Tablet for paperless assessments

Abstract

In recent years, educational institutions have seen a proliferation of online exams due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as the pandemic eases, many educational institutions are shifting back to conducting in-person examinations as it is easier to proctor and gives students the psychological component of the gravity of the exam, as compared to taking the exam online from the comfort of their homes. However, online exams are not without their benefits, such as environmental friendliness, ease of marking and convenience. But there are also undoubtedly several security issues that arise. Therefore, this project aims to reduce the incidence of cheating in online exams by keeping the benefits of physical invigilation while allowing students to access their exam papers online using an issued device. The main task of this project is to customize an operating system which will be booted on a tablet to limit permissions for students to take tests in a controlled environment. This will ensure that students cannot access prohibited browsers, software, and files on the device. Only the test website, supporting software like Calculator or Excel, and open book materials will be allowed. The devices will also be able to be configured remotely via the examiner’s own Windows computer.