Exam Management - Beating the Cheating

Dec. 1, 2012 - PRLog -- It’s that time again – the time of year when students and faculty both start thinking about one thing, (no, not Christmas presents): finals. And while ideally, the biggest problem educators face should be whether or not their exams can get served up as easily as grandma’s famous fruit cake, many spend this time worried about something far more serious – cheating.

Cheating has evolved from the days of writing on your hand or piece of paper. In this digital day and age, students are coming up with new ways of cheating at an alarming rate. It seems that as soon as a barrier is put in place to prevent a method of dishonesty, three new workarounds are found by students. In this constant game of cat and mouse, institutions feel they’re playing catch up to the students, reacting to new threats instead of proactively placing roadblocks to deter cheating.

One of the biggest challenges with computer-based testing is the online exam. When you require an internet connection, you’re allowing a huge window of opportunity to the dishonest test-taker. This is where the computer-based, yet offline, exam can be enormously beneficial. This method allows the students the convenience of using their laptops to take their exams, but locks down not only the internet connection, but any hidden applications running on their systems that might tempt academic dishonesty. Furthermore, computer exams are graded instantly, saving teachers the time and headaches of grading. Given the right exam management (http://learn.examsoft.com/examsoft-ei-computer-based-test...) software, computer tests are faster, neater and harder to cheat on than paper tests.

ExamSoft is constantly updating our testing system to meet the challenges of potential cheating. However, the fact remains that taking a computer-based exam offline offers a higher level of security than one given online. Our belief, and one that is supported by clients, is that exam security is comprised of three essential components: prevention, detection, and deterrence. In fact, 42 out of the 50 state Bar Examiners use this philosophy and trust ExamSoft with being an easy to use and secure delivery method for their exam creation and learning assessment solutions (http://learn.examsoft.com/learning-assessment-solutions).

By leveraging sophisticated, technologically computer based software solution to manage the entire testing process—including exam design, administration, delivery, and analysis, and without worrying about providing a secure Wifi or Internet connection – educators should be able to worry a little less about their students being honest, and a little more on the important things … like what gift to buy for your boss.

About ExamSoft

ExamSoft offers a turnkey solution for computer-based testing, exam creation, delivery, scoring and analysis an easy and reliable process. ExamSoft has served the testing needs of prominent academic, certification, and licensing institutions for more than 13 years. More information on computer based exams is available at

http://learn.examsoft.com/examsoft-ei-computer-based-testing-software