Some Swiss university students have been taking exams online due to coronavirus restrictions. Do you think online exams are in general a good idea, also for the future? How could cheating be avoided? We’d like to hear from you. Login or register here to tell us what you think.
From the article Students raise concerns over surveillance in online exams
I think online exams and courses are the way to go.
In the last year we took 3 certifications and several courses online. at 20-40$ per video course it is a lot more affordable than any class room training and the 80-100$ exam is also ok.
If your family lost more than half of its income with the lockdowns then online courses are the only way to go. That or move somewhere else cheaper.
Luckily our children are only a few months old. When they get older we will not have the money for daycare or swiss schools so we will probably have to move to Germany where life is cheaper. By then they'll probably have online courses as well.
No education is needed anymore. Just work online. Why pay for expensive classes. You can find online courses as cheap as 10 francs.
What can I say, my daughter studied remotely, the horror of course)) Poor teachers and parents) It's good for children).
But the husband recently went here like https://nastobr.com to improve skills. He said it was not bad, he liked it. It was his first experience).
Ну что сказать, дочка удаленно училась, ужас конечно)) Бедные учителя и родители) Детям то хорошо)
А вот муж недавно ходил сюда вроде https://nastobr.com на повышение квалификации. Говорит вроде неплохо, понравилось ему. Это был первый опыт)
No. As love remotely. Response is not done through hearing, but through loop * and watch.
لا . كما الحب عن بعد . الاستجابة لا تتم من خلال السمع , بل من خلال البحلقة * والمشاهدة .
Cheating during exams became largely irrelevant in the 21. century. If a student passes an exam because he secretly referred to a textbook online, then in real life he can, too, consult a textbook anytime.
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Cheating nowadays exposes laziness of teachers more than students. Schools are meant to teach young people do things, but teachers still commonly make exams made of repeating facts easily found in any book. For example, children are asked what is a square of 11, and pass an exam, but faced with a problem: how much paint you need for a ceiling which is 11 times 11 meters, they cannot tell.
What are schools anyway? Somewhere to dump the children while the parents go to work to pay for their children's needs. Many people can study / work from home. No need to have expensive physical buildings like offices and schools. The only issue for children is childcare, once the babysitter (the teacher) is no longer there. Maybe one parent will have to stay home too. For the social side, the local area can organise e.g. Youth Clubs, to give children the chance to interact with their peers.
I've been working in banking for the last 12 years. Every training ever given or course provided has been online. So have the exams. It works great and it is cheap. Also you can do your course at your own rhythm.
Sadly this is not the case for schools because of all the teachers. It is like keeping a steam engine industry around because the factory workers do not want to learn anything else. India is already miles ahead of most Western countries with a lot of universities only being present online.
I took about 10 IT certifications so far. All were taken online and perfectly professional: empty desk, webcam and a proctor sueprvising at the other end while the app only allows you to be on the test page.
I passed all the exams and all the supporting courses were also online. A far better investment than the MBA I attended.
Absolutely agreed. Man, the people these days do not want to learn at all from professionals who take this kind of courses and exams every year. We've had these processes in place for 15 years and they work great.
I'm a mother of 3 children between 8 and 12. Based on the current evolution of things with the work and study from home, my husband and I decided that we will not send our children to any classic high-school or university. We're better off looking for online alternatives. it should bring a lot more flexibility as they can watch recorded courses any time. Also, it should be a lot cheaper as there is no need for teachers or expensive buildings.
I'm surprised that in such a multi lingual country the government is so far behind the age. Free language and driving courses should be provided to everyone. Streaming videos is very very cheap and you only need to make them once. It would help people integrate and make everything a lot more efficient. The IT industry has been providing CBT (computer based training) for many years and with great success.
If you just do online training, your children will never have the chance to mingle with other children and learn social skills.
Social and group skills are often more important than knowing how to answer a question on a paper.
Sadly people do such things without thinking of the big picture.
I have seen home-schooled children and I have seen how some have managed to excel while many have neglected the socialising portion of their growing up.
Many of them are unable to hold a conversation or have many friends.
Achtung achtung!
Yes, of course. Exams based on regurgitating data are obsolete in the age of internet, one should switch to practical demonstration of students skills.
As someone famously said, it is INEVITABLE.
Yes, online examinations must, should and will be the norm for many students in the near future or now.
However, online examinations need to be better modified to ensure fairness and no cheating. (eg: using google or a hidden book). Secured online examination sessions (on PC) are already available which blocks out all other PC functions (eg: internet browser).
Have you ever taken an online exam? I took about 14 exams for 5 certifications.
Here's how computer based training works: you access the course videos and study at your own rhythm. When you are ready you register for the exam.
The exams are done with a proctor. You have to do it on an empty desk, in a quiet room. You present your ID and it is verified via webcam. You install an app that works in full screen and you cannot go to google or do anything else. If you attempt to get out of the app the exam ends and you fail.
During the exam the proctor watches you and listens via the webcam. There is no Alexa or Siri and you are not allowed to have other devices nearby be it laptops, phones, smart watches and even books or papers. This process has been used for many years and it works very well.
Yes Nigel, I have taken online exams and I know how it works.
Thank you for illustrating the mechanism.
No...because of the temptation to cheat.
Education includes teaching the children the harms of cheating.
If you already fail in this, forget about Math or Physics.
Then it shows...how so many grown-ups failed in these teachings, or were absent when the subject was being taught. Sadly, too many believe that cheating - and not just in school, is the way to advance. As a matter of fact...the American mentality says: it is OK to cheat, just don't get caught.
I am observing my son's online education. He is in grade 9. He says 'the teacher are trying to occupy us but we are not learning anything'. Often I see him gaming during online school hours. His explanation 'I finished the task the teacher want us to do (in ten minutes out of the full hour). Therefore, no, I am not in favor of online education for school going kids. Exams? Should we reward those clever enough to cheat?
1. The teachers in school are never equipped for this sudden online training during a pandemic
2. The teachers themselves are in a panic
3. What is "cheating" in this digital age? My son and daughter both use Google translate for the French and Deutsch lessons. They also said that everyone is doing this, including the TEACHERS themselves. It is not cheating. It is using an available tool.
Would you walk when there is a bus?
What you are getting is an online babysitter, not computer based training. An online babysitter is highly inefficient, very costly and brings none of the benefits of computer based training.
CBT is done by every student individually and without a teacher. That makes it very very efficient and cheap as all the courses are video recordings and once made anyone can view them.
For the exam the teacher is replaced by a proctor who supervises you with the webcam. When it comes to large numbers of people taking exams there are dedicated test centers with dozens of individual cubicals where you get a desk with a computer and you can do your exam on it and nothing else. That's how online exams work.
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