Gabriele Frankl

Secure online exams using students' devices

With the augmented use of Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle, the demand to perform exams online is higher than ever. Providing a dedicated exam room with up to hundreds of computers is a possible but very expensive solution. However, performing exams on student laptops increases the number of simultaneous exams but also the possibility for cheating. This paper describes the “Secure Exam Environment” (SEE) implemented at the AAUK to support exams based on Moodle to be held on student laptops without access to local files or the Internet. Additional programs like Excel or Java applications can be installed and used during the exams.

Collaboration Is Smart: Smart Learning Communities

Technological advances in the last decades have significantly influenced education. Smart Learning Environments (SLEs) could be one solution to meet the needs of the 21st century. In particular, we argue that smart collaboration is one fundamental need. This paper deals with the question what ‘smart’ is and why a SLE’s design has to consider collaboration. Drawing on various theories, we argue that the community aspect plays a vital role in successful learning and problem solving. This paper outlines the benefits for the community and all parties involved (defined as a win-for-all or winn-solution), as well as drivers that might influence collaboration. Design principles for SLEs, Smart Learning Communities (SLCs) and finally the conclusion close the paper.

Success for all in knowledge management and (e)learning: win n

Knowledge management and e-learning are currently in use in a variety of settings, and there are numerous software solutions on the market which offer workable and technically functioning knowledge management and e-learning packages. The key concern is therefore applying these ideas and making them useful. Hence, the core concern is again the human being. It is anything but taken for granted that humans share their knowledge with technical systems, contribute to learning processes of others, give feedback or organize their own learning processes. This paper sets out to examine, what prerequisites humans need to share their knowledge, to support others and/or to learn. Running parallel with these facts is the question of how knowledge management and e-learning can succeed in practice. It is proposed that it is an issue of benefits. The answer delivers the concept of winn, which is defined by the author as follows: A winn-constellation means that each participant in this constellation (more precisely: all n participants) can only see him-/herself as a winner if all other participants win too and hence all participants themselves feel as winners. The paper presents an empirical study focusing on the implementation of knowledge management and e-learning systems in a production company and further defines the theoretical concept of winn.

Guaranteeing High Availability of the "Secure Exam Environment" (SEE).

Online exams are an increasingly popular form of assessment. Compared to written exams they reduce the marking workload and offer advantages such as enhanced objectivity, assessment that includes software specific to the course and thus increased constructive alignment with teaching and learning processes. To conduct large-scale online exams without the physical restrictions of (often extremely small) computer rooms, we implemented the “Secure Exam Environment” (SEE) in 2011. The SEE enables online testing in any lecture hall with electricity and LAN sockets using students’ own devices (and loan devices if needed) while blocking access to unauthorized files or internet pages. Assessment is conducted via Moodle and additional software (e.g. Eclipse or GeoGebra) can be used as well. As of November 2017 we have conducted 1,297 such online exams with 47,930 students and are able to test up to 220 students concurrently. To maintain quality of service we developed a monitoring solution to control the growing complexity of the technical infrastructure of the SEE. The monitoring solution aims to detect failures sufficiently early to guarantee a high level of availability and to gather data to further improve the SEE.

The “Secure Exam Environment”: E-Testing with Students’ Own Devices

In the 21st century, written exams continue to be the primary method of assessing factual knowledge. Conducting these exams online reduces the correction workload and offers advantages such as enhanced objectivity, assessment with the possibility to use software specific to the course and thus increased constructive alignment with teaching and learning processes. However, eExams are often conducted in spaces that are too small, since larger computer rooms are usually unavailable or not economically feasible. Hence, in June 2011, we implemented a system called Secure Exam Environment (SEE) that enables online testing in any lecture hall with electricity and LAN sockets using students’ own devices while blocking access to unauthorized files or internet pages. Loan devices are offered to students that have no suitable device for the SEE. Assessment is conducted via Moodle and additional software (e.g. Eclipse, GeoGebra) can be used as well. The SEE also addresses important issues such as security, reliability, high availability, privacy, and flexibility. As of August 2017 we have conducted 1,241 such online exams with 46,342 students and are able to test up to 220 students concurrently. Furthermore, we offer students the possibility to choose their preferred time slot to sit an eExam within predefined weeks.

Win-for-all in software engineering education: Balancing social dilemmas to foster collaboration

Software engineering is a highly collaborative process. However, we still lack knowledge on how to collaborate successfully. A main barrier to successful collaboration emerges due to social dilemmas that can be traced back to a profound tension between what is desirable for a collective as a whole, e. g. a software development team, and what is desirable for an individual, e. g. a single coder. This position paper introduces the concept of win-for-all (winn) and applies it to software engineering education. winn is an all-purpose pattern of thought for group processes with the aim to optimally balance individual and group needs. Thus, winn is a prerequisite for sustainable and high-quality performance of the whole group, the latter being a central issue for software engineering. High-level performance can only be achieved through a systemic perspective: both, the group and the individual (as a fundamental element of the group) have to be considered. Consequently, there is also still a lot of potential for teaching and improving collaboration in software engineering education.

Blended learning at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt

The Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt (AAUK) seeks high quality of teaching combined with excellent support of students. Thus, e-learning and blended learning are integral parts of the universitys strategy, e.g. the process of re-academization. This paper presents an extract of a study conducted among AAUK students and lecturers during three different semester terms analyzing the status quo (N = 1154). Results reveal that quality issues are strongly attributable to flexibility, more efficient use of resources, collaboration and cooperation as well as receiving more feedback. Additionally, blended learning can contribute essentially to the re-academization initiative inter alia through self-responsibility and efficient online (self-) testing applications.

Technology enhanced collaborative learning using a project-based learning management system

Social software is changing the ways students and instructors share information and is increasingly used a part of a collaborative learning process. Collaborative learning improves engagement and is particularly effective when introduced as part of project-based learning (PBL) for teams. However, PBL for teams also introduces social dilemmas where less motivated students engage in social loafing, allowing more motivated students to do most of the collaborative work. This paper presents an approach to collaborative learning using an experimental learning management system (LMS) designed specifically for team-based PBL. This LMS assists instructors to counteract the negative effects of social dilemmas. The novel approach presented has undergone testing with Masters and senior cycle Undergraduates who engaged in team projects in the field of innovation management and strategic planning. Results presented in this paper from three real use cases show high student engagement high satisfaction, and low social loafing.

Pathways to Successful Online Testing: eExams with the “Secure Exam Environment” (SEE)

eExams can potentially improve didactics, efficiency, objectivity, flexibility, accessibility, and even sustainability compared to written exams. However, they also present great challenges such as security, reliability, integrity, as well as the availability of computer rooms of sufficient size. To conduct large-scale online exams, we implemented the “Secure Exam Environment” (SEE) in 2011. The SEE enables online testing in any lecture hall using students’ own devices – and loan devices if needed – while blocking access to unauthorized files or internet pages. After booting the SEE, assessment is conducted via Moodle and additional software (e.g. GeoGebra, Excel or Eclipse) can be used as well. To maintain quality of service, we developed a monitoring solution to control the technical infrastructure of the SEE. As of July 2018, we have conducted 1,605 such online exams with 57,607 students. Moreover, the SEE offers the possibility for slotted exams where students can choose freely the time of their exam within a week. Since technical solutions cannot solve all problems, the organization of eExams is vital to guarantee smooth operations as well as integrity. This paper offers a technical solution for the implementation of a secure and highly available exam environment with the various benefits of eExams, and provides organizational recommendations for the successful roll out of online exams as well as for overcoming technical challenges.

Learning and working together as prerequisites for the development of high-quality software

A major challenge for software engineering is to coordinate many individuals, whose work is heavily depending on each other. This enormous complexity often results in error-prone products. Minor mistakes can already have major side-effects impacting the entire software product. For individuals, the challenge is to focus on their own tasks, however, obeying certain design principles and without losing sight of the overall target. Therefore, we argue that software engineering is a highly collaborative process. However, we lack knowledge in general how to collaborate successfully. Consequently, there is still a lot of potential for teaching and improving collaboration in software engineering education.