Carina Paine

Remote electronic examinations: student experiences

This paper presents the findings from a small–scale experiment investigating the presentation of a synchronous remote electronic examination. It discusses the students’ experiences of taking such an examination. The study confirms that the majority of participants found the experience at least as good as a conventional written examination. In addition, typing answers does not prevent students from producing answers in the time available. However, the pressure of time continues to be a major cause of anxiety for students. The paper discusses technical issues, particularly those related to the loss of communications during the 3–hour duration of the exam. Although software processes were available to save and restore students’ answers throughout the examination, problems still occurred and more robust software is required.

Watching me, watching you : privacy attitudes and reactions to identity card implementation scenarios in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, government proposals for the introduction of an identity (ID) card have raised considerable privacy concerns. In the present research, opinions and attitudes about different ways of implementing ID cards are examined using an experimental methodology. Specifically, the level and type of compulsion and application process, and the use of a centralized database or trusted third party to hold personal information, are compared for attitudes towards ID cards. Moreover, the impact of implementation scenarios on people with different privacy concern profiles is examined. The results show that an implementation that combines high compulsion with a centralized database (the approach currently favoured by the UK Government) leads to the greatest negative shift in attitudes towards ID cards. Implementations proposed by others (e.g. the London School of Economics) show significantly less negative shift in attitudes. People’s pre-existing privacy concerns also influence their evaluation of the different implementation scenarios.