The world is slowly yet steadily turning more digital. New inventions and innovations constantly reduce manual work and increase automation. This results in faster and more efficient work. Among many industries, the education sector is also getting digitally smarter.

In the field of education, different technologies have been introduced to help provide quality education to the next generation. This includes some very useful technologies like school management software. It automates the whole school environment and its processes increase the speed of its functions required to run a school successfully.

There are some school management software in India that provide features to facilitate the teaching and learning of the school and its students. One of these features is the online exam feature.

With the recent turn of events, many schools and educational institutions resorted to conducting online examination via video calling applications or online forms. In both cases, the applications were not created for examination and so they lacked the important features required for conducting an online exam.

Online Exam using School Management Software

Any top school management software is created for the schools focusing on its educational requirements. On the other side, video calling applications are created for everyone who wants to connect to other people, and the same goes for online forms. The focus of these applications is on a wider audience to cater to everyone.

A video calling application may not look at things such as question format compatibility, automated report generation and sending, or how to curb cheating during online exams. When the school management software is creating a feature specifically for schools, it has to take all of this into consideration while making a feature like online exams. And that is what makes online exam in school management software different from exams conducted using video calling applications or online forms.

Benefits of Using Online Exams

The online exam feature, similar to online classes, allows students to virtually give exams without leaving their homes. All the students need is a working internet connection and a smart device to give the exam.

The students can use the link sent to them by their school admin or teacher to enter an online exam and complete it within the set time to get it evaluated and graded.

Some of the benefits of using the online exams feature include

• Paperless examinations
• Cost-effective compared to offline examination
• No geographical boundaries
• Faster paper set-up with answer key
• Fast and automated report generation

All these benefits make online exams through school management software a better alternative to online exams conducted using other applications and software not created specifically for educational institutes.

To understand how they are advantageous for your school, let’s check out each of them in more detail.

Paperless Examinations

The online exam is a sustainable and more eco-friendly alternative to the traditional exam where sheets and sheets of paper are distributed among the students. After the exams are over, all that paper is either discarded or filed in heaps at the staff office.

This wastes the paper and physical storage space. Many times the question papers or other attachments are littered around the school campus instead of going for recycling.

All of that can be reduced with online examinations using the school management system.

Cost-Effective

Conducting an online examination is a lot more cost-effective compared to the traditional pen and paper exams. You do not have to spend the set-up cost, you will not have to make additional arrangements for the examination. Moreover, you save up on the cost of papers, and other stationery required for the exams.

Apart from money, you also save on the additional effort of setting up a physical examination, and any other efforts that come along with it like distributing question papers and evaluating every paper manually.

Additionally, it also reduces the usage of other resources.

No Geographical Boundaries

One of the best things about online exams is that students can take the exam from wherever they are in the world. With only the internet and a smart device, they can take their online exam on time.

Schools cannot do that with offline exams. For offline exams, students have to be present at the exam venue. This is especially important when you think of students coming to school or college from faraway places or remote areas.

Online exams feature can allow them to give their exams without having to travel so far.

Faster Paper Set-up with Answer Key

It takes a lot of time and carefulness to set up a paper and create its answer key. But none of that compares to the time and effort that goes into manually evaluating the answer sheets of hundreds of students.

The online exams allow schools to add an answer key to the paper. Based on it, the school management software automatically evaluates every objective answer provided by the students. The teachers may have to evaluate the subjective answers on their own.

With this feature, the amount of time that teachers and evaluators have to spend on every answer sheet decreases substantially.

Fast and Automated Report Generation

With the answer key, the school management software not only evaluates the papers but also creates a comprehensive report of the student’s performance within a few minutes.

This means that the time students have to wait for their results will also decrease. Students will get their results via email or through the school website.

The reports generated with the school management software for students will give a question-wise analysis to help them understand what their strong points are and where they need to do more work.

EndNote

With the increase in education technology, students and schools will get used to a more flexible way of teaching, learning, and administrating things at school. This will increase the efficiency and productivity of the schools.

The online exam is only one feature of the school management software that is created to give more convenience and flexibility to your school’s students and teachers. There are many other features of school management software that contribute to a better administrative experience along with teaching and learning.

If you have not yet implemented it in your school, then it is always better to first try the school management software for free with a trial version. Once you are accustomed to it you can purchase a monthly or yearly license.

What are your thoughts on online exams? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to share the blog with someone whom you feel might benefit from it.