Benefits of Online Assessment Compared to Traditional
By Allan Maclean
linkedin.com/in/allan-b-maclean
Online assessment can reducd administration, speed up marking, make assessments more flexible and accessible, support different types of questions and media, and reduce the need for paper, printing and travel.
For organisations, this can make assessment easier and more efficient to manage. For candidates, it can provide greater flexibility in where and when they take an exam.
So, how does online assessment compare with more traditional approaches? Here are some of the main benefits.
Posted 31 August 2022
Reduced Administration
A win for you and your organization! When running exams online, organizations can greatly reduce the time and administrative burden of using traditional assessments such as printing and circulating exam papers, organizing the movement of scripts to markers and then back again, which can all be costly and time-consuming.
Not to mention, that with online assessment you also don’t run the risk of losing or damaging papers, which all together makes the assessment process much easier for you and your organization.
More Efficient Marking
Thanks to the reduced administrative process involved, another online assessment benefit is that marking is often much quicker, reducing the time for candidates to get their results and generally streamlining the whole assessment process.
Some question types can also be marked automatically, helping to reduce turnaround times and make the marking process more efficient.
More Flexible Assessment Design
Another benefit of online assessment is that, thanks to the development of technology, the assessment process can be enhanced through the use of different types of media which can make a more engaging experience for the learner.
This can also give you more options for assessing what people know and can do, helping you gather the evidence you need about their knowledge and capability.
Greater Flexiblilty for Candidates
A key element of online assessment is its accessibility. Remotely delivered exams remove both geographical and social challenges of needing to take an assessment in a physical location. For example, the use of online invigilation (eProctoring) allows flexibility and means that exams don’t have to be taken in specific assessment centres.
Depending on the requirements of the assessment, candidates may instead be able to take their exam remotely from a suitable location. This can reduce the time and cost associated with travel and make assessment more accessible to candidates in different locations.
A More Sustainable Solution
An online assessment platform is also much more environmentally friendly option compared to traditional methods, with less paper, printing and transport is used in the process.
Overall...
It's clear to see there's numerous benefits of online assessment compared to using traditional or paper-based exams, which is why there has been a rapid increase in the use of digital platforms over the last few years.
If you and your organisation are not already using online assessment but feel like you could benefit from its many advantages, or you’ve recently discovered a need for assessment, eCom’s flexible digital assessment platform, eNetAssess, could be a great solution. With all the online assessment benefits, eNetAssess can help you to have confidence that your exams are accessible, reliable and secure.
Discover more about eNetAssess or get in touch with us today for more information on using online assessment software!
Frequently Asked Questions About Online Assessment
The main benefits of online assessment include reduced administration, faster marking, greater flexibility for candidates, more options for assessment design and less reliance on paper, printing and travel. Online assessment can also make it easier for organisations to deliver and manage assessments at scale.
Online assessment uses digital technology to deliver and manage assessments, while traditional assessment commonly relies on paper-based exams and physical assessment locations. Online assessment can reduce many of the administrative tasks associated with traditional assessment and give organisations greater flexibility in how and where assessments are delivered.
Yes. Online assessments can be remotely invigilated using technology that helps organisations verify candidate identity and monitor assessments (eProctoring). The appropriate approach will depend on the level of security and assurance required for the assessment. You can find out more about eCom's secure solution, eNetSecure.
Yes. Online assessment can reduce administration by removing or automating tasks such as printing and distributing exam papers, transporting completed scripts and manually managing parts of the marking and results process.
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