Due to the global pandemic caused by the Coronavirus, it has been seen that the education of the students has been impacted a lot. It has led to the shutdown of schools, colleges and universities, which has caused an impact in the student’s education pattern.

However, this crisis has also led to the emergence of some new and innovative ideas in order to impart education to the students and to keep the education flowing on. Many schools and institutions have adopted online methods to impart education.

The teachers are taking up online classes and adopting various virtual methods to help the students in their studies.

However, with the adoption of new innovation, IIM Sambalpur has decided to conduct their end term examinations of the first-year students online.

This Institute has been considered as one of the most dynamic management institutions, and thereby it has proved itself by taking this huge step of conducting online examinations. This initiative is however going to be the first initiative that has ever been taken by an IIM in the country.

Because of the rapid spread of Corona Virus, the students of the Institute were asked to return home just before their end term examination, and this is the reason why the Institute has decided to conduct the examination online by adopting Artificial Intelligence software in order to carry out the examination effectively.

If the pandemic continues for a longer time, other institutes might also think of conducting online examinations which might also be one of the newest developments in the education system.

Things you need to know about online examination

• Online examination is a way to conduct examination through the internet or company-wide intranet services. In this type of examination, there are answer processing modules which means that once the candidates finish the examination, it can easily be evaluated by the evaluators. This system also allows you to access your results in less time, unlike the traditional pen and paper examination.
• During an online examination, the candidates need to answer the questions in a given time and once the time limit is over the test window collapses, and the answers are kept ready for evaluation. The evaluators can check the responses through a manual or automated process. Once the evaluation is over, the candidates can check their results via mail or through the website.
• One of the biggest advantages of online examination is that it is time-saving. In the case of traditional examination, it requires more time for end-to-end management. But, in the case of online examination, it does not consume much time. The examiners can upload email ids and then invite them for the assessment, and the best part is that the results of the examination can be generated instantly. Also, it is safe and secure, and the students can take the examination from the comfort of their home or any other place. The online examination also helps the students from remote areas to give the examination. Also, there will be no cases of paper leaks which have become very common these days. This is because, in online examination, the student gets to randomly select a set of question that has been arranged by the person setting the examination.
• It is also economical as when you consider the traditional examination there are many costs associated with it like logistics, administrative etc. However, when you consider an online examination, it is more economical, and you can conduct the examination easily. You need not assemble the students in a large room, and the students can take the examination on the basis of their time and space. This is one of the main reasons why the online examination is becoming quite popular. Also, in case of online examination, you do not require to hire an invigilator to invigilate the candidates, and with the help of an online proctoring software you can easily conduct online examination

Keeping all these things in mind, it can be said that online examination has more advantage than the traditional examination.

Speaking about implementing digital solutions Prof Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director of IIM Sambalpur, said that although the major admission process was completed before the lockdown, the remaining examination will be conducted online.

The students will be able to log in through their laptops or desktops and take up the online test. There are around 100 students appearing for the examination. He also added that with the help of AI facilities, there would not be any kind of error in the evaluation process.

Also, there will be no wastage of papers, and the answers can be evaluated easily and quickly. Not only in this examination but the Institute also plans to conduct all the examinations online even when the situation is back to normal.

Highlights of the innovative technology

Some of the highlights of adopting this new way of conducting examinations are:

• There will be no scope for human error as the answers will be immediately be evaluated by the AI software.
• There will be a substantial reduction in cost as there will be no need for buying papers for examination, no need to hire invigilators, etc.
• The online examination will offer you with more transparency, and it is more convenient than the traditional examination.
• It is safe and secure as the latest technologies can monitor and capture your retina movement. Also, there will be no phone calls or else the examination will be cancelled immediately.
• It is also environment friendly as there will be no wastage of papers.
• Lastly, you will get buffer time in case of network disruptions.

This global pandemic has created problems, but it has also opened ways for new innovation. This has also paved the way for us to enter a new world where we might have to be dependent on digital tools.

With the help of these advancements of technology, we must keep on developing new ideas and adapt it in order to tackle this difficult period. These advancements will not only be effective just in the present time but will also prove beneficial in the days to come.

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 Source – Indian Education Diary