of an examiner. Here is how a traditional examination is usually conducted:

  1. After enrolling their name by filling the exam form, the students collect their hall tickets from their school or college and check the seating arrangement.
  2. On the day of the exam, the students have to travel to the examination centre provided to them which could be far away from their place. They have to do this until their last exam. They also need to carry valid identity proofs.
  3. It is the responsibility of the school/college/government to provide the infrastructure which includes question papers, answer sheets, benches, supervisors, clean water and many other things.
  4. Once the exam is over, the answer sheets are piled up together and brought to a central location for distribution. The examiners have to visit the location assigned to them, collect the papers, check them and again submit them at the central location.
  5. After the checking process is over, marks of each individual is counted and the results are generated. Sometimes, the answer sheets might also be sent for moderation.
  6. These results are then sent to the school or college from where the students collect them.

Thus we can see that the entire process beginning from exam form filling till collecting the results is very time consuming and somewhat tricky. As every process is carried out manually, there is a huge scope for some sort of mishap to occur such as mishandling of answer sheets, examiner showing bias while evaluating the answer sheets, etc. which might result in a great deal of loss for a student and his/her future.

The one and only way to save time and avoid this misadventure is online examination system. Eklavvya has been designed to rescue us from the stress and efforts of searching for the best system.  Let us understand how Eklavvya works:

  1. The hall tickets are available online and the students can download them very easily. There is no need for any seating arrangement as the examination is to be given from home by the students.
  2. The credentials required to login and launch the exam is shared though text message one day before the exam.
  3. The students’ identity is authorized by the system when the students flash their valid identity proof to the web camera.
  4. The management or government does not need to worry about the exam centres, infrastructures or even exam time table or schedule as the only thing required for giving the exam is an internet based device (personal computer, laptop, tablet, mobile phone) and a stable internet connection.
  5. The management also does not need to provide supervisors due to the remote proctoring (supervising) services provided by Eklavvya’s online examination system which help prevent any sort of cheating or malpractice.
  6. The students can type the answers or use the feature of speech-to-text to speed up the writing process. These answer sheets are saved by the system on the cloud.
  7. The examiners can login into the system and start evaluating the answer sheets. The system will calculate the total marks accurately and store it into the database.
  8. This information will be extracted from the database to generate results which can be downloaded by the students on their devices.

Thus we can see that Eklavvya has been really beneficial in shortening the lengthy process of conducting the examination in the traditional way by saving a lot of physical work, time and energy. Eklavvya encourages the students to take exams from their homes and thus helps in minimizing human contact and maintain social distancing.

Why Educational Entities doubt Online Examination System?

For human beings, learning is an ongoing process should never stop in between and conducting examinations to measure the students’ progress is an inseparable part of this process. But due to the corona virus outbreak and the uncertainties caused by it, the education entities such as schools, colleges, universities have started adopting for online methods of conducting exams.

But many of these educational entities aren’t quite sure about the online education system and hence are a bit reluctant in openly accepting them. Here are 5 most common reasons:

  1. They are concerned about the security provided by these systems to avoid exam paper leakage.
  2. As the students give these online exams from their homes, they are concerned about the students cheating or carrying out some sort of malpractice. They are either unaware about the techniques of remote proctoring or don’t trust them completely.
  3. They are not sure as to how practical and subjective exams can be carried out remotely.
  4. They are concerned about the evaluation of these answers sheets especially in the case of subjective exams.

Lastly, the most important doubt and their biggest concern is the cost involved in conducting examinations online.

Is there a room for cheating with Online Examination System?

It might seem like there is a huge scope for students to cheat in an online examination. But the great news is that Eklavvya is developed using the most advanced technology which makes it absolutely impossible to carry out any sort of cheating or malpractice.  This might look like a big assertion, but it is true!

Eklavvya has many features and techniques of remote proctoring which can capture even the smallest or subtle movement made by the student while giving the exam. The system immediately notifies the proctor or supervisor who is remotely watching the student. The proctor can cease the exam then and there and block that student’s access.

Thus, with Eklavvya, there is absolutely no room for cheating.

How Online Examination System nullifies cheating and malpractices?

Eklavvya’s online examination system is fulfilled with features and techniques to stop students from carrying out cheating and malpractices. It uses different devices such as web cameras, speakers and microphones to keep a watch on the students. The students need to flash their valid identity proof to the web camera so that the system can authenticate and authorize the access to start the exam.

The proctors or the system itself can keep a watch on the students while they giving their exams. Highly advanced technology such as Artificial Intelligence is used to monitor the students. The system is very sensitive to any sort of movements or sounds. It can capture suspicious movements or sounds precisely.

As soon as it senses even the minute discrepancy, it flags an error notification to the proctor or administrator. The proctor thus warns the student and in worst case can stop the exam right away by blocking the student’s access. Even the system can block the access if it receives more than two such error notifications.

In this way, the online examination system is capable of nullifying the most unordinary ways of cheating and malpractices carried out by students who are appearing for the exam even from the most remote place in the world.

Features of Online Examination System

Eklavvya is multifunctional online examination system which is versatile and extremely potential when it comes to conducting online exams, providing remote proctoring services and evaluating answer sheets. Let us check what exactly it has to offer to simplify the process of conducting online examinations, remote proctoring and evaluating the answer sheets.

Here are some features possessed by Eklavvya:

  • Image based proctoring:
    This feature captures photos of the candidates giving the exam after certain intervals of time. These images are compared with the image which is already stored in the database. If the system senses any deviation such as two faces in the camera or no face at all, then it immediately sends a notification to the proctor.
  • Video proctoring:
    A proctor can view the candidate during the examination. Live streaming of examination is possible using the webcam. The entire exam activity gets stored in the form of a video which can be later used for analysis.
  • Audio proctoring:
    Eklavvya is an advanced tool which can capture even the slightest deflation in the frequency of the sound waves coming from the candidate’s environment. Distortions are caused in the sound waves if the student tries to speak with someone or if someone tries to narrate answers from the background. The system will send an error notification for even the slightest deviation in the sound waves. This can be considered as audio or voice based cheating.
  • IP address based proctoring:
    System logs an IP address of the device which the candidate uses to launch the exam as also the time when the candidate logged in for exam. Invalid IP request will be blocked by the system. This IP gets stored under the name of the student. If anyone tries to launch the exam on another device using same credentials, the exam gets blocked and stops immediately.
  • Audit logging :
    This feature keeps a track on every activity of the candidate such as the time of login and logout, the time at which exam started and ended, whether the candidate forgot the password, when was the mouse clicked for choosing an answer, the navigation activity of the candidate, etc. This data can be later analysed if the system send error messages.
  • Secure browser:
    This feature prevents the candidates from opening a new window or browser other than the one in which exam is going on. It can also automatically stop any software used for recording or capturing screens which could be running in the background.
  • Object detection:
    Eklavvya can detect any suspicious objects or movements. Thus, if a student tries to refer to books or browse answers on electronic devices, the system will immediately capture it can stop the exam then and there.
  • User facial recognition:
    This is an Artificial intelligence powered feature which can scan the face of the candidate appearing for the exam through the web camera. This feature scans the face of the candidate, compares it with the one already stored in the database and grants permission to begin with the exam only if the result of matching the faces is positive.
  • Live chatting:
    This is another feature which is powered by AI. With the help of chat bots, the students can chat with the proctor while the examination is going on. This enables the proctors to resolve their issues quickly and thus helps to save students’ time.

There are few more features of an online examination system which are as follows:

  • The students can appear for these exams from any remote location
  • Eklavvya can be launched even on mobile phones. Hence, all they need is an internet based device along with web camera, speakers, a microphone and an internet connection.
  • The answer sheets are stored on cloud and hence can be easily downloaded and shared by both examiners and students.
  • The results are processed quickly and accurately
  • Eklavvya has been built with different algorithms which can easily measure the overall performance of the students.
  • Eklavvya is very cost effective as well and is worth every penny invested in it by the customer.

Thus, we can certainly say that there are innumerable advantages of an online examination system. Adopting a system such as Eklavvya’s is just going to makes the lives of the educational entities, students and parents much easier.

How can I create an Online Examination System for my educational institute in 5 easy steps?

You might think that creating an online examination system could be tedious and complicated procedure. But in reality, it is a child’s play. It is extremely hassle free and as easy as a pie.

Here are just 5 steps in which you can create online examination system:

1. Define pattern of Online Examination

You can define the pattern of the exam which includes subjects, types of questions, time and marks for each question, difficulty level, total marks, total number of questions, etc.

2. Schedule the Online Examination

Using Eklavvya, you can schedule the exam by creating the exam time table, count the total number of students appearing for the exam, store their details, arrange proctors for each student, share credentials and other exam related details with candidates, etc.

3. Assign Online Examination to the students

The students can login using the credentials provided by Eklavvya on their devices. They can present their valid identity proofs to the web camera and launch the exams once they are authenticated by the system. As these exams are highly proctored using AI based proctoring techniques, it is impossible for the candidates to cheat while logging or while giving the exams.

4. Digital Evaluation of Answer-sheets

In case of objective exams, the answers get evaluated immediately after the exam is submitted by the student. But in case of subjective exams, the answer sheets are stored on the cloud and the access to that cloud lies only with the examiners. The examiners logs in using the credentials provided to them and evaluate the answer sheets. The details of the students are masked to prevent bias. The examiners can manually check the answer sheets and the total marks are counted by the system to maintain accuracy.  In this way, the answer sheets can be downloaded, uploaded and shared using cloud.

5. Quick Result Generation for the Online Examination

The marks thus allotted get stored in the data base and are used to generate individual results. The algorithms used in Eklavvya’s online examination system can be used to measure the performances of multiple students. Eklavvya can also be used to generate reports based on different filters and categories for school or college admin purposes. 

Future of Online Exams

Education sector is likely to adopt online exams in an agressive manner.

Online classes have provided flexibility, scalability in terms of enrolling students from remote cities, multiple countries for higher education.

Secure and AI driven Online exams would provide them option to assess students. Online Exams is also cost effective way to assess students. Online exams provides flexibility for exam scheduling, result processing becomes accurate and quick. 

Here is one of the videos about Future of Education Technology and Online Exams in the year 2021.

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