Online Exams: Advantages and Disadvantages
As teaching methodologies are under evolution, students experience new ideas and processes throughout their academic journey. With teaching methodologies, some new ways emerged to test students' understanding and knowledge. One of the latest ideas is online exams.
Online exams are a milestone in the history of the education system that has completely changed the whole scenario. However, only some students are fond of online exams, but still, many students find online exams much easier than traditional ones. So, online exams have some advantages and disadvantages that make students love or dislike them. This piece of writing is aimed at pointing out those advantages and disadvantages.
The Advantages
Environment Friendly
One of the positive aspects of online exams is they are eco-friendly and in no aspect harmful to the environment. Unlike traditional exams, online exams do not require plenty of paper to make question and answer sheets. Students get digital question paper and have to write the answers on the screen through the keyboard. Hence, no footprint or other logistics are needed. Therefore, it is nothing less than a fact to say that online examination is an environment-friendly way to test students’ knowledge.
Save Money
Online exams save expenses to a large extent. A student who travels for hours to reach the examination hall must spend a large amount of money on traveling. Moreover, if a student goes far from his home, he has to give some money for the satisfaction of his stomach. Do my exam for me allow you to appear in the exams from home. You don’t have to spend money on traveling and other expenditures. Hence, online exams provide you with an environment to give exams without spending your money.
Take Less Time
In traditional exams, a teacher/examiner enters the examination hall and assembles the students. Plus, he consumes time in distributing papers that requires extra time. This never happens in online exams; students get question papers and start writing without thinking about which pen or pencil they should choose. Moreover, after attempting the paper, students have to submit it with a single click instead being awaited for the teachers’ call. In addition, they don’t even have to wait for months to know their results. They get their results quickly, and hence the online exams serve to save them time.
More Convenient
Traditional exams do not share a timetable that matches students’ routine activities and hence are inconvenient for them. Online exams are convenient for students as well as for teachers. Teachers can upload their papers on the exam platform, while students can experience flexibility and easy-to-manage time slot. Moreover, students can appear in online exams from anywhere while sitting in the comfort of their homes. In this way, online exams happen to be more convenient than traditional ones.
The Disadvantages
Technique Issues
Online exams have positive impacts on the education system, but at the same time, they have their downsides too. Most students and teachers, especially from developing countries, are unfamiliar with the process and technology. They sometimes do not even know how to use a computer. Therefore, online exams are troublesome for these people. In such a manner, online exams create technique issues that have bad effects on students’ grades.
New Ways to Cheating
Academic integrity is the most essential part of a student’s life. To ensure this integrity, more than two teachers are in the examination hall to monitor the students. In an online exam, students do not have a teacher on their heads to ensure academic integrity. Sometimes, they have online proctors and screening systems, but students try new cheating methods. They share their screens with other fellows and paste sticky notes on their screens if the institute has access to a webcam and audio. So, dishonest students write all the answers by cheating, which is undoubtedly unjust to the students who are hardworking and honest.
Device And Internet Issues
Students from developing countries face internet issues, and sometimes they don’t have advanced devices such as expensive laptops or computers. Moreover, often only one laptop is shared among siblings in a middle-class family. Schools and colleges do not care about these issues; students have to fix their problems regarding the internet and devices on their own. In this way, most students go through financial pressure too. In this way, online exams seem unfair to students with low-budget backgrounds and struggling families.
Hard To Grade Long Questions
Teachers face a problem with online exams when it comes to grading long questions. A short question can be checked and graded on the spot, but a long question needs additional time. Teachers have to give extra time to these questions. In a way, it can be stated that this is the only aspect where traditional exams seem more professional than online exams, and they still have to have to match it.
Conclusion
Online exams are a reality now to be experienced by students whether they like them or not. Online examination system allows students from anywhere in the world to appear in exams. Today’s generation is much luckier than its ancestors to be a part of virtual examinations without spending money and energy on traveling.
However, with all the advantages, it is likely to say that many students face problems with them and get affected by bad results. If you are a student with all the facilities provided by online exams, then at least you should consider the disadvantages that online exams have for students from struggling families.
