Best Ways To Avoid Cheating During Online Exam

 

If 2020 doesn’t imply change, we don’t know what else does. Things have turned around 360° in all spheres of our lives. The two most talked about things that underwent a major shift in the world were work and the education industry. While there were small but significant changes that kept happening in the corporates, the educational institutes adopted the online examination system.

Let us learn a little more in detail about the online examination system.



What does an online examination system consist of?

An online examination system consists of conduction of examinations in online mode. It may be in any format but to maintain objectivity and make the entire process error-free, many softwares are available. Online exam software makes use of technology in a way that it is easy and convenient for both the students and the teachers. It comes with multiple facilities that allow ease in planning, administration and evaluation of the exams. It is not only cost-efficient but it also saves time and effort that goes into doing this task manually. The process is entirely computerized and also makes sure that there are no manual errors in it. All in all, online test software is a package in itself that has been a blessing to academia during these tough times. While we talked about the advantages of online exam software, we cannot deny the fact that there is a possibility of unfair practices happening during the exam administration and conduction. The biggest challenge faced by the test administrators is to prevent cheating and any other unfair means. Let us have a look at what can be done to avoid cheating during the online exams.


Ways to avoid unfair means and practices

Following are the ways to prevent cheating in the online examination system.

  1. Protect the paper well.


Agreed that we do not have safety deposits and lockers to protect the question paper. But we do have a set of powerful methods that can be used to protect the question paper well. Make use of the methods that allow you to encrypt the question paper and lock it. Some online exam portals provide a facility wherein the question paper has to be submitted to the software a few days before the exam and then it is locked for everyone, even for the person setting it till the exam time begins. In this way, unfair practices by any entity are prevented. Maintaining separate email accounts to perform transactions related to exam software also reduces the chances of the account getting hacked and papers getting leaked.


  1. The questions can be shuffled.


This is the most common technique used even during physical exams that are happening and there are question papers in different sets. The order of the questions can be shuffled so that students cannot copy each other’s answers. With questions shuffled, it would become difficult for students to reach out to other students and ask for answers. Some examiners also adapt to a pattern wherein the prepared sets of question papers with different questions are presented to the students. That way, the possibility of unfair means is minimised exponentially.


  1. The results of the exam won’t be declared until all the exam sessions are over.


The speed of the online examination software is a boon but it can act in counter-productive ways at times. Whenever the exam paper is set in a software, it asks for answer keys which makes it easier for the app or the software to assess the responses recorded by the students and give them results then and there. While this may be a very efficient way of working, it could be possible that getting results before other students have even submitted their papers can work in a reverse manner. So to avoid that, it should be kept in mind that the results should not be declared to the participants immediately after the submission. However, they can be mailed to them or can be uploaded to their profiles on the online exam software whenever they are ready.


  1. The student should be checked for correct identity.


There should be some precautions and rules that need to be kept consistent for all the students. To confirm the identity of the students, they should be asked to upload a picture with their identity card before the beginning of the examination session. Online exam software can also send an OTP to their mobile phones without which they will not be able to log into their accounts. These measures are taken to ensure that no student is faking their identity and making someone else write responses on their behalf.

Apart from that, to avoid any unfair means while the examination session is on, students are usually asked to keep their videos on. The administrator’s videos can include some powerful sensors which can record any suspicious activities that the students might be indulged in, just in case.


  1. Access to all other software should be cut off when the exam session is on.


This is one of the most important measures that a few institutions are already following. It is quite possible that the students may make use of a calculator or a search engine to find out answers to their questions. At such times, you cannot even turn off the internet since it would be needed for exam synchronisation. So, online exam software can have this feature in-built that when the examination session is on, the students will not be able to access any other tabs or software on their devices. This also makes sure that the examination sessions are being conducted smoothly since the Internet will not be used for any other interface.


To explore more ways of conducting exams online smoothly, you can visit MegaExams.

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