Security Risks and Protection in Online Learning: A Survey

This paper describes a survey of online learning which attempts to determine online learning providers\u27 awareness of potential security risks and the protection measures that will diminish them. The authors use a combination of two methods: blog mining and a traditional literature search. The findings indicate that, while scholars have identified diverse security risks and have proposed solutions to mitigate the security threats in online learning, bloggers have not discussed security in online learning with great frequency. The differences shown in the survey results generated by the two different methods confirm that online learning providers and practitioners have not considered security as a top priority. The paper also discusses the next generation of an online learning system: a safer personal learning environment which requires a one-stop solution for authentication, assures the security of online assessments, and balances security and usability

Feasibility study of the acceptance of e-assessment by lecturers from security perspective

The role of technology in education system has enriched the teaching and learning process, be it from preschool to higher universities education. The development of online education systems such as e-learning and e-assessment provide many advantages to the users especially the flexibility in teaching and learning. The online education system has the capability to improve the quality of delivery education. However, security risks have been the major weakness in the acceptance of technology in education field which limits the user acceptance of the online education system. Even though there are other studies providing solutions for identified security threats in online education usage, there is no particular model which addresses the factors that influences the acceptance of e-assessment system by lecturers from security perspective. The aim of this study is to explore security aspects of e-assessment in regard to the acceptance of technology. A conceptual framework of secure acceptance of e-assessment is proposed and analysed. Both human and security factors are considered in the formulation of this conceptual framework. The data for this study was collected through online survey and paper-based survey. This study proves that security factors mainly influence the acceptance of e-assessment by lecturers. This study will be useful in providing more insightful understanding regarding relationships of factors towards the acceptance of e-assessment system considering the security perspective