Are online exams in higher education the right way forward?

Online or digital exams can save lecturers ample marking time, also saving students the hassle of putting pen to paper to demonstrate their knowledge in an area of study. While not all universities are not facing this digital movement, Monash University in Australia is scheduled to shift 80 percent of all student exams online by next year. This move would save the university approximately AU$7 million (USD$4.7 million) per annum, according to ZDNet.“Monash University research, education and business intelligence delivery leader Cliff Ashford said the savings estimate accounts for only marking exams with essay questions and does not factor in the cost of other exams, such as those with multiple choice questions,” said the report. Ashford added that getting people to mark essay exams is expensive and highly ineffective as it requires extensive manual data entry, while tracking analytics is non-existent. This is also means exams are exposed to human error.