My take on Online tests - A student's perspective

Good Teacher

A good teacher cares for her students genuinely. She teaches well and always seeks interactions and checks whether the students understood or not. Never hesitates to explain complex subjects multiple times until everyone in the class understood well. However, it takes a lot of time and effort to get the feedback cycle healthy by interacting with students, especially when the syllabus is vast and the class is packed to the max level.

An effective weapon to assess the understanding quickly across several students is to conduct tests/ exams. Frequent informal tests and few formal exams can keep the teachers get the pulse of their students and keep the students on their toes. The teacher can know the level of understanding of the student at mass by the marks (grades) in the tests/exams.

"A good teacher always checks whether the students understood or not"

Importance of Online testing

As they say, "Time and Tide wait for no one". Now as we are suffering in the Pandemic, the old ways of conducting classroom tests have become passé. We got to twist the technology we have currently and make it adapt to the new situations as we are. We need online classes in schools, online tuitions, online coaching, online meeting, etc which had not been done so much in the past. People have almost started perfecting online classes and beginning to settle down to the new environment.

A good teacher always needs to know whether the students have understood or not. But online classes have caused discomfort to many of the teachers all over the globe. It lacks student-teacher interaction, face-to-face connection, body language, etc. And at times, the teacher does not even know whether the student is listening intently to the lesson or if he is somewhere away (or even playing an online game in parallel). The interactions through oral questioning or getting students on the video to speak out are limited and do not scale.

As a good teacher, being so good, wants to conduct small quiz tests for the students after the completion of every chapter/concept. In an online class setting, conducting online assessments, tests or exams are the best way to get feedback on students understanding at scale. A simple assessment or quick surprise test in the class helps to feel the pulse of the students. It should have a fixed time, a timer, ensure focus that does not allow the student to copy, and ensure them to honestly try to answer.

Now the biggest challenge for the teachers and coaches is "How to conduct online tests effectively?"

The biggest challenge "How to conduct online tests effectively?"

"Honesty is the Best Policy". This is a saying said by many and is needed while conducting online exams. In the online test, the student may engage in many malpractices. Although it might seem to cut down the effort of studying on the student's part, it would not be useful in the long run for the student. These malpractices prevent the teacher/coacher to understand the understanding of the students as everyone would excel in the test provided by the teacher.

Experience as a Student

As the COVID-19 engulfed the world, the schools were put on leave and we had a really long summer vacation😎.

And then the online classes started. At first, it was an unusual way and we had difficulty in acquainting to the present situation as we could not see each other and meet friends.

As the online classes were going on, the school suddenly decided to keep an exam. All the students were tense and there was a fair amount of tension among the teachers and the principal also. (no comments about parents)

As the exams got nearer people got tense and began studying like a normal exam. When the exams started, in due course of time the students started copying from textbooks/ Internet, chatting over social networks with their friends to find the answer, etc. Most of the students were involved in malpractice and dishonesty. As a result, it was practically like there was no use in conducting the exams.

Disadvantages of online tests

It creates anxiety for the students, and some level to teachers (more for the parents, Indian parents )
There could be some system crashes in the device before/during the test/exam
There could be slow internet in the residence which prevents the student from submitting the test.
There could be a power failure which causes wastage of time for the pupil.
The student can copy at his ease without the in-room supervision of his teachers.

Improvements in online tests

There are some ways to improve the way to conduct an online test. When you need more controls over conducting tests, turn into technologies that bring in. Use a special-purpose testing app or tool to conduct tests. There are some features like time controls, action controls (camera, movement, screen) tracking of the student, and tab switching detection. In online tests, even though some students' malpractices cannot be fully avoided, it can be done to the maximum possible effectiveness. The testing app should also be convenient to both the students and the teachers.

"Bring in a convenient testing app/tool to conduct tests"

A word on "Form Presenter"

Among the apps to conduct online tests, Form Presenter is one of the best apps available. The simplicity is, anyone can turn their Google Form into a secure online test in minutes with a timer, action tracking, audience tracking, etc.

Form Presenter is available on Google Workspace Marketplace to conduct online tests and exams.

As a cool online test tool as it says "All you need to conduct online test", it brings out sanity and sanctity on "online tests" to the bliss of teachers and "real" students.

Author: Jairus M

Jairus is a student and young professional who wishes to explore possibilities of doing things better with the latest technologies. He loves to read, learn, and share knowledge with others. He cherishes the outcome of shared knowledge.
With lots of love. 💖💖💖💖