The Power of Offline
As the use of the Internet is exploding and everybody wants to connect to Wi-Fi, the reliability, security and level of performance can depreciate dramatically. Also if you are a mobile worker, how secure is the public Wi-Fi you are connecting to?
Posted 20 January 2022
Connection Challenges
Taking a swift poll of the typical workplace, the standard Wi-Fi router is handling at least 10 PCs/laptops, 8 Smart Phones, 2 Printers and a couple of other peripherals such as external hard drives or a security camera. All this for a device which is designed to only take 4 or 5 connections. Wi-Fi handles all this traffic pretty well as the concurrency is still low, but when there is a need for constant connection, to upload files to an Internet site then performance issues start to crop up.
Offline Sync
Over the last two years, eCom has been working on changing the way we use the Internet for delivering both High-stakes assessment and competency management. Our customers are global and “on the move”, so getting a secure reliable connection can be really difficult. Our applications have been updated to include the facility for downloadable APPs that enable users to complete their activity off-line and then sync when the Internet connection is available.
Benefits of Offline
Having offline with sync has opened the doors to many new customers going online. Many of these customers have held off moving to online delivery as they couldn’t give a consistent service to their full user base. Giving both online and offline access means that everybody, no matter where or when, can access the same system and record their results in the same way using the same process. Thus the organisation will benefit from the savings an online platform can bring.
Offline in Practice
Examples of offline in use are:
CanalCollege - Work-based learning is undertaken towards an SVQ using low budget tablets out on the canals, students record progress in their online workbooks by taking pictures, recording audio and completing questions. Work is synced to the LMS on return to the main base each day and this work is then available to Assessors and Verifiers to mark and review.
IWCF - High-stakes exams undertaken at Training Centres across the world using IoT devices. Exams are downloaded to device memory and taken to Centres where the devices are connected either directly via USB, Wi-Fi or LAN to the user’s laptops or tablets. The exams are opened in a secure environment requiring 2 stage authentication for users to undertake. Once exam completed the IoT devices are returned to the Administrator to upload into the e-Assessment system where the exams are marked.
