<ul><li>Companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), <keyword id="4816409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="merittrac-services">MeritTrac Services</keyword> are leveraging technology to enable universities and exam boards to conduct secure examinations in a remote setup. </li><li>In an interview with Business Insider, Ambrish Sinha, CEO at MeritTrac Services, said that the online assessments have become more important than ever. </li><li>The remote proctoring tools track the eye movement, facial expressions and the ambient noises so as to avoid any malpractices. </li><li>However, Sinha agrees that there is still a scope of error since the camera of the device can not provide a 360 degree coverage. </li></ul>The online education industry has grown multifold during the Coronavirus pandemic. With the massive surge in the number of online learners and the government announcement on online degrees, educational institutions including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are now moving to <keyword id="9295808" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virtual-exams">virtual exams</keyword>, courses and certification. However, this shift to online has accelerated the demand for secure <keyword id="9295809" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="remote-assessment">remote assessment</keyword> and integration, and digital evaluation processes. Given that, companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), MeritTrac Services are leveraging technology to enable universities and exam boards to conduct secure examinations in a remote setup. In an interview with Business Insider, Ambrish Sinha, CEO at MeritTrac Services, said that the online assessments have now become more important than ever. “As education goes online, assessment becomes even more important. The online proctoring tools have got a major boost and are being used by universities and even schools for the students between 9th to 12th grade,” he said. MeritTrac Services is a subsidiary of Manipal Global Education, which provides remote assessment to partner institutions like University of Mumbai, Government of Odisha and more. Tracking the movement of candidates via video streams These remote proctoring tools require a simple setup — laptop and a WiFi connection. The examination browser displays the questions on the screen while the camera and microphone tracks the eye movement, facial expressions and the ambient noises so as to avoid any malpractices. “If you move your head multiple times, we know you are trying to do something. So, there is a human proctor who gets a red prompt when there is a deviation or noise at the candidate’s end. It also doesn’t allow opening any other browser on the device,” Sinha explained. The platform only allows to view one question at a time — which can not be skipped without answering. “Our algorithm gives a credibility score at the end of the exam based on several parameters like the time spent, body movements, ambient noises and red alerts and more. If the score is below a certain level, we ask the candidate to reappear for the exam.” On similar lines, <keyword id="2022461" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TCS-iON">TCS iON</keyword>, the strategic arm of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for education, launched a remote assessment platform recently — which has assessed 28 million candidates so far. The product locks the appearing candidate’s device before enabling it to capture the exam responses. Once the user enables the camera, it also sends the video stream to the cloud server — which is then analysed using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to detect any wrong activities. It also enables invigilators to proctor candidates in real-time. “This will ensure that exam administrators are able to conduct exams in a secure way, at speed and with no dependency on the candidates’, proctors’ or exam administrators’ location. This will help authorities quickly schedule and complete the exam process,” said Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head, TCS iON. However, Sinha agrees that there is still a scope of error since the camera of the device can not provide a 360 degree coverage. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/three-ways-tcs-infosys-and-other-it-giants-in-india-are-trying-to-cut-costs-but-its-not-going-to-increase-their-profitability/articleshow/76021884.cms">Three ways TCS, Infosys and other IT giants in India are trying to cut costs — but it’s not going to increase their profitability</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/amid-privacy-concerns-centre-makes-aarogya-setu-app-open-source/articleshow/76011848.cms?upcache=2">Amid privacy concerns, Centre makes Aarogya Setu app open source</a>

Here’s how TCS and MeritTrac solutions aim to stop candidates from cheating during online exams

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47971224.cms" /><keyword id="6357585" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tata-Consultancy-Services">Tata Consultancy Services</keyword>’ iON cloud platform has got a new lease of life. The platform, which was launched around five years back, had failed to revolutionise the small-and-medium business space by offering them computing capabilities at a low cost. 
 
Now, it is used for conducting examinations in the country and how. 
 
"iON has about Rs 1,000 crore ($158 million) in revenue now. It could become a separate unit because it has an entirely different way of working," a TCS executive with knowledge of the platform told Economic Times. 
 
However, the company had targeted to reach $1 billion when it launched iON in 2011. 
 
"Education was a bright spot. Mid-2012, the exam functionality was improved and then that took off," another TCS executive who worked on iON told the financial daily. 
 
Last year, it won a five-year contract to conduct the Common Aptitude Test (CAT), the gateway to the Indian Institutes of Management and over 150 other business schools in the country, beating six other bidders. 
 
The company also facilitates other exams using iON platform like Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, the IIT-Joint Entrance Exams, and recruitment exams for Life Insurance Corporation of India. 
 
TCS chief executive N Chandrasekaran, while addressing a gathering at Morgan Stanley Annual India Summit in June, said that their assessment engine was today the platform of choice for all the leading competitive exams in the country, and was used to assess 30 million candidates last year. 
 
ET reported that earlier this year, TCS won a pilot that could overshadow the rest of its contracts. 
 
Meanwhile, iON is only a minuscule of TCS' revenues which stood at about $15.5 billion, or about Rs 97,850 crore, last fiscal. 
 
"No structure is permanent, it has to evolve, but at the same time we should not make changes for the sake of making changes. If the cloud platforms all grow large and gain revenue, there has to be a different structure for the cloud platforms. If a certain area of the business becomes headcount intensive, and others become less intensive then they will need different structures," Chandrasekaran had told ET in an interview in April. iON is also being handled differently inside TCS, he had said. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

TCS’ iON has now made a comeback as the unsurpassed platform for conducting exams

<keyword id="60501" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IIM-Bangalore">IIM Bangalore</keyword> will soon conduct exams online for its massive open online courses across the country, thanks to its partnership with TCS iON - a strategic unit of <keyword id="6357585" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Consultancy-Services">Tata Consultancy Services</keyword>. “The B-school will leverage our assessment capability to conduct the exams for its online courses across the country, starting at our digital zones in Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai thrice a year,” said the IT major’s strategic unit in a statement here. The courses are similar to those the B-school offers at its campus offline. TCS iON and <keyword id="36775" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IIMB">IIMB</keyword> also announced the 'Management Educators Hub', a unique initiative which will host specialized collaboration communities in the discipline of management for educators who have a shared passion for continuous innovation in learning and teaching. The 'Management Educators Hub' will be hosted on <keyword id="4574964" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tcs-ion-digital-hub">TCS iON Digital HUB</keyword> (www.tcsionhub.in), an online Content Market Place which aims to connect professional institutions and publishers offering rich content with other institutions and individuals who want to learn and upgrade their skills to grow. The 'Management Educators Hub' will help foster conversations on innovative teaching methods and collaborate on ideas addressing its challenges and solutions. With an aim to seek participation from all management educations, the Hub will invite educators from business schools across India to be part of this unique community. Mr. V. Ramaswamy, Global Head, TCS iON said, "TCS iON is extremely delighted to partner with IIM Bangalore, one of India's premier institutes for management education and research. In the era of flipped-classrooms, we believe that this collaboration will create a distinctive virtual space with specific focus on adoption of technology to enhance blended classroom learning and other EduTech trends such as outcome-led learning and adaptive assessments. Our effort will be to value add and explore other such avenues to expand our relationship with IIM Bangalore." Professor P D Jose, Chairperson <keyword id="1539483" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="MOOCs">MOOCs</keyword>, IIMBx said, "The entire education system is going through a radical change and is adapting to newer means and methods with the help of technology. As we see growing number of students opting for e-learning, through this partnership we aim at integrating the strengths that both the parties have to serve for the betterment of the students as well as the teaching fraternity. "

You can soon take IIM Bangalore courses online, thanks to its partnership with TCS

<ul><li><keyword id="6356155" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="cbse">CBSE</keyword> and <keyword id="28250" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft-India">Microsoft India</keyword> have partnered together to digitally encrypt <keyword id="6377635" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="class-10">Class 10</keyword> and <keyword id="6361875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="class-12">Class 12</keyword> examination papers.</li><li>The entire process can be digitally monitored using a software solution that’s built on Windows 10 and Office 365. </li><li>A pilot test conducted in a Class X compartmental examination was successful.</li></ul>Exam papers leaking in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> are, unfortunately, a common phenomenon. From metropolitan cities to regional cases, there are quite a few chinks in the armour for the <keyword id="69419" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Central-Board-of-Secondary-Education">Central Board of Secondary Education</keyword> (CBSE). In order to address these concerns, CBSE has <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/en-in/cbse-partners-with-microsoft-to-provide-encrypted-question-papers-for-all-class-x-and-xii-examinations/">partnered</a> up with Microsoft to encrypt the secondary school <keyword id="6364702" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="examinations">examinations</keyword> in India. Microsoft’s solutions have already been witness to a successful pilot which was conducted during one of Class 10’s compartmental examinations. Which is why they’re now going to launch the program for Class 10 and Class 12 classes pan-India across 20,299 schools. Encrypted conversations Using a software solution that’s built on Windows 10 and Office 365, the Controller of Examination can monitor the whole pipeline. It starts with the CBSE administration initiating the process at his end. Once that’s done there’s an outflow of emails to each of the exam centers with a link to OneDrive, Microsoft’s file-hosting service, enclosed within. The exam administrator can then download the exam paper that is specific to his exam centre. All the papers are watermarked so that they can be tracked in case of a leak and even the exam administrator has to clear a two-factor authentication to access the papers. None of this can even be activated until it’s 30 minutes to the exam start time. This measure alone reduces the risk of a leak by limiting the preemptive time frame. Paper leaks and examination controversy is no stranger to India. It’s actually one of the many reasons that the government conducts a lot of its entrance exams online in partnership with TCS iON, a unit of Tata Consultancy. Since their examinations are completely online, the scope for human error is greatly reduced. Time alone will tell whether or not Microsoft’s solution will hold up to the promise of saving time and money while increasing security.

You Searched For "iON for conducting exams" and got 4 results

Here’s how TCS and MeritTrac solutions aim to stop candidates from cheating during online exams

Prerna Sindwani

TCS’ iON has now made a comeback as the unsurpassed platform for conducting exams

BI India Bureau

You can soon take IIM Bangalore courses online, thanks to its partnership with TCS

Anushree Singh

Microsoft India, CBSE partner up to encrypt the exam system for Class 10 and Class 12

Prabhjote Gill