Introduction
Østfold University College (HiØ) held its first digital exams in the spring semester 2015. In autumn 2016, a project group was established to develop and maintain the technical and administrative work on the introduction of digital exams. The project has now entered into its second phase, where the focus is more on the primary users: students and academic staff, respectively. This internet resource is one result of this focus.
The introduction of digital exams is largely about replacing manual or physical exams with digital solutions throughout the examination process. The most obvious difference in connection with written exams is that a computer replaces pen and paper. At HiØ, students use either stationary computers in computer labs or their own computers (known as BYOD, ‘Bring Your Own Device’. Digital exams change and are intended to rationalise and improve workflow for all involved parties, from the exam administration to the examiners. HiØ, like many other universities and university colleges, uses Inspera Assessment as its main digital exam tool.
Reduced paper consumption is only one of several potential benefits associated with digital exams. For many students, the use of a computer better reflects their experience and work habits from upper secondary school, their present studies and the labour market. Using a computer during exams also allows a greater freedom to organise the material, and potentially allows more time to focus on the academic content.
For academic staff, digital exams open up a greater range of opportunities and room to combine different forms of assessment to adapt requirements to each subject's learning outcomes. Potential benefits for examiners include exam papers that are immediately available and readable, shorter case processing times and more secure storage procedures.
The distinctive nature of the different subjects places limitations on how and to what extent it will be academically expedient to digitalise the exams. In several courses, hand drawing is required. Starting from the spring semester 2018, HiØ will offer a hybrid solution for courses that combine text and drawing by hand (see the section on Digital exams with hand drawing for details).
Security
Efforts are made to make the digital exams as secure as possible. Three factors are particularly relevant in this context: the security of the digital exam tool, the stability of the campuses’ technical infrastructure, and attempts at cheating during the exam itself.
Internal procedures have been prepared for dealing with technical problems that affect students in the event of incidents such as temporary power outages and problems with internet access. The ordinary invigilators will carry out visual checks during exams. The students’ computer activities, as online, offline, written and submitted, will also be monitored during the exam, which will also benefit students because support can be provided quickly should problems arise. Both IT user support and the exam administration will be available to deal with any problems that arise during exams.
The exam tool is under continuous development to address security issues and minimise the risk of problems arising.
The electronic plagiarism check makes it easier to detect reuse of texts (see the ‘Grading’ section for details).