What are Pros and Cons of Online Exams? And How to Create an Effective One?
It’s a breakthrough when it comes to teaching, learning, and taking exams online. However, many people are still wondering whether to choose online tests or not. If so, let’s explore the pros and cons of online exams in today’s blog.
Would you prefer to take examinations offline or online? Many people say online tests are amazing, while others say it sucks. Due to the fact that this is their experience, it is difficult to distinguish who is right and who is wrong. Basically, online exams are good, convenient, and cost-effective. However, it also depends a lot on external factors such as Internet quality, technical equipment, etc. These are the advantages and disadvantages of online tests. Understanding this will help us take advantage of its benefits and overcome its drawbacks. Today, let’s learn more about the pros and cons of online exams as well as tips and tricks on how to create an effective one using one of the best eLearning authoring tools, ActivePresenter.
Pros of Online Exams
With the development of computer technology and eLearning, online exams are increasingly popular in education. Let’s go through the 5 major advantages of online exams below.
1. Convenience
The first strong point of taking an online exam is convenience. As long as you have the Internet and a device to access the test, you can take it anywhere. For example, you’re a full-time worker and a part-time student at a school. Once you are on a business trip or traveling with the company on the day of the test. Don’t worry, tell your teacher. With some clicks, he/she can schedule to public the test, send notifications to students and let them enroll in the test. Then, you access and take the test at any time within the time specified by the teacher. Therefore, you will not miss any mission. Conveniently, right?
2. Efficiencies
It is both time and cost effective to take the tests online. Neither the teacher nor the student takes time to travel to the test site. The two sides just need to agree on a time, somewhere convenient like at home, a café, turn on the computer, and do the test. Teachers also save time on making exams, shuffling questions, grading, and reporting results to students. At each such stage, if they save time, it will reduce the cost of organizing the exam, labor costs, and some other surcharges. And imagine, how much waste will paper tests leave for the environment? The cost of handling it is certainly not small. The online test will save this cost.
3. Accuracy
Another pros of online testing is accuracy. Also thanks to the help of test-making software, the accuracy of the test is more assured. Compared to when taking paper-based tests, it takes less time for teachers to verify the accuracy of the test by taking it beforehand. By doing that, they can detect errors in the test caused by external factors. In addition, the answers, especially the ones of objective test questions, are pre-programmed. Once a test has been completed, students are notified of the results. By doing so, we will prevent unfortunate mistakes from occurring during the grading period due to fatigue and distractions caused by the examiners.
4. Safety
Using quiz makers to create the exam eliminates the risk of cheating or any other ways of exchanging answers. Because all manipulations process without human influence, the scores of the students are automatically and continuously graded as it is set before. Question-making apps can absolutely never cheat on the score in the exam. In addition, they also control the time as well as attempt to do the test, and shuffle the questions. It is very useful to prevent exam cheating.
5. Diversity
Nowadays, exam creation software is designed to create multiple questions in one test. For example, ActivePresenter has built-in ways to create 13 frequently used objective and subjective as well as essay questions. Depending on the test questions’ characteristics, the teacher can include them in the appropriate tests. In addition to rich question types, the software also allows teachers to add interactive objects such as buttons, feedback, and checkboxes. Another plus is that teachers can add images and audio to the test – the thing that paper tests cannot do. These are essential elements for skills tests like listening or speaking.
Cons of Online Exams
As shown above, online exams come with many strengths. However, everything has both sides. and so do the online tests. Keep reading to find out its weaknesses in this part.
1. Device requirements
Without a doubt, to take the tests online, we need devices. It can be a phone, or a tablet, but the best is still a computer or laptop. An old, slow device may not be suitable for an online test. The reason is that time management during the exam is very important. All operations to do the test, choose the answer, and go to the next question need to be fast. In some cases, a student may be unable to complete the test if the device fails to handle it in time, the mouse malfunctions, or the computer crashes. Since then, the assessment of students is also not accurate.
2. Internet Dependency
Online exams are often published on LMS and shared with students. So the Internet is the only way for the above process to proceed normally. It is also a weakness of online tests. If the Internet connection is not stable, weak, or even lost, it will be difficult to transfer exam questions and answers. This affects students’ test performance. Additionally, school districts in remote areas may have limited access to the Internet. Therefore, the online exams are not really suitable for students here.
3. Teachers Stressing
After the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, many schools around the world have looked for help from online learning and exams. In a short time, teachers and students had to get used to the new form of learning, changing lesson plans and teaching methods accordingly. Then they started worrying about how to take the online exam smoothly, without technical problems, and evaluate students fairly. In addition, not all teachers are good at using technical equipment and machines. Having to change and learn many new things in a short time can be stressful for many teachers.
How to Create an Effective Online Exam in ActivePresenter?
ActivePresenter is a powerful tool for building engaging and interactive assessments. Here are 5 practical tips to help you create effective online exams with ActivePresenter:
- Leverage ActivePresenter’s Variety of Question Types: Don’t limit yourself to just multiple-choice. ActivePresenter offers a wide range of question types, including True/False, Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, Essay, Fill in the Blanks, Sequence, Drag-n-Drop, and more. Using a mix of question types can help assess different levels of understanding and make the exam more engaging and less predictable for test-takers. Varying question formats can also help reduce the chances of test-takers guessing based on patterns.
- Provide Clear and Concise Instructions and Feedback: For each question or section, ensure instructions are unambiguous. Even more importantly, utilize ActivePresenter’s built-in feedback options. You can set up instant feedback for correct or incorrect answers (especially useful for practice exams) or provide detailed review options at the end of the exam. Effective feedback helps learners understand why an answer was right or wrong, reinforcing learning rather than just testing knowledge. Customize feedback messages to be encouraging and informative.
- Randomize Questions and Answers (Where Applicable): To enhance security and prevent cheating, take advantage of ActivePresenter’s capabilities to randomize the order of questions and/or the order of answer options within questions. This makes it harder for test-takers to share answers and ensures each attempt at the exam is slightly different. You can create Question Pools to draw random questions from a larger set, adding another layer of randomization and allowing you to build multiple unique exams from the same content.
- Set Up Scoring, Passing Conditions, and Reporting: ActivePresenter allows you to define scoring for each question, set a passing score for the entire exam, and configure reporting options. Clearly define how points are awarded or deducted. Set a realistic passing score that aligns with the learning objectives. Crucially, configure the reporting to integrate with an LMS (Learning Management System) via SCORM, xAPI, or HTML5, or to send results via email. This is essential for tracking learner progress and performance.
- Design a User-Friendly and Accessible Interface: While the content of the exam is key, the presentation matters too. Use ActivePresenter’s design features to create a clean, easy-to-navigate interface. Ensure fonts are readable, colors have sufficient contrast, and elements are logically organized. Consider accessibility by adding alternative text to images and ensuring keyboard navigation is possible. A well-designed interface reduces test-taker anxiety and allows them to focus on the questions themselves.
By implementing these tips, you can create online exams in ActivePresenter that are not only effective in assessing knowledge but also provide a better experience for your test-takers.
Final Words
We have just learned about the pros and cons of online exams. This should help you apply to the right students at the right time. If you agree with the benefits of online exams and want to create your own ones, let ActivePresenter accompany you. As mentioned above, the app comes with commonly used question types. It also allows you to add interaction and visualization objects to the tests easily. For more information, download the software, and follow our Tutorials and Blog. You are welcome to create as many effective exams as you like.
Related Articles:
Advantages of Distance Learning for Learners