Examinations have been a daunting and overwhelming experience for both organizers and students since their inception. However, they are essential to evaluate competencies, so thousands of institutions worldwide use them.
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Today, examinations are used in schools, educational institutions, and organizations for recruitment, certifications, and other purposes. Though ubiquitous, several challenges come with traditional assessment systems related to question paper creation and distribution, invigilation, collection of answer scripts, evaluation, and distribution or publishing of results.
In addition, the process becomes more complicated when multiple exam centers, locations, and types of test-takers get involved.
The above issues have impacted many educators, institutions, and organizations over the years, which has encouraged them to look for technological advancements to simplify their tasks, save time and reduce their respective workloads. Thus along with online teaching and learning, the use of exam management solutions is rapidly gaining traction.
Conducting examinations for thousands of students or applicants around the year is a tough task. Moreover, each examiner can have a different opinion regarding answers provided by candidates, which leads to unreliable marking. Examination software solves many of the above problems through technology and improves students’ and evafluators’ assessment experience.
But what exactly constitutes examination software, and how are they able to improve the online assessment process? Let’s find out.
What is Examination Software?
An Exam management system or Examination software is a specialized solution designed to manage and simplify the examination process. Typically, they cover all activities associated with the management of examinations, right from the enrollment to the processing of exams, distribution, assessment, and report generation.
The best examination software completely automates the process of assessments to facilitate better decision-making. They also take time and stress off faculties while improving communication between assessors, students/candidates, and parents. Additionally, the best online examination software improves control and visibility over the multiple processes associated with evaluations.
Market Overview
The global market for examination software is expected to grow steadily and reach $ 10.73 billion by 2026. The following factors fuel the increasing demand for assessment management solutions:
- High demand for computerized assessments from authorities conducting competitive tests
- Increasing preference among corporates and government for online assessments
- The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has made many institutions embrace online learning and assessments
The use of technology in managing assessments is not only helping educational institutions but also organizations that need to hire candidates based on aptitude tests.
Since the pandemic arrived, the internet has become ‘the’ platform where various employment and learning opportunities can be found, increasing income and growth opportunities. The use of examination software in corporate eLearning has enabled several organizations to reduce their HR costs previously associated with recruitment, onboarding, training, and appointments. Moreover, remote assessments using examination software are easy, cost-effective, and convenient for corporations during the pandemic.
Source: eastmojo
The rise in the number of internet users has also contributed to the growth of online examination software. As of January 2021, almost 60% of the global population has internet connectivity , 92.6% of which are mobile users. Apart from the sheer numbers, several other factors have contributed to the growth of online assessments among corporates, such as:
- Rapid growth in young workforce population
- Need for more skilled or trained employees
- Growing competition between companies to find customized examination software
- Increasing inclination among government and corporate institutions to choose computer-based tests
Besides the above, both organizations and learning institutions have understood that better assessment leads to better candidates, which adds to their success.
Though the disparity between developed and underdeveloped nations remains, the massive gap is being bridged by using the best online examination software, facilitating inclusive education and remote learning.
However, the biggest challenges faced by this market today are the consistency and reliability of networks, security of data, improper utilization of tools, and budget allocations for assessments. The following image displays some of the vital statistics related to the online examination software market.
Source: Emergen Research
Product, Service & Sector-Wise Insights
Though several types of examination software are available today, Emergen’s research suggests the most popular among them are coding tests. Such tests help evaluate the coding skills of programmers and software has emerged as a necessary procedure in the recruitment of software and IT firms. Some organizations that use such coding tests are Adobe, Booking.com, DRG, Cognizant, and HCL.
By service type, assessment tools are used the most in recruitment and promotions. Examination software has been a boon for recruiters since they help assess the role-specific skills of candidates before they are absorbed in a company. In addition, they also help identify cognitive skills, behavioral traits, and proficiencies necessary for the promotion of candidates.
The sector where examination software is set to grow the fastest is the K-12 (kindergarten to grade 12) sector. Most developed and developing nations nowadays use examination software to assess students’ learning, teachers’ development, and the relevancy of the curriculum.
Of all the geographic regions, North America still accounts for the largest market share of assessment software. Both educational and professional institutions extensively make use of such tools, preferring custom-made assessment services.
Benefits of Examination Management Software
Before discussing the obvious benefits of examination software, we would like to highlight the findings of a research paper, which shows how students today view online assessments. The research included responses from 288 students taking various online classes and the data acquired shows how students perceive the benefits of online examinations.
Source: ResearchGate
The above image clearly shows that most students consider quick results and time-saving as the two most significant benefits of examination software.
Let us now look at the benefits of using the best examination software for corporations and educational institutions.
1. Hassle-free examinations
Online assessment systems can greatly assist organizations since they significantly reduce the time and effort involved in question paper creation, printing, and distribution. Furthermore, allocating tasks to assessors, managing student records, allocating rooms, and scheduling becomes much easier.
Using examination software, institutions can quickly configure, share and deploy assessments virtually, and analyze how students are doing. They can also notify students, reschedule tests and keep track of student performances.
With the best online examination software by their side, faculties can create question papers for different courses, which may contain questions and sections of various types with separate marks assigned. Not only can they upload multiple file types, media, and documents in each section, but they can also get access to a shared repository of questions with built-in templates that allow the easy creation of assessments.
2. Better Remote Learning
Perhaps the most significant advantage of online examinations is that they allow students to remotely assess their mastery over subjects. In addition, it allows students’ progress to be evaluated and tracked over great distances, ensuring that their learning never stops in the face of adversities or calamities.
A great real-life example of the same is the ongoing pandemic which has prevented millions of students from going to schools and colleges. However, thanks to examination software, students’ progress can be evaluated constantly and tracked from anywhere in the world. All students need is a decent internet connection to resume their studies and assess their learning.
Another great advantage of online examination software is that they offer you the option to define assessments with multiple schedules and timezones. This enables students across the globe to take up tests at their convenience.
In addition, they allow examiners to pre-set tests for several subjects for different courses and evaluate answers from anywhere in the world. Moreover, such tests can be configured to be available 24×7, enabling students to attend examinations at their preferred time.
3. Piques Student Interest
Most of today’s students are tech-savvy and no more prefer the age-old method of writing their exams in a regular classroom environment. Let’s face it; the classic examination setting can be stressful and increase students’ anxiety levels, affecting their results. Whereas, in an online classroom, students are more relaxed, which helps them perform much better.
Students can be evaluated using the best online examination software through different interesting formats like MCQs, questionnaires, quizzes, videos, images, etc. Having a variety of questions on a topic or subject allows students to assimilate the knowledge better. Moreover, they can quickly find out where they are wrong and improve themselves through preparation and practice.
4. Security
Regardless of the level and type of educational program, preventing academic dishonesty is a problem that educators face continuously. With the introduction of modern technology in online education, many fear that their data can be hacked or leaked. However, today’s intelligent examination software has excellent provisions to prevent foul-play and cheating.
Below are a few features shared among the best examination software that help in improving the security of online assessments:
- Auto-generation of questions from a database
- Locking down test-taking devices
- Encrypted storage for question papers
- Restricting access to files/applications located in the device
- Shuffling questions in different orders for each student
By having question papers stored securely in their servers and keeping test-takers confined to exam files only during tests, faculties and institutions get their peace of mind and can fairly conduct tests.
5. Instant Evaluation and Faster Results
One of the prime reasons students prefer online examination software over conventional assessment systems is their speed. Using such systems, assessors can standardize marking and automate evaluations considerably, saving much time and effort.
Most examination solutions today can compute the results at the rap of a button. In addition to evaluating MCQ questions, they can also verify the correctness of board answers by finding specific keywords in the answers given. This reduces examiners’ workload significantly while offering them richer insights into students’ performance and productivity.
6. Detailed Reports to identify knowledge gaps
Exam management system offers several detailed reports on the aptitude and performance of each student, helping institutions address their learning needs better. In addition, the reports generated by examination software offer detailed analytics on the average time spent per question and per section, empowering the institution’s accreditation process.
Using a combination of intelligent algorithms, the best examination software helps identify areas where most students have struggled in a test. This helps bridge knowledge gaps and pave the way for a better overall understanding of the curriculum for learners.
7. Greater Accuracy & Precision
The manual process of conducting examinations is prone to many errors. Manual errors can adversely affect the future of students and often lead to the most deserving students scoring less. Making use of examination software enables institutions to do away with manual errors while improving accuracy and precision.
Displaying highly precise and parameterized results motivates and guides students to improve their results and improves the transparency of the entire examination process.
8. Intelligent Proctoring
Proctoring or invigilation is a massive responsibility to shoulder during an offline examination. Institutions have to designate this position to the right individuals and ascertain the disciplinary actions to be taken if any unfair means are used while taking the exam. However, despite the same, cheaters slip through cracks and often go unpunished.
Online examination software ensures a secure assessment environment while improving oversight over students’ activities. They ensure that students are monitored during assessment and cannot resort to unfair means while taking their tests. For educational institutions, this not only reduces manpower but also reduces costs.
Modern assessment tools use artificial intelligence to prevent cheating during assessments and immediately halt tests if any suspicious activity is detected. Apart from preventing favoritism, examination software can also authenticate candidates through facial recognition remotely via cameras. In addition, they can also use web cameras for surveillance and take snapshots of students while they take examinations.
9. Automatic Data Backup & Repository
One of the major problems with traditional examinations is the storage, movement, and distribution of confidential data. Physical data is hard to store, easily damaged, and prone to misplacements. This is why the best online examination software possesses an in-built repository where all examination data can be stored securely.
Most examination software has role-based access control and allows you to configure permissions to various users to ensure that confidential data is not tampered with by any unauthorized personnel. Thus, you can store several question sets in the repository, deploy them at will and assign them to students in seconds.
10. Accounting & Finances
Keeping track of students’ accounts, fees, registration, a compilation of results, etc., difficulty levels becomes much easier using examination software. Such tools can successfully store the details of thousands of students and enable them to log in using their credentials.
Besides handling student accounts, such systems can also collect payments from students/parents and automatically generate transcripts and bills.
11. Hosting Exams Without Wi-Fi
Initially, one of the biggest challenges of an examination software was its constant reliance on wi-fi or an internet connection. Students were required to have the necessary system bandwidth and browser capabilities to conduct the exam smoothly.
Several modern examination software today do not require an internet connection during the time of the examination. Instead, they require the student to simply download the assessment module, take the test, and submit it for evaluation. This is hugely advantageous for students and improves the stability of such tests.
Conclusion
Examinations have been around for a long time and will continue to stay relevant for the foreseeable future. However, the manner and mechanism in which they will be conducted in the future will be completely digital, thanks to examination software. By using such tools, institutions can completely automate the process of assessments, reducing much of their efforts.
Using assessment tools, institutions can configure various test types for various user groups and register them successfully. Examination software can also help with admittance and schedule management for thousands of test-takers.
Be it an academic or professional test, examination software helps institutions configure multiple types of questions, organize them group-wise, and set up various levels of difficulty. Additionally, they have inbuilt repositories, templates, and grading systems, which make setting question papers fun and easy.
Even from management’s perspective, examination software has a question approval process that ensures that no questions are added to tests without proper permissions. Moreover, in case a question paper gets leaked, creating a new set of questions and deploying them can be done in a few minutes. Examination software also allows you to access a wide assortment of insightful reports and analytics that empower organizations and help them nurture the best talent.
The popularity of the exam management system will only increase in the future, and with the pandemic still looming at large, they may replace traditional examinations completely. The low cost, ease of access, accuracy, and speed of such solutions are sure to encourage more and more institutions to adopt them in the future.
A digital marketing and content curator at SoftwareSuggest, a software recommendation platform. I am passionate about Digital Marketing, and all things digital. Also interested in technology and innovation. In my spare time, enjoy playing cricket, and Badminton.
