Wireless Handheld Computers in the Preclinical Undergraduate Curriculum

This report presents the results of a pilot project using wireless PDAs as teaching tools in an undergraduate medical curriculum. This technology was used to foster a transition from a passive to an interactive learning environment in the classroom and provided a solution for the implementation of computer-based exams for a large class. Wayne State Medical School recently provided model e570 Toshiba PocketPCs® (personal digital assistants or PDAs), network interface cards, and application software developed by CampusMobility® to 20 sophomore medical students. The pilot group of preclinical students used the PDAs to access web-based course content, for communication, scheduling, to participate in interactive teaching sessions, and to complete course evaluations. Another part of this pilot has been to utilize the PDAs for computer-based exams in a wireless environment. Server authentication that restricted access during the exams and a proctoring console to monitor and record the PDA screens will be described in this report. Results of a student satisfaction survey will be present

Using biometrics authentication via fingerprint recognition in e-Exams in e-Learning environment

E-learning is a great opportunity for modern life. Notably, however, the tool needs to be coupled with efficient and reliable security mechanisms to ensure the medium can be established as a dependable one. Authentication of e-exam takers is of prime importance so that exams are given by fair means. A new approach shall be proposed so as to ensure that no unauthorised individuals are permitted to give the exams

ONLINE MONITORING USING KISMET

Colleges and universities currently use online exams for student evaluation. Stu- dents can take assigned exams using their laptop computers and email their results to their instructor; this process makes testing more efficient and convenient for both students and faculty. However, taking exams while connected to the Internet opens many opportunities for plagiarism and cheating. In this project, we design, implement, and test a tool that instructors can use to monitor the online activity of students during an in-class online examination. This tool uses a wireless sniffer, Kismet, to capture and classify packets in real time. If a student attempts to access a site that is not allowed, the instructor is notified via an Android application or via Internet. Identifying a student who is cheating is challenging since many applications send packets without user intervention. We provide experimental results from realistic test environments to illustrate the success of our proposed approach

Authentication of Students and Students’ Work in E-Learning : Report for the Development Bid of Academic Year 2010/11

Global e-learning market is projected to reach $107.3 billion by 2015 according to a new report by The Global Industry Analyst (Analyst 2010). The popularity and growth of the online programmes within the School of Computer Science obviously is in line with this projection. However, also on the rise are students’ dishonesty and cheating in the open and virtual environment of e-learning courses (Shepherd 2008). Institutions offering e-learning programmes are facing the challenges of deterring and detecting these misbehaviours by introducing security mechanisms to the current e-learning platforms. In particular, authenticating that a registered student indeed takes an online assessment, e.g., an exam or a coursework, is essential for the institutions to give the credit to the correct candidate. Authenticating a student is to ensure that a student is indeed who he says he is. Authenticating a student’s work goes one step further to ensure that an authenticated student indeed does the submitted work himself. This report is to investigate and compare current possible techniques and solutions for authenticating distance learning student and/or their work remotely for the elearning programmes. The report also aims to recommend some solutions that fit with UH StudyNet platform.Submitted Versio

Security in online learning assessment towards an effective trustworthiness approach to support e-learning teams

(c) 2014 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.This paper proposes a trustworthiness model for the design of secure learning assessment in on-line collaborative learning groups. Although computer supported collaborative learning has been widely adopted in many educational institutions over the last decade, there exist still drawbacks which limit their potential in collaborative learning activities. Among these limitations, we investigate information security requirements in on-line assessment, (e-assessment), which can be developed in collaborative learning contexts. Despite information security enhancements have been developed in recent years, to the best of our knowledge, integrated and holistic security models have not been completely carried out yet. Even when security advanced methodologies and technologies are deployed in Learning Management Systems, too many types of vulnerabilities still remain opened and unsolved. Therefore, new models such as trustworthiness approaches can overcome these lacks and support e-assessment requirements for e-Learning. To this end, a trustworthiness model is designed in order to conduct the guidelines of a holistic security model for on-line collaborative learning through effective trustworthiness approaches. In addition, since users' trustworthiness analysis involves large amounts of ill-structured data, a parallel processing paradigm is proposed to build relevant information modeling trustworthiness levels for e-Learning.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Tablet computers in assessing performance in a high stakes exam : opinion matters

The authors would like to thank Dr Craig brown, University of Aberdeen for assistance with data analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Media Usage in Post-Secondary Education and Implications for Teaching and Learning

The Web 2.0 has permeated academic life. The use of online information services in post-secondary education has led to dramatic changes in faculty teaching methods as well as in the learning and study behavior of students. At the same time, traditional information media, such as textbooks and printed handouts, still form the basic pillars of teaching and learning. This paper reports the results of a survey about media usage in teaching and learning conducted with Western University students and instructors, highlighting trends in the usage of new and traditional media in higher education by instructors and students. In addition, the survey comprises part of an international research program in which 20 universities from 10 countries are currently participating. Further, the study will hopefully become a part of the ongoing discussion of practices and policies that purport to advance the effective use of media in teaching and learning

AN ANALYSIS OF ONLINE EXAMINATIONS IN COLLEGE COURSES

This research evaluates the use of online examinations in college courses from both instructor and student perspectives. Instructional software was developed at Kansas State University to administer online homework assignments and examinations. Survey data were collected from two classes to measure and evaluate the level of student preferences for online examinations. The statistical determinants of student preferences for online testing were identfied and quantified using logistic regression analysis. Strategies for the effective use of online examinations are summarized for potential adopters of online examinations.online examinations, student learning, teaching technology, undergraduate teaching, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, A22,

Cheating Prevention in E-proctoring Systems Using Secure Exam Browsers: A Case Study

In this research, a case study has been conducted to analyze the possibility of preventing cheating or reducing it by using one of the lockdown browsers during the exam. An e-exam has been created using Moodle platform, and the exam has been conducted with the Safe Exam Browser (SEB) as a restriction program at one time and without it at another time, and an analysis has been made of the extent of the possibility of cheating during the exam for both cases. Wireshark and Registry Changes View programs have been used to observe the possibility of opening programs and applications or the ability of the examinee to use Windows tools during the exam. The use of Wireshark and Registry Changes View software showed high effectiveness in analyzing the examinee's device data and identifying the examinee's activity during the electronic exam, to give a clear perception of the possibility of preventing access to resources and applications on the examinee's device. The researchers concluded that the use of lockdown browsers is very necessary to prevent the examinee from accessing the resources on his device, which leads to a significant reduction in cheating during the electronic exam. The research contributions are two, the first one is the use of analyzing programs to observe the examinee`s activity during the exam, and the second one is presenting the lockdown browsers` features

Determining the Readiness for Mobile Learning

The following presents the outcomes from the questionnaire given to Italian and Bulgarian university students and stuff in order to determine some parameters, like availability of devices; the ways of devices usage; attitude to technology; opinion about prices of hardware and telephone and internet services and etc. These parameters seem to be important in order to study students’ readiness for Mobile Learning