How To Select The Right Online Exam Software?Posted by MegaExams on December 30th, 2020 2020 is a perfect example of what a really small thing can do if not properly taken care of. One small virus, which cannot even be seen with naked eyes, has brought the world on the verge of destruction. While the entire world is just recovering from the disaster that the original fiasco has been, we have been told that a new strain of the virus might once again push us into the lockdown mode. There is no doubt that the post-covid changes are inevitable and we must adapt to them. The system that started with a heavy reliance on technology to keep things moving during the pandemic is turning out to be beneficial and, hence, the post-covid world is going to retain the changes in some or the other way. While all industries and fields are affected by this pandemic to some extent, at least, academia and education have been majorly at loss. There has been a tremendous change in the way things were conducted earlier and how they are performed now. The two major functions of academia and education that are affected due to the pandemic are a) the teaching-learning process and b) the evaluation process.
Exams during Covid times? One cannot even think about going back to how exams were in the pre-covid times. But the evaluation process cannot stop and, hence, the online examination system has been brought into place. In this, the exams are conducted through the online exam software. This makes evaluation easier and quicker for both parties. Although the smooth running of everything depends on the quality of the application that is used for conducting the exam, an online test software really decides the future of examinations. It is, therefore, important to choose the software correctly.
Let us have a look at what you should keep in mind before choosing an online exam software.
In the world of software and technology what you are delivering to the users is as important as how you choose to deliver it. There are many software and applications, which have great use but the poor interface makes it difficult for the users to make the best of it. Not only is it a very unpleasant experience but the poor interface also creates difficulty for the users to access the data and certain links. So, it becomes necessary for the exam software to be user friendly.
The online test software should be comfortable to use for students as well as teachers and trainers. It should be taken into account that not all educators are technologically skilled. So, while adding various features to it, ease of the users should be kept in mind. A software having a tutorial to get people acquainted to the technology would be great. Educators would make use of the online exam portal to add question banks, question papers and other related information. Hence, this process should be comfortable and less complicated. Sometimes, uploading data in some apps is extremely painful. Even though the process is not complicated, sheerly because of the time it takes or the steps one has to follow, it becomes an unpleasant experience. On the other hand, if the process is easier, that also creates a positive attitude to look at it.
Strength of the application backend will be tested when there are a number of users appearing for the exam at the same time. Many software and apps face problems related to the load, crashing when there is a sudden surge of usage. When a number of people are accessing the online exam portal simultaneously, there could be chances of the backend needing more strength so that it does not crash during the hour of need. It is, therefore, important that the scalability of the software is tested beforehand.
Some exam-related software has a feature that once the online exam portal is opened, the participants cannot open any other tab or window on the system’s browser. This provision is there to prevent any incidences of cheating. Software with such provisions to prevent unfair means being used in the exam would not only help the management with the administration of exams but also help maintain integrity while doing so.
An exam software having the facility of evaluating the test responses recorded by the participants would save a lot of effort on the examiners. After conducting the exam online, if the examiner had to correct these many papers physically, it would take a toll on them.
A good online exam software not only evaluates the objective aspects of the papers submitted by students but also prepares reports for various groups depending on how many groups there are. This would help the exam checker a little too. Additionally, such reports would make it easy to compare the performance of two different groups as well.
Since this software is going to be used by a lot of people from different generations and backgrounds, the design of the software has to be easy to use. The features of the software should be easy to configure and to understand. If it is difficult to use, it will act as an aversive agent. Hence, the software needs to be easy to understand and to practice before using.
The people developing the software know it inside and out. But sadly those are not the people who actually use the software for the purpose of the examinations. Analyses show that the users make technical errors every now and then. Hence, the technical support to the user should be available easily so that any kind of doubts they might have can get resolved without much hassle.
Online software can actually make or break one's experience of online exams. That is why it is extremely important to make sure that the software you choose has such satisfactory features. Like it? Share it! More by this author |