Online Learning and Assessments – the status quo

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, there was high growth and adoption of education technology. Globally, EdTech investments reached US$18.66 billion in 2019, while looking forward, the market for online education is projected to reach $350 billion by 2025.

Major world events often give rise to innovation. The pandemic has not forced the rise of education technology, only accelerated it, and pushed it towards greater innovation. As we approach the second anniversary of the pandemic (the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020), many believe online learning and the need for education technology are here to stay.

Online learning effectiveness

There are many benefits to online learning, with evidence suggesting it can be more effective (for those with access to the right technology). Studies by the Research Institute of America show that on average, students retain 25-60% more material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom.

Many students are able to learn faster online. It’s been suggested corporate e-learning requires 40-60% less time to learn than compared to traditional learning. This is because online learning students learn at their own pace; they can revise, review, bypass, or accelerate through their learning as they choose.

In addition, online learning provides greater flexibility, enabling students to incorporate learning into their daily lives and schedules, with the added benefit of being able to participate in live classes or opt to view recorded lessons.

There is also an economic benefit for online learners through cost savings – with less money spent on things like transportation. There is also the potential for online learning to lead to lower costs of education, for example, institutions (like universities) will require less infrastructure (e.g. physical campuses).

Benefits of proctoring solutions

While the demand for online learning has grown as a result of the pandemic, so too has the need for online evaluations, a trend we here at Sumadi believe will continue. The wide range of benefits to today’s test-takers include:

• Exam integrity with effective monitoring – exam conditions can be maintained through secure and continuous monitoring (to deter cheating), including analyzing and processing images recorded during exams (while not interrupting the test taker).
• Authentication – ability to verify a person’s identity before an exam to authenticate the test taker
• Larger range of exam questions – with access to huge memory banks, a wider range of questions can be incorporated into online exams.
• Preference for answering questions – most test takers prefer to type in their exams rather than handwrite, which can be the case in face-to-face exams (this is also more efficient for exam evaluators to review).
• Reduction in carbon footprint – eliminating the use of paper and traveling to face-to-face exams reduces carbon emissions.
• Time-saving – rather than spending time commuting to an exam (or the logistics of seating arrangements that happen immediately prior to face-to-face exams) test takers have more time for study and exam preparation.
• Data collection and security ­assurance – proctoring solutions like Sumadi’s secure data in transit and at rest, and don’t share data with any third party. Sumadi solutions are security assured through Blackboard PBSC and the Open Web Application Security Project’s (OWASP) Top 10 Proactive Controls.

With great innovation taking place across the sector, the advantages of proctoring solutions will only be enhanced.

As we progress beyond the second anniversary of the pandemic, the importance of imparting knowledge across institutions, cities, countries, and regions, and all parts of society, remains. Online learning and online assessments will be integral to this, and proctoring solutions will need to continue to innovate.

At Sumadi, our vision is to modernize and simplify supervision and information validation for test-takers around the world in the most secure way, through a universal technology ecosystem. It’s our mission to help provide the best online assessment experience.