1. Title of the practice
- Due to COVID-19, the Institute has decided to explore the options of using the CodeTantra platform (www.codetantra.com) to conduct online examinations during the academic year 2020-21. The platform provides several services including that of a proctor with multiple features and options. To familiarize with the application, its features, and options, IIIT Hyderabad has organized several training sessions for the faculty, staff, and students. Also, a set of mock tests were conducted.
2. The context that required the initiation of the practice
- The Covid has disrupted the process of imparting education. IIIT Hyderabad has conducted online lectures through MS Teams platform. The examinations are conducted using the CodeTantra platform. IIIT Hyderabad wanted to conduct the examinations in a professional manner by opting for a professional software platform. The Codetantra platform almost replicates the real examination by video surveillance, Question paper confidentiality, and timeliness. This platform has been widely used by several educational institutions. It provides several options to conduct the examinations viz., scan and upload the answer books and multiple-choice questions and objective type questions – all these in a transparent mode.
3. Objectives of the practice
- To facilitate a transparent and fair evaluation of the students during the Corona virus – hit period.
- To conduct examinations in an effective manner.
- To provide flexibility for the teachers to set a different kind of Questions for different students.
- To ensure that the students complete their academic year in a stipulated period.
4. The Practice
- IIIT Hyderabad has conducted orientation programs and mock sessions for the students, faculty, and staff about the guidelines to use the platform.
- The sessions have also covered how to write the examination, usage of paper, and how to upload the answer sheets including other technical aspects etc.,
- Exclusive training sessions for Proctors (invigilators) on understanding the layout, grid controls, and features of the platform; Information on No. of students per session, precautions to avoid malpractices etc., were illustrated well in advance.
- A proctor should know the platform to guide test-takers. For Performing Proctoring, while proctoring multiple examinees simultaneously, thorough orientation sessions were organized.
- A proctor is able to observe whether the student is present or absent during the examination along with remote control on the student’s audio and video devices.
- The dashboard contains the name of the examination, start time, end time, duration, and students assigned to take that particular examination in the given slot.
- Even though the proctor stops/ mutes students’ video or audio still the activities of the students are recorded.
- Following activity of the student is logged in the portal 1. Navigation to Questions 2. Trying to connect/disconnect 3. Uploading of answer sheets 4. Network Failures 5. Attempts to go out of the test window. 6. The user attempting to reload the page. 7. User attempting to turn off webcam 8. A user trying to deny permissions.
- A super proctor was engaged to oversee all the proctors' activities.
5. Obstacles faced if any and strategies adopted to overcome them
- At a time, a few students have faced Internet connection issues and bandwidth issues.
- In such cases, as a policy, the Proctors were empowered to give relaxation to the students by extending the grace period.
- After the student starts the test, the proctor would have an option of ending the test.
- When the test is going on the last updated information from the student’s end is also shown.
- The proctor can enable permission and check Internet Speed at the student’s end.
- Sometimes, there were disruptions while Enabling Camera, Microphone, Location etc., for video and audio proctoring alone, the system needs 50 Kbps to upload speed. The examinee has to maintain at least 100 Kbps upload speed.
- The students have multiple options to write their examinations. Our internal applications viz., Moodle, and MS Teams have also become useful if some of the students are not comfortable with the CodeTantra platform.
6. Impact of the practice
- IIIT Hyderabad has visualized the importance of conducting online examinations, which students were highly satisfied with the conduct and completion of their academic year on time.
- Training sessions on the usage of the platform made an impact on the smooth conduct of the examinations.
- IT team has arranged six backup systems, and requested the examinees to make use of this facility, in case they have any technical difficulties at their workplace. IT team has also provided good headsets to the students.
- Overall conduct has resulted in greater efficiency, ease of use, and capability of handling tough times with the use of technology devices.
7. Resources required About the Institution:
About 30 to 40 staff and faculty resources were deployed during the conduct of the ONLINE examinations.
i. Name of the Institution: INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, HYDERABAD
ii. Year of Accreditation: 2011 & 2017
iii. Address: Prof C R Rao Road, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500 032, Telangana.
iv. Grade awarded by NAAC: A
v. e-Mail: dean.academics@iiit.ac.in
vi. Contact person for further details: Prof Kishore Kothapalli, Dean (A)
vii. Website: www.iiit.ac.in
Page last updated on June, 2022