Bangalore varsity conducts online exams for distance education students for the first time

The Directorate of Online and Distance Education (DODE) at Bangalore University conducted its first-ever online examination for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) online and distance education courses on Wednesday, marking a significant milestone in the university’s efforts to modernise and expand access to higher education.

Around 870 students appeared for these examinations online from their homes. Among the registered candidates, 697 students were from Bengaluru, 123 were from other parts of Karnataka, and 48 students were from other States. In addition, one candidate wrote the examination in Dubai, and another in Australia. There were more women than men among them.

All classes for these students were conducted online from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., making it convenient for working professionals. 

To ensure transparency, credibility, and academic integrity, the University monitored the entire examination process using advanced artificial intelligence-based tools, along with manual proctoring. Question papers were made available online at the scheduled time, and students wrote their answers using the prescribed printed answer booklets. After completing the examination, students scanned and uploaded their answer scripts to the portal, which will then be evaluated by the Examination Section of Bangalore University.

Speaking to The Hindu, Prof. Muralidhara B.L., Director of DODE, said, “The University Grants Commission (UGC) has allowed us to conduct UG and PG exams online, and this is the first time we have done so successfully. Since we also had students from outside the district, outside the state, and abroad who had registered for the exam, we decided to conduct it online. This is a descriptive-type exam and not an objective-type exam. All students were sent 32-page answer booklets in advance. They had to take the in-camera exam from their homes or workplaces. Question papers were sent online 10 minutes before the exam started. Students viewed the questions on their computers, wrote their answers on the answer sheets, then scanned and uploaded them to the portal,” he said. 

Proctors appointed

To further strengthen monitoring, 45 trained manual proctors had been assigned through a random allocation by the system to supervise students throughout the examination period. This hybrid model of AI-enabled monitoring and human proctoring ensures fairness and reliability in the examination process, the University said. 

One proctor was appointed for every 25 students to ensure the exam was conducted smoothly. A portal with AI-enabled software was used for this exam. This software meticulously monitored the movements of the students and sent information to the proctors. Therefore, no examination malpractice was possible. “If any student is caught engaging in malpractice, action will be taken according to the rules,” warned Prof. Muralidhara.

The examinations cover a wide range of postgraduate and undergraduate programmes, including M.A. degrees in English, Kannada, Hindi, History, Economics, Political Science, and Sociology; MSc in Mathematics; MCom, and BCom.

Recognising that some students may not have access to laptops or desktop computers at home, we have arranged computer facilities on the Jnanabharathi campus to support these students and ensure that no candidate is disadvantaged.