Experience with 'Secure' Exam Testing Software? 49
Durindana writes "My law school has decided using the Exam4 software from Extegrity, thinking it would be a good idea. I disagree; the software can only be used by students on their own laptops, and (of course) Exam4 is mono-platform. Anyone have experience using this software (e.g. security level, reliability) or, hopefully, successfully opposing its use? It strikes me as a hell of a disadvantage to students who'd like an alternative to hand-writing but - for some strange reason - don't own a Windows laptop."
To re-phrase (Score:5, Funny)
Re:To re-phrase (Score:2)
Re:To re-phrase (Score:2)
To do online exams you need to control the PCs being used, as done with Lexis [ic.ac.uk].
Gak, you're posting the same crap (Score:3, Informative)
That's funny, because it looks like you lifted the policy that you quoted from The University of Maryland's Law School Policy [umaryland.edu]. I think it's no coincidence that this is the first link that shows up when you search in Google for exam4 policy [google.com]. Do not follow the advice of the original poster - it is bogus advice and he is lying. He is most definitely is not in "dental school" and does not use Exam4. He is making up crap like this to get extra karma, which is kind
Re:Gak, you're posting the same crap (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Gak, we use the same crap (Score:2)
Aren't you Americans supposed to be litigious? SUE! And don't forget to name Extegrity as co-defendants.
Anyone else see the irony? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Anyone else see the irony? (Score:1)
Exam software?? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Exam software?? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Exam software?? (Score:2)
dis/advantage (Score:2, Interesting)
On the "disadvantage" side of things, exam4 looks particularly bad. Other pages allow students access
Re: dis/advantage (Score:2)
In fact, law school is yet another place that being a Linux geek does not help you. When someone wants to borrow notes, you can bet that they're not gonna want yours, as yours aren't in Word format. This isn't so bad, except that of course, when it comes time for you to grab notes from someone else, your options may be l
Re: dis/advantage (Score:1)
Just to pick nits, I worked IT at a law firm in southern Connecticut for three years, and during that time they used Macs on the desktop, and
Re: dis/advantage (Score:1)
Uh, you're taking notes with such heavy formating that you can't export to plain text (or at least RTF)? Damn, you must type and mouse fast to be able to do that. (I can't type fast enough to make taking notes on a keyboard any where near practical, much less take notes with heavy formatting.)
Re:dis/advantage (Score:1)
It may even be less than the cost of your books for the first year.
Re:dis/advantage (Score:2)
exam on laptop+wireless+chat = profit! (Score:1)
'nuf said....
UltraSecure Mode (Score:5, Funny)
for invoking "UltraSecure Mode" and a "Secret Number"
for unlocking the encrypted exam answers; and our nifty
"ExamOpener" utility software that "semi-automatically"
retrieves exams from the floppy disks...
And cheaters get "Double Secret Probabtion"
then a nifty fine of "One Trillion Dollars"
and jail time in an "UltraSecure" cell
guarded by "Sharks With Laser Beams"
Bolcks access to other programs? (Score:2, Informative)
Run the exam software in Virtual PC. Anyone? This is like print-screen crack for MS Reader...
My experiences (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm also the proud owner of a PowerBook. My solution was to trade some other computer gear for a big old PC laptop with a mostly-dead battery that meets the system requirements. I plan to use that laptop only for taking exams. Aside from exams, my school is fairly platform-agnostic: papers are turned in on paper, and the only electronic interaction with professors is via email. The one kink that I have run into is profs and fellow students who insist on sharing their academic insight via Word
You can't trust the client (Score:4, Insightful)
The *only* ways to do this kind of thing is either have the software running on trusted hardware like a previously set up computer lab, or run the software on a trusted server and give the *untrusted* clients only a thin-client (citrix/ts/vnc/web browser). AND you have to have someone supervising them to make sure they've smuggled no notes in and aren't cut'n'pasting from another app.
Surely a law school, of all places, would have someone who knows a bit about information security on staff?
This software looks like exactly the kind of product developed by someone with no security training outside Microsofts VB tutorials.
Exactly the kind of software not to use for anything important - and Exams at Law School are important - there is a huge amount of money and future careers involved.
- Muggins the Mad
Re:You can't trust the client (Score:1)
then they turn around and sue the school back for the tution cuz they were forced into doing something "illegal"- which was being forced to use doze.
-Grump
Re:You can't trust the client (Score:2, Funny)
I am sure they have several DMCA specialists....
Complex solutions (Score:2)
Re:Complex solutions (Score:2)
What kind of name is "Extegrity"? (Score:5, Funny)
If "interior" is the opposite of "exterior", then what is the opposite of "extegrity"?
Re:What kind of name is "Extegrity"? (Score:2)
Re:What kind of name is "Extegrity"? (Score:2)
If integrity is right behavior due to moral values within, extegrity is right behavior due to a system of rules imposed from without. Sounds about like what the product they're hawking is for.
Re:What kind of name is "Extegrity"? (Score:2)
That's an interesting take. I guess that means that if you have strict principles that guide your behavior, you have a lot of integrity; but if you are simply a law-abiding person with few principles, you have a lot of extegrity...
Re:What kind of name is "Extegrity"? (Score:2)
Maybe it's "ex" as in "no longer". Eg., They used to have integrity, but they no longer do.
Locked down environment (Score:1)
Laptops? (Score:2)
Marketriod Website (Score:1)
technically better solution (Score:2)
They could either buy a set of laptops specifically for exams, or they could buy some low-end machine whose primary function is word processing. Examples are the Dana AlphaSmart and the LaserPC. A simple cold boot will bring them back into a known configuration. Buying a few dozen of those may even be cheaper than a site license for the "Extegrity" software.