There are numerous advantages to using fully digital exams like the UK PISA for Schools test to benchmark international academic achievements in schools. In general, digital exams are far easier to administer and the results can be collated much faster and often, more accurately.
Here are some major advantages of digital exams for international academic benchmarking.
Digital Exams Are Cost Effective And Environmentally Friendly
Schools are saving money and the environment by getting their students to sit digital exams. This is because there is no need to print out paper-based exams that need to be distributed to students individually.
This not only saves money on printing costs and the shipping of paper exams but also helps the environment because fewer trees have to be cut down to produce the paper and fewer carbon miles are being traveled in order to get the more traditional paper-based exams to each individual school.
In addition, traditional paper-based exams have to be marked manually which puts a lot of strain on teachers and takes up a lot of their time.
Digital Exams Are Far More Convenient
Digital exams are far more convenient because they can be taken from any location that has a stable internet connection. While these exams will still need to be supervised, there is a great deal of flexibility regarding where and when the exams are to be completed.
This provides greater convenience to both students and teachers and means that exams can be conducted at different times of the day in order to provide as much flexibility as possible.
Digital Exam Marking And Grading Is Far More Efficient
Digital exams are marked and graded automatically as soon as they are completed. This eliminates the need for manual marking and also eliminates possible human errors.
Not only does this save valuable time but it also means that the results are available much faster than would be the case if the students were given paper-based exams.
Ultimately, this means that schools are able to get access to the data from the exam results in a much tighter time frame and act on any improvements that need to be made very quickly.
Digital Exams Provide Enhanced Security
Using digital exams means that enhanced security measures are easy to adopt to protect the integrity of the exams and the results. For example, many digital exams use biometric identification and real-time monitoring.
Ultimately, this prevents cheating and ensures that the results achieved are accurate and reliable.
Greater Access For Students With Disabilities
Digital exams can be enabled with adjustable font sizes and audio versions of the exam questions to provide greater accessibility for students with disabilities. This provides an all-inclusive testing environment where no one is disadvantaged.
In Summary
Digital exams have made it so much easier for schools around the world to take part in academic benchmark testing. These tests eliminate the reliance on paper-based exams and make it easier for students to access and sit the exams.
Best of all, marking and grading is automatic which takes a lot of time pressure off teachers and means that the results are available very quickly.
