A tryst with online exams

‘It took me a while to adjust’

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Ishtveer Singh Billing, Class XII, Stepping Stones Sen. Sr. School, Chandigarh

Exams have always been a fascinating phase in my life. Not only do these test my knowledge of the curriculum taught in class, but also give me an opportunity to connect with myself, to work towards a goal.

Frankly speaking, exams bring a purpose to our fast-paced life and during preparation one realises one’s true potential. Exams help me push myself to my maximum limit. I always say and believe, “The real fun of life is in the toil, in that constant hardwork and evolving. Once you are well-settled, you literally settle.”

Things, thoughts, processes, feelings and us, all have gone through a change in the current COVID-19 situation. Real classes have changed and become virtual, the notes, the assignments, the learning has become a virtual. And so has become the way to test it, THE ONLINE EXAMS!

It took a while for me to understand the new system and to be comfortable with it, I guess it was the same for most of us. But despite such changes, the way an exam feels even during Covid, sitting at home and well-heated, it still sent shivers down my spine. The recent situation has turned things upside down for all of us, we all have lost that momentum, that rhythm that we used to have in our usual lives. Yes, we felt lost, we were unenergetic, and life was lacking vigour. And sometimes as a student, one needs an exam to bring the energy back. With school exams to be held online, we got a deadline to prepare, to be ready. In my case, these exams changed quite a few things. These helped me get back top being what I am, a student, and despite that daunting task, I managed to pull these off nicely.

Even though with that relaxing home exam and more MCQ-type questions (which just made it easier), there were some discrepancies, biggest of them being students cheating during the exam. The ones that have been rowing boats for months have been left behind by a sudden wave of the ‘motorboat ones’. But remember motorboat stops when fuel finishes, while rowing still goes on!

Sincerely speaking, all tests including the online exams are more about teaching than testing and accordingly, we should focus more on learning than attempting. They are to teach us. Yes, I agree that result, marks do decide our future but our learning helps when we are stuck, not certificates. After all, you can’t have an evergoing fuel!

‘With no distractions I was able to concentrate
and perform better’

Avantika Kulasekar, Class X Saupin’s School Panchkula

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”

Gail Sheehy

Hasn’t everything changed since the pandemic entered our lives last year? Besides being confined to our homes during the lockdown, our daily patterns, dispositions, leisure activities and a whole lot of other things are significantly altered now. School students have been facing tremendous transitions starting from being assigned homework online, attending online classes, and now, even having to write our exams online.

In the beginning all this was immensely troublesome and foreign. But slowly, we’ve all adjusted to this new lifestyle. I experienced writing an online exam for the first time in June. It was basically an objective exam of 50 marks per subject.

We didn’t really have any rule to switch on our cameras. It started around eight in the morning and ended around 11 am giving us two hours to complete it. It was conducted on Google forms and, therefore, the students didn’t have to write it on paper and attach its picture or pdf. I admit…I was really apprehensive about this initially. But to my surprise things didn’t turn out as I’d expected. Once I got settled down and started solving the paper, I was so fixated on it that I didn’t even acknowledge my surroundings.

It was beneficial in reducing my stress levels to some extent. During my regular examinations in school, I used to keep glancing at the clock and find myself instinctively noticing the number of people who had already finished their exam, which ultimately made me panic but in online this wasn’t the case.

At home, there is nothing to distract you. The tranquil atmosphere helped me concentrate. I’m not sure as to how many of my fellow students felt this way, but I sure did.

Coming to my first term examinations, which were held in October, we had a subjective exam along with a few objective questions as well. This time, we had to write our answers on a ruled paper and attach them in pdf format in Google classroom. Another difference was that we had a time addition of twenty minutes for attaching the pdfs.

Overall, like everything, this too has both pros as well as cons. The cons being that anyone could effortlessly cheat, opening their book or taking advantage of the internet. An exam is an exam after all, no matter how you write it. Our next set of exams are most likely to be held online as well.

Well, that was my tryst with online exams. I would say it was an enriching experience. I’m sure everyone has their own unique thoughts regarding this. Stay safe, stay positive and make use of this time to the greatest extent possible.