5. Online testing

Scenario: Someone has proposed to eliminate all paper based exams and move over to computer based testing only. What are the limitations of computer based testing and what are the approaches that may reduce these issues?

First of all list some of the issues

Now discuss these issues

Access to a computer

Many formal exams are already computer based. e.g. the UK driving test, written section. This works because the learner has to go to a dedicated testing centre to complete the exam. The testing centre is heavily used all the year round and so is cost effective.

If the entire school exam system moved over to computer based testing then each school would have to ensure that there were enough computers for everyone.

Reliability

Examinations are crucial parts of the school system. It would be unfair if an exam could not be completed because of a technical problem with the equipment.

Paper exams on the other hand have no such problems. To overcome this limitation there would have to be enough spare computers to cover any problems that arose.

If the equipment failed part way through the exam then the 'paper' would have to be recovered quickly and moved to another machine. For this to happen, there would have to be real-time remote backups happening as the exam progresses.

Examination application

All students would have to experience the same exam conditions and use the same software. This indicates that a standard software application would need to be developed and loaded on to all exam computers. Students would need training on how to use the application before hand.

Question format

Computer based testing tends to be multi-choice as they are simple to implement and simple to mark.

But many exams have open questions where the student is expected to provide a longer written answer. This means that the student has to be able to type accurately and type at least as fast as hand writing. To overcome this limitation, students would have to be trained so they are able to type to a reasonable standard - or all exams questions become multi-choice.

Drawing and sketches

Many exam questions ask for a drawing or sketch to be made. The exam application would have to support this. Also drawing with a mouse is quite difficult, so perhaps a graphics tablet and pen would also be needed on the exam computer. This would be quite expensive and the application has be be able to integrate drawings into the test.