The topic may draft in sense of 'awe' by some, total rejection by many. Online test or quiz, if it is to be announced in class, will be followed by a symphony of 'Noo' by the students.
In short, rejection is far better than acceptance in this case, in many cases, based on my experience. However, students should be allowed to experience the subtleness of online quizzes or testing, as one may termed it.
Online testing has been around for quite a while. TOEFL iBT is a prominent Online English language test, and as to cite a study, Bugbee and Bern (1990), as cited in Khare and Lam (2008) concluded that the students of an American college fared better online when compared to traditional testing.
When inspected psychologically, the fear of online testing is valid, in my view. Some students stated that the fear comes from the format itself, a rectangular LCD instead of the a table with paper on top. Reading online and reading on paper creates its own challenge. Our eyes do wonder around after reading a few lines, and the sense of focus may be distracted.
The presence of timer, a constant reminder of the available time is another factor. One could not stop looking at the time while trying to accomplish the task. Its like baking a cake while looking at glass door of the oven and the timer simultaneously.
The stability of the internet connection is the greatest feat of all. Imagine that you are about to submit your answers after spending an hour on the test and the connection went down. Some of us may resort to McEnroe's method of relieving frustration, but please ensure you do have 3 extra laptops for that purpose!
I do love a comment made by a student of mine when I conducted a mini study on this. He or She (to remain anonymous) stated that your chances of writing more after the time is up is much better in an exam hall compared to a laboratory. He or She illustrated that if you are sitting in the middle, there is a 50/50 chance for you to write more since the invigilators would come either from front or back of the row. You could never get that from online test, He or She added. Interesting...I should pursue an in-depth Student' Perception of Row Seating in an Examination...niceee..
Anyway, I believe when we are accustomed to certain new experience, we would be evolving together with the experience and surroundings. The same goes with online testing or assessment, may it be online video or audio recording, online essay or other forms of assessment. It is the familiarity, that I believe holds the key to a successful online testing administration. To quote the greatest samurai legend, Miyamoto Musashi, 'Things are always difficult in the beginning, always'...
And I strongly believe online test or assessment is safe too...many of us experience 'paper cuts' during test, well, when was the last time you heard some had 'tablet cut' on their fingers? Hmm...
In short, rejection is far better than acceptance in this case, in many cases, based on my experience. However, students should be allowed to experience the subtleness of online quizzes or testing, as one may termed it.
Online testing has been around for quite a while. TOEFL iBT is a prominent Online English language test, and as to cite a study, Bugbee and Bern (1990), as cited in Khare and Lam (2008) concluded that the students of an American college fared better online when compared to traditional testing.
When inspected psychologically, the fear of online testing is valid, in my view. Some students stated that the fear comes from the format itself, a rectangular LCD instead of the a table with paper on top. Reading online and reading on paper creates its own challenge. Our eyes do wonder around after reading a few lines, and the sense of focus may be distracted. The presence of timer, a constant reminder of the available time is another factor. One could not stop looking at the time while trying to accomplish the task. Its like baking a cake while looking at glass door of the oven and the timer simultaneously.
The stability of the internet connection is the greatest feat of all. Imagine that you are about to submit your answers after spending an hour on the test and the connection went down. Some of us may resort to McEnroe's method of relieving frustration, but please ensure you do have 3 extra laptops for that purpose!
I do love a comment made by a student of mine when I conducted a mini study on this. He or She (to remain anonymous) stated that your chances of writing more after the time is up is much better in an exam hall compared to a laboratory. He or She illustrated that if you are sitting in the middle, there is a 50/50 chance for you to write more since the invigilators would come either from front or back of the row. You could never get that from online test, He or She added. Interesting...I should pursue an in-depth Student' Perception of Row Seating in an Examination...niceee..
Anyway, I believe when we are accustomed to certain new experience, we would be evolving together with the experience and surroundings. The same goes with online testing or assessment, may it be online video or audio recording, online essay or other forms of assessment. It is the familiarity, that I believe holds the key to a successful online testing administration. To quote the greatest samurai legend, Miyamoto Musashi, 'Things are always difficult in the beginning, always'...
And I strongly believe online test or assessment is safe too...many of us experience 'paper cuts' during test, well, when was the last time you heard some had 'tablet cut' on their fingers? Hmm...
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