Security

The process of e-assessment involves not only an active communication channel between the educator and the learner(s), but also personal data transfer and storage: learner identification, learning analytics of actions in the assessment platform/software, evaluation marks, etc. According to Kiennert et al (2017), “(…) security measures are required to protect the environment against system and network attacks. The issue concerning security is challenging from both educational and technical point of views”.  Another challenge with online assessment is making sure that the authentication of the data source is accurate, in order to secure the identity of the person taking the online assessment.

In other words, the security challenges posed to online assessment are from two points of view: a) the security of shared personal data against external intrusions or unauthorised parties, also taking into consideration legal (like the General Data Protection Regulation), social and ethical issues; b), and the security of the assessment process itself, ensuring that the person being assessed is, in fact, the learner, and that he/she undergoes the assessment process without external aids, as they would in a face-to-face/paper-based assessment, preventing cheating.

 Kiennert, Christophe et al. (2017) “Security Challenges in e-Assessment and Technical Solutions”. Conference: 2017 21st International Conference Information Visualisation (IV). DOI: 10.1109/iV.2017.70 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321120609_Security_Challenges_in_e-Assessment_and_Technical_Solutions