The term Computer Based Exam actually includes online exams. An Online-exam may be considered as a sub-class of Computer Based Exam or (Computer Based Test), wherein the exam is conducted over the internet with the server being based centrally in the cloud. The internet is utilized as the network which connects the applicant or test taker in a client server architecture.
The computers being utilized for taking the exam can be considered as a client computer. The server computer is the one that is sitting somewhere on the Internet and hosting the online examination application and the question bank management software. For the most part, in an online exam, there is some type of data transfer between the server and the applicant. The exam results are transferred to the server computer either in real time or after the exam is over.
In a country like India, where Internet connections are still not very reliable the online examination application needs to have a built in safeguard for resuming the test from where the last item was saved by the applicant. The role of the client ends after you complete the exam and the results are transferred. In specialized terms, the session closes after the exam is finished.
Now, coming back to a Computer Based Exam, this is a conventional term utilized for any kind of exam or test given on a Computer. The Computer in this case may or may not be online. After giving the Computer Based Test, the outcomes might be stored locally on the computer hard-disk or transported online to the web server.
Competitive exam are frequently indicate as Online Exams but actually in our country they are delivered more like a computer based test. A server is located in each center which download the question bank and then delivers the test locally using the LAN. So in effect the so called online exam is not an online exam but a hybrid delivery model wherein each lab has its own server and the students in the LAB are not really giving the exam in an online environment but on the local LAN. In fact these Labs have to bar internet connectivity in the lab entirely at the time of the exam for the purposes of security !
So next time you take a competitive exam and they call it online remember that the term is being incorrectly used..at-least somewhat. As a country we are a long way from conducting fully online exams which requires great connectivity with good speed and excellent reliability…!
