WO2011067786A1

WO2011067786A1 - An electronic device for written examination and a method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2011067786A1
Application number: PCT/IN2010/000779
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vandana S. Iyer
Original assignee: Iyer Vandana S
Priority date: 2009-12-02
Filing date: 2010-12-01
Publication date: 2011-06-09

Abstract

An electronic device for writing examinations is disclosed that includes a first module (34) and a second module (36). The first module (34) includes the first display unit (26) and a metallic sheet (38). The first display unit (26) is used as a writing pad and capturing responses inputted by the examinee (20) to a question. The responses are inputted by the digital pen (28). The second module (36) includes the second display unit (24) being used for displaying information related to the examination and the control unit (44) for controlling plurality of functions of the electronic device (12). Also disclosed is a method of writing examinations that includes receiving an examination data from the authoring system (14). The examination data is stored at the storage server (16). Then identity of each of the plurality of examinees (20) is validated. After validation, access to the question data to the examinee (20) is provided. The captured responses are sent to the evaluation system (18).

Description

AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR WRITTEN EXAMINATION AND A METHOD

THEREOF

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an electronic device to enable a user to write using a digital handwriting, and more particularly to an electronic device for written examinations. The invention also relates to a method of using an electronic device for written or descriptive examinations. The electronic device though designed specifically for written examinations, can also be used for other type of examinations including multiple choice, audio/video examinations etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Students undertake academic examinations in either the multiple choice question (MCQ) format or Descriptive type. Although there are technology solutions available for delivering multiple choice questions through computers there is no solution yet for delivering descriptive type examinations on computers. Most of schools/colleges spend precious resources and time conducting paper based internal and external examinations. There are distinct disadvantages associated with paper based examinations. A few are listed below:

1. Printing of millions of question papers for a single examination requires long lead time.

2. Distribution of question papers to different examination centers leading to

logistical problems and challenges.

3. Printing allows for very few question paper sets, leading to widespread

copying during examinations.

4. Security issues due to frequent leakage of question papers for very critical examinations.

5. Consumption of large quantities of paper by examinees.

6. Limited scope of masking examinee id's during examinations.

7. Damage of paper answer sheets during transit to evaluation centers. 8. Long lead time for evaluation of answer sheets by evaluators.

9. Long lead time for score and results processing.

10. Scope for fraudulent activities during evaluation to favor examinees. There are multiple challenges delivering descriptive examinations either by typing on a computer keyboard or writing on a digitizing tablet by an examinee. Although MCQ based questions are computer based, delivering descriptive type examinations on computer is difficult because most of the examinees do not have typing skills. An examinee who does not know typing will take a very long time to respond to a question. So computer keyboard cannot be used as an input device for descriptive type exam. There are digitizing tablets with stylus available for writing and drawing activities on the computer. But again, a monitor will be required to view the question and. what is being written, which is a very

cumbersome process for a descriptive type examination. There are touch screen monitors available which can be used for writing. However, it is a very difficult process to write on a monitor which is mounted vertically or in a slant. And touch screen monitors are designed for on screen clicks to replace mouse clicks, jotting down notes and not for writing. Moreover, all these devices have display screens which are very sensitive, and cannot be used in conjunction with geometric tools, like compass, dividers, protractors and engineering tools.

Further, normal tablet pc's which are available are general devices and not designed for niche functions like examinations. In a typical online examination conducted on a computer (which is also a general device), sanitizing the system and conducting an audit of the system before the examination, is a tedious process leading to wastage of time, effort and money. The reason for such a need for elaborate pre examination activities is because the same computer is used for browsing, training and multiple other functions, which will compromise the security and performance of the system during the examination. A general tablet PC like the Ipad or similar device would need a similar pre examination check like a PC because they are not niche devices with niche functions. Tablet PC's in spite of their compact form factor and mobility are not designed for handwritten examinations because of their touch and multi touch features. This feature creates a problem when an examinee writes with the palm rested on the display of the tablet PC. The touch screen is designed to take touch input and in that process captures the palm input as a touch input resulting in random scribbles on the screen from the palm touch. Touch based writing tablet PC's are designed for note taking without resting the palm and not designed for writing examinations which run into multi pages of responses and hundreds of lines of written matter.

The above problem also affects left hand writers, when bottom of the palm and fingers of the left hand tend to touch previously written data when writing from left to right using the left hand. When the palm touches, the previously written data is overwritten with scribbles from the touch of the palm.

1. A research on a sample population of 20 people across various age groups to capture the experience of writing on a glass surface established the following: a. The friction and drag experienced while writing in paper is missing while writing on a glass surface of a tablet PC. For a writer with a medium font size, writing on paper consumed 10 minutes in an A4 sheet for 41 lines whereas the same on an A4 sized display consumed around 15 minutes. One of the reasons was the extremely smooth surface of the display which resulted in gliding of the pen and hence no traction of the pen tip on display surface. The writers were over cautious to avoid making errors while writing. This led to consumption of more time than on paper. In an examination scenario, time is a critical constraint and normal display surfaces available on tablet PC's will pose a challenge to examinees who are migrating from paper pen based examinations to writing on a tablet display because of more consumption of time.

. b. The readability of the written matter also added considerable amount of strain to the users. The reflective property and brightness/contrast ratio of the display made readability of the text written very difficult. This resulted in 30% more writing error. c. The digital Pen tip also was not offering the same experience as what one experiences while writing with a ball point on paper. It was similar to writing with a ball point pen on a glossy paper. This also added to the lack of traction while writing on the display surface.

2. There are devices and patents which claim pen type inputs with built in

cameras as an input and capture device for written material on paper. A pen with inbuilt camera to capture written examination information will not be able to: a. Identify the page size to be captured as display sizes may differ for different type of examinations. b. Identify page nos. and sequentially or non sequentially capture images of pages from the display. c. Capture question wise answer responses. d. Recapture pages where corrections done to an existing answer

response and store them in a given sequence. e. Manage audit trail of all activities of examinees while writing the

examination.

The pen is an input device. Building processing intelligence in a small device like that of a pen will be a challenge and also will increase the weight and size of the pen which will lead to strenuous user experience while writing. If processing intelligence resides outside the pen device, (as claimed in some prior art) then the latency of response times from the processing system will lead to strenuous user's real time experience of writing.

3. Verification of Identity of the examinees who appear for the examinations is a lengthy and time consuming process. And also it also leads to frequent malpractices by way of spoofing someone's identity. In some places, Biometric systems are being used to validate examinee identities, but the processes and the software are not robust enough to ensure 100% accuracy in validating the identities.

4. Page navigation between answer sheets in written examinations is very simple and intuitive action. For e.g. in paper based examinations, an examinee can quickly flip to the second page of the answer responses for the 3rd question in matter of seconds to review and commit corrections. The same activity will be sequential using multi touch features of new tablet PC's, which will result in more consumption of time while navigating between pages of written responses.

5. Exam delivery software applications that have claimed specific methods have not considered that the Item authoring, admit card generation, test center booking, candidate appointment scheduling and similar software used in the exam supply chain are 3rd party systems and that the exam delivery application should support open standard frameworks to accept data inputs from the 3rd party systems and send data conforming to open standards to online evaluation systems. Support for multiple open standard frameworks for exam delivery software is currently not available. 6. The examination system is incomplete without a storage server at the local exam center as a hub and spoke model. For e.g., if there are 1000 examinees in one exam center and if there are 100 such exam centers for a given batch of examinations, there will be about 100,000 examinees for one examination in a batch. In distance

¹ r

learning systems, there are instances of 100,000 or more examinees undertaking examinations in the same batch. However, in a computer based examination this leads to severe show stoppers due to the following: a. Server side bandwidth required will be very high for as many examinees to log in and undertake the examinations at the same time. b. The number of servers required to deliver examinations to as many examinees will be very high. c. The last mile bandwidth required for each exam center to connect to the central servers will be very high. If redundancy of last mile bandwidth also needs to be provided, then the cost will be very prohibitive. Further more, considering the possibility that in some of the locations internet bandwidth itself might not be available. d. The normal servers that are used for examinations run full operating systems with various services leading to external and internal threats and are not configured to bind one to one with the examination systems. e. These hardware and the software servers are also an expensive

proposition when compared to the existing costs of paper pen examinations.

7. Proctoring is another challenge for computer based examinations. The typical proctor to student ratio is around 1 :25 in computer based examination whereas the same for paper pen examination is around 1 :40. And most of the time the proctors find it difficult to record the mal practices done by the examinees with conclusive evidence. The current computer based examination systems do not address all the challenges faced during examinations.

8. Except a few developed countries, rest of the world still has limited IT infrastructure where conducting an online examination with reliability, scalability and cost effectiveness is a challenge. But the developing countries have far larger growing population of students which makes going online a necessity. The PC's and tablet PC's apart from not being niche devices for examinations are very expensive to be used for online written examinations.

9. There are Electronic paper technologies available. However electronic papers are designed currently more for reading purposes and short note taking than for long descriptive type examinations. The electronic paper has known diplay latency issues and to a large extent is limited to displaying static content.

There are software which use character recognition technologies to convert digitally handwritten data to ASCII text. This method will lead to large processing cycles and intense computing requirements on the device and also could result in delays and errors during the conversion. Further, this method is required only if the search and retrieval have to be conducted within the content of the answer

responses which is not the case in online evaluations.

Therefore, there exists a need of providing an improved design of a device and an examination delivery method that enables large number of examinees to write descriptive type of examinations thereby replacing pen/pencil based descriptive type of examinations and overcome the problems associated with tablet pc's, digital input devices etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a niche examination device which can be used in any paper pen examination room where there is limited availability of power and Internet connectivity or no connectivity. Another object of the present invention is to provide a fool proof niche examination device providing zero opportunity for any entity in the examination supply chain to benefit from misuse of examination data.

Further object of the invention is to provide digital examination writing experience similar to that of the traditional paper and pen based examinations.

Still further object of the invention is to provide a provision that will ensure reduced lead time for preparatory and post examination activities for examinations. Another object of the invention is to provide a provision in the examination device that will ensure reduced logistic challenges in distribution of Examination data like Question Papers, Answer Sheets, etc. Another object of the invention is to provide an examination device that will ensure reduced proctor to examinee ratio with increased vigilance of examinee activities during examinations

Another object of the invention is to ensure fool proof examinee identity verification system ensuring that the right examinee takes the examination.

Still another object of the invention is to provide embedded examination delivery software with interfaces for open standard frameworks to work with 3rd Party software like COE, Online Evaluation, etc.

Still another object of the invention is a method to engage examination rules as defined by the Controller of examinations in their software systems.

Further object of the invention is to introduce a method of docket file systems for seamless and secure exchange of data between the electronic device, Controller of examinations systems and Online Evaluation systems.

Still another object of the invention is to provide for comprehensive

examination digital audit trail for post examination investigations, validations and representation of examination activities in a court of law. Further object of the invention is to provide a fully secure storage black box file server for storage of examination related data at the examination center.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an examination device that will enable the examinee to view question paper and write responses to questions in regular handwriting style on the same device.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an examination device with a provision that will allow for the validation of the identity of the examinee taking the examination before the examinee has access to the questions. Further object of the present invention is to provide for receiving and sending of examination data in encrypted format. Still further object of the present invention is to provide an examination device with a provision for capturing attendance of the examinee.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a provision for alerting the examinees during the examination period.

Further object of the present invention is to reduce proctor to examinee ratio during the examination.

Still further object of the present invention is to make easier search and retrieval of examinees answer responses in the 3rd party online evaluation systems and answer scrip archives.

In order to achieve the above objects, disclosed herein is an electronic device for enabling each of a plurality of examinees to take aa examination, the electronic device receiving an examination data from an authoring system, the electronic device includes a first module that includes a first display unit being used as writing pad and capturing responses inputted by an examinee to a question, the question being part of the examination data, the examinee being one of the plurality of examinees, the responses being inputted by a digital pen having a magnetic tip, the first display unit includes a writing film being laid over the first display unit, the writing film having a texture similar to that of paper, and a metallic unit, the metallic sheet positioned at a distance from the digital pen, the first display unit, the writing film, and electronic board providing the distance between the metallic sheet and the digital pen, wherein when the magnetic tip moves rapidly close to the metallic unit, the pen tip is slowed down because of induced circular (eddy) current in the metallic sheet that generates an opposite magnetic field, thereby slowing down the digital pen and producing a drag while writing on the first display unit, a second module includes a second display unit being used for displaying information related to the examination, the information being part of the examination data, and a control unit, the control unit controlling plurality of functions of the electronic device. In some embodiments, the electronic device comprises at least one first display controller unit and at least one second display controller unit controlling state of display of the first display unit and the second display unit, respectively.

In one embodiment, the metallic sheet is made up of non-magnetic metals.

In some embodiments, a power control module includes a plurality of buttons, combination of two or more of the plurality of buttons enabling switching off of power during the examination and wherein the examinee is prompted for a password when the two or more of the plurality of buttons are pressed, thereby ensuring that only an authorized person can enable the switching off of power.

In another embodiment, an encryption module decrypts the examination data received from the authoring system and wherein the encryption module encrypts the captured responses of the examinees along with other examination data before sending the captured responses to an evaluation system.

In another aspect of the invention, an electronic device for enabling a plurality of examinees to take an examination, the electronic device receiving an examination data from an authoring system, the electronic device includes a first module that includes a first display unit being used as writing pad and capturing responses inputted by an examinee to a question, the question being part of the examination data, the examinee being one of the plurality of examinees, the responses being inputted by a digital pen having a metal tip, the first display unit includes a writing film being laid over the first display unit, the writing film having a texture similar to that of paper, and a conducting coil, the conducting coil positioned at a distance from the digital pen, the first display unit and the writing film providing the distance between the conducting coil and the digital pen, wherein magnetic field generated in the conducting coil due to passage of current induces a magnetic field on the metal tip, leading to a drag of the pen tip on the first display unit, a second module includes a second display unit being used for displaying information related to the examination, the information being part of the examination data, and a control unit, the control unit controlling plurality of functions of the electronic device. In another aspect of the invention, a digital pen for being used in an electronic device for enabling a plurality of examinees to take an examination, the electronic device having a first display unit, a writing film being laid over the first display unit, a metallic sheet positioned at a distance from the digital pen, the first display unit and the writing film providing the distance between the metallic sheet and the digital pen, the digital pen includes a magnetic tip, wherein when the magnetic tip moves rapidly close to the metallic unit, an eddy current is induced in the metallic part producing a magnetic field opposite to that of the magnetic tip, thereby slowing down the digital pen and producing a drag while writing on the first display unit.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a digital pen for being used in an electronic device for enabling a plurality of examinees to take an examination, the electronic device having a first display unit, a writing film being laid over the first display unit, a conducting coil positioned at a distance from the digital pen, the first display unit and the writing film providing the distance between the conducting coil and the digital pen, the digital pen includes a metallic tip, wherein magnetic field generated in the conducting coil due to passage of current induces a magnetic field on the metallic tip, leading to a drag of the metallic tip on the first display unit.

In a still further aspect of the invention, a method of writing an examination by a plurality of examinees in an exam center, each of the plurality of examinees using an electronic device, the electronic device having a first display unit and a second display unit, the method being performed by an exam delivery program embedded in the electronic device, the method includes steps of receiving an examination data from an authoring system, storing the examination data at a storage server positioned locally in the exam center, the storage server being electronically coupled to the authoring system, validating identity of each of the plurality of examinees before each of the examinees has access to the examination data, the electronic device being electronically coupled to the storage server, providing access to the examination data to an examinee whose identity has been validated on the second display unit,

capturing response of the examinee to a question on the first display unit, the question being part of the examination data, sending the captured response to an evaluation system, the evaluation system being electronically coupled to the electronic device.

In some embodiments, the method of writing an examination includes the step of encrypting the captured response of the examinee.

In another embodiment, the method of writing an examination includes step of providing the electronic device with a plurality of buttons, combination of two or more of the plurality of buttons enabling switching off of power during the examination and wherein the examinee is prompted for a password when the two or more of the more of the plurality of buttons are pressed, thereby ensuring that only an authorized person can enable the switching off of power.

In yet another embodiment, the method of writing an examination includes step of receiving the question paper data related to descriptive type questions.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a method of writing an examination by a plurality of examinees in an exam center, each of the plurality of examinees using an electronic device, the electronic device having a first display unit and a second display unit, the method being performed by an exam delivery program embedded in the electronic device, the method includes steps of storing an examination data at a storage server positioned locally in the exam center, validating identity of each of the plurality of examinees before each of the examinees has access to the examination data, the electronic device being electronically coupled to the storage server, providing access to the examination data to an examinee whose identity has been validated on the second display unit, capturing response of the examinee to a question on the first display unit, the question being part of the examination data, sending the captured response to an evaluation system, the evaluation system being electronically coupled to the electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned and other features and other advantages of the invention will be better understood and will become more apparent by referring to the exemplary embodiment(s) of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG.1 shows an examination system 10 for conducting online written examination according to an embodiment of the present invention in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figs. 2 describe various components of the electronic device 12 as used in the examination system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment in

accordance with principles of the present invention;

Figs. 3 is a block diagram showing various components of the electronic device 12 as used in the examination system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment in accordance with principles of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows the writing film 42 that helps in writing on the first display unit 26 according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows the cross section view of the electronic device 12 shown in FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the invention in accordance with principles of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows the digital pen 28 and mechanism of creating a drag on the digital pen 28 according to first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows the digital pen 28 and mechanism of creating a drag on the digital pen 28 according to second embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram showing the method of writing examination using the electronic device 2 shown in Figs 2 and 5 according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Where ever possible, same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same or like parts. FIG.1 shows an examination system 10 for conducting online written

examination according to an embodiment of the present invention in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The Examination system 10 includes a data centre 11 and an examination center 22. The data centre 11 includes an authoring system 14 and an evaluation system 18. The authoring system 14 includes but not limited to Controller of examinations (COE) software system. The COE software system further includes but not limited to generation software, etc. The examination centre includes a storage server 16 and an electronic device 12. The electronic device 12 is being used by each of a plurality of examinees 20 to write the

examination. The authoring system 14 and the evaluation system 18 includes but not limited to a server. The electronic device 12 is connected to the storage server 16 locally at the examination centre 22. The connection may be wired or wireless. The storage server 16 is connected to the authoring system 14 and evaluation system 18. The connection may be wired or wireless. The authoring system 14 creates examination data and this is located at the authoring system COE data center or COE office premises.

Pre Examination Phase

The examination data from the authoring system 14 will be downloaded to the storage server 16 that is located at the examination center 22. In another

embodiment, if the connectivity between the authoring system 14 and the storage server 16 is not available, then the storage server 16 will be preloaded with the examination data before the storage server 16 is shipped to the examination center 22. In yet another embodiment, if the storage server 16 is not used at the local examination center 22 the electronic device 12 is to be preloaded with the

examination data before being shipped to the examination center. Before

handshaking and transferring the examination data, identity of the electronic device 12 and the storage server 16 will be validated. The identity of the electronic device 12 and the storage server 16 may be machine id or IP address or similar unique identifiers. In some embodiments, digital Signatures or alternative type of cryptographic signatures of key users/entities is used in combination or in isolation to validate the identity of the electronic device 12 and the storage server 16 in the examination system 14. The identity of the key users, storage server 16 and the electronic device are pre registered in the authoring system 14 for an examination batch to ensure that the examination data is not downloaded by any unauthorized user, storage server 16 or the electronic device 2. The examination data from the authoring system 14 will be downloaded to the storage server 16 at the examination centre 22. Alternatively, the examination data from the authoring system 14 may be downloaded directly to the electronic device 12. The examination data may include different types of data, e.g., control data, source data, electronic device data, examinee data, examination data, examination rules data, examination instruction data, and question paper. Types of data will vary depending on rules and processes specified by different universities and educational bodies. The examination data will be sent as an e-docket. Therefore, number of e- dockets will be transferred to the electronic device 12 or the storage server 16 based on various on various parameters like the number of Question papers, subjects etc.

Different E-Docket's could be delivered to different storage servers 16 housed in different examination centre 22 or the electronic device 12 based on the examination to be administered to a specific examinee 20. At any given point of time only one e- docket will be administered to the examinee 20. Data model used for storing the examination data will support open standard frameworks like QTI, SIF etc for interoperability between the authoring system 14, the electronic device 12, and the evaluation system 18. In the event, open standard framework support for some data sets is unavailable, additional extensions to the current open standard framework will be made. The support for Open Standards/frameworks is not limited only to above data sets but also for all examination data managed by this process.

Further, the exchange of data between the authoring system 14, the storage server 16, and the electronic device 16 will be allowed only at a pre determined time before the examination. This is to ensure that no exam related information is made available to exam delivery systems, i.e., the storage server 16, the electronic device 12 in advance which might lead to leak of exam related information. For e.g., if the examination is scheduled for 10 a.m., then the systems could be configured to exchange data only at 9 a.m. or later. Any attempt by the. systems to exchange data before that scheduled time of exchange will be rejected by the authoring system 14. Once the examination data is transferred to the respective systems, the authoring system 14 is disconnected from the storage server 16 or the electronic device 12 - whichever is connected to the authoring system 14. Once the examination data is transferred to the storage server 16, the examination data in form of an e-docket is transferred to the electronic device 14 at the examination centre 22 following the authentication mechanism as detailed above. Since this method is designed for 'anywhere' deployment for examinations, requirement of LAN cables, docking stations are not required for the electronic device 12 to connect to the storage server 16. A wireless router/switch mounted locally at the examination centre 22 and configured to network the storage server 16 and electronic devices 12 is sufficient. In some embodiments, other wireless methods like IR, Bluetooth or similar network types are used for synchronizing the electronic device 2 with the storage server 16. Since the electronic device 12 will be provisioned with long lasting batteries, even AC power sockets will not be required for powering the electronic device 12, only two power points will be required for powering the storage server 16 and the electronic device 12. A low power UPS will be sufficient to back up these two systems, i.e., storage server 16 and the electronic device 12. In the event of AC power as well as the UPS power running out, the electronic device 12 is designed to administer the examination independently without the network and storage server 16 availability. In some embodiments, mini solar panels will be used to power the batteries of the electronic device 12.

Examination Day Phase Since the electronic device 12 is a niche device only for examinations, apart from a light operating system with limited services and device drivers, only the Examination delivery software will be available on the device with very strong binding to the device. On start up, the electronic device 12 would not allow any access to the operating system or any file systems as all system level functions will be restricted only to authorized administrators. On successful start up, the electronic device 12 will download the examination data in the form of the e-docket from the storage server stationed 16 locally at the examination centre 22. Both the storage server 16 and the electronic device 2 will have bio metric authentication systems. The proctor or the person in charge of the examinations at the examination centre 22 will authentic themselves to the respective systems, This activity may be time based. After the E- Docket is transported to the electronic device 12, based on the examination rules defined in the e-docket, the configuration may not allow start up of the electronic devices 12 or the storage server 6 before a pre configured time. All the storage servers 16, electronic device 12 can be shipped a day in advance to the examination centre 12 or could be permanently located in approved examination centres 22.

Power on self tests will be provided in the storage server 16 and electronic device 12 to ensure they function properly during the examinations. This will replace the dry runs and preparatory activities that are typically done in online and offline

examinations. The power on self tests will be completed in a few minutes and alerts will be displayed in a second display unit 24 on issues faced or successful completion of the power on self testing certifying the electronic device 12 worthy for

examinations. Any malfunction will be displayed on the second display unit 24. The Examination in charge or the proctor at the examination centre 22 can choose to rectify the problem or replace the malfunctioning electronic devices 12 with standby devices.

A device inventory management system will keep track of all the electronic devices12, the storage servers 6 and accessories in the University's or the

Examination service providers inventory including active electronic devices, deactivated electronic devices etc. This would help in tracking and control of devices used during examinations. The power on self test will include a sample E-Docket being decrypted and tested for an examination scenario. After the authentication, once the examination data in form of the e-docket is transported to the respective electronic devices 12, examination delivery software of the electronic device will decrypt the E-Docket and import them into the examination delivery software embedded locally in the electronic device 12. The electronic device 12 will store only one examinee's biometric data. Unlike the normal process where one biometric input is verified against multiple sets of biometric data, the electronic device 12 will validate only against the examinee's biometric information in the electronic device 12. This will ensure 100% accuracy of validation of the biometric information. Biometric data could be voice DNA, photograph, palm, finger or similar unique prints of the examinee. Before the examinees 20 occupy their seats, the electronic device 20 will be distributed and placed at the respective desks of the examinees 20. Each electronic device 12 will have a LED display which will display the examinee's examination identification number - which could be the examinee's roll number at the institution, or admit card number or similar unique identifier's. As the examinee 20 walks into the examination centre 22, the examinee 20 locate their electronic device 20 by the number displayed on the LED. Once they locate their electronic device 12, they will occupy their seat. The examinees 20 will be requested to authenticate themselves with their biometric information, for e.g., if the biometric input is fingerprint, the examinee 20 will be prompted by the electronic device 12 to register the finger print on the biometric reader. The device will authenticate the examinee with the data stored in the exam pad. In another embodiment, the validation may be done by using RFID, Barcode readers.

A photograph of the examinee 20 is captured by the electronic device 12. Camera may be provided for capturing candidate attendance with date and time stamp. This information is stored in the electronic device 2 audit trail. If the authentication fails three (or 'n' times which is configurable) consecutive times, the system will lock up and await manual override by the examination centre 22 in charge or the proctor. The override function will be a configurable function. If the manual override is disallowed, then the system will not allow the examinee to write the examination. The electronic device 12 will be disabled from further active use for the examination until reset by authorized user of the authoring system 14. The second display unit 24 will display the following information as soon as the authentication is completed successfully:

a. Examinee Id number b. Examinee name c. Examinee photograph d. Course/Semester/College/University/Institution e. Examination Subject f. Examination Duration

Examination centre name h. Current date i. Current time j. Examination Start time k. Examination End time I. No. of questions in the Question paper

The following information will be displayed in the second display unit 24 once the examinee 20 starts writing the examination. m. Time left n. Elapsed time o. Question numbers attempted p. Questions numbers not attempted q. Answers marked for review r. Question wise answer responses page numbers

Since the second display unit 24 will use touch screen, the examinee 20 can browse through a menu structure to access specific information (as listed above) in the second display unit 24. If the examinee 20 is authenticated successfully, an examination instruction page will be displayed for the examinee 20 to get accustomed to the examination rules, regulations, screen shots of the examination delivery software and the device features. A sample question paper will also be presented for the examinee to write a short examination to get used to the writing surface of the electronic device 12 and other features of the examination software and device. Alerts will be displayed a few minutes before the examination start (configurable) to inform the student to get ready for the exam start time. At the exam start time, the system will close all screens and functions automatically and start up the exam player, which is part of the examination delivery software embedded in the electronic device 12. Various examination rules which were Configured at the authoring system 14, will be engaged in the exam player. For e.g., the examination data in the form of the E-Docket would have multiple question papers for the same examination and the exam player would be instructed to pick up any question paper at random or the order of questions could be randomized. Based on the examination rules set, the question paper will be displayed to the examinee 20. The examinee 20 can review all questions and click on a specific question to answer or set the order in which they want to answer questions. However this order will not affect the actual question numbers set by the authoring system 14. Once the examinee 20 chooses the question to respond, the question paper gets minimized as an icon and rests in one corner of the first display unit 26. The question will be displayed on top of the first display unit 26. The electronic device 12 will support display of questions in multiple languages. The electronic device 12 will support digital ink for hand writing on the first display unit 26. The exam player will support different paper types e.g., ruled, unruled paper, side margins will be the classification at a higher level. For e.g., different types of ruled paper, no. of lines can also be defined. The exam player will display the appropriate paper type as set by the authoring system 14. The examinee 20 will start writing the answer responses to specific questions on the first display unit 26 with a digital pen 28 (shown in FIG2). The first display unit 26 will support both left and right hand writers and there will be no constraint on the language of writing also. For e.g. an examinee 20 writing in Arabic, can write the exam from right to left on the writing surface of the first display unit 26 in Arabic and there will be no constraints on the language of writing as the Exam player will not attempt any character recognition while the candidate is writing the exam. Once the Examinee 20 completes writing an entire page, a page break will appear and the new blank page will be presented to the examinee 20. The examinee 20 will be able to scroll between pages vertically and view responses written earlier. The examinee 20 will also be able to erase a response written earlier with an eraser module built into the exam player software. The examinee 20 can choose different geometric or engineering stylus from a tray 32 (Shown in FIG 2) and draw on the first display unit 26_tusing the digital pen 28.

Advanced version of the first display unit 26 will display geometric and engineering drawing information by reading stylus positions through sensors. For e.g., if the examinee 20 is drawing a line at a 30 degree angle, the angle information will be displayed to the examinee 20. The examinee 20 can mark an answer response or question for review later and also set the time at which an alert needs to be sounded for the review. An alert module 32 (shown in FIG...) effects the alerts required for the examination. The alert module 32 includes alert Lights with different colour's for different type of alerts for examinees during the examination period e.g. an alert lamp glows half an hour before the examination end time. The alert module also includes alert sounds. Speakers will be provided for alert sounds and for other multimedia functions. The other events when the alert module 32 is activated may be low battery, examination end time, and low memory space in the electronic device 12.

A colour coded panel on the second display unit 24 will display question numbers with different colour codes. For e.g., question numbers which are answered will be displayed in green, question number which are not answered will displayed in orange and questions which are marked for review will be displayed amber. The examinee 20 will be able to click on any of the question numbers to display it in the first display unit 26. Page numbers of answer responses to specific question numbers will also be displayed so that the examinee 20 would know which page to review. All activities of the examinee 20 will be recorded in the form of audit trail for post examination analysis and evidence for investigations. For e.g., if the examinee 20 erases one word in page 3 for question number 4, at 10.45 a.m., this information will be recorded in a digital audit trail. Based on the exam rules set by the authoring system 14, answer responses will be saved on the electronic device 12 as well as the storage server 16 simultaneously, or time based, or real time or only the electronic device 12 or in a redundant storage in the electronic device 12. These rules are configurable and the electronic device 14 will engage the rules as configured by the authoring system 14.

In an online examination scenario, there could be multiple points of failure while writing examinations. The above feature will ensure redundancy for answer responses. For e.g., in the event of failure of the electronic device 12, the examinee 20 can resume writing exam from another electronic device 12. The last saved responses will be restored to the new electronic device 12 from the redundant storage. Controller of examinations (COE) through the authoring system 14 can also engage rules to authenticate the examinee 20 in regular periods of interval during the examination to ensure that the same examinee 20 who was authenticated to write the exam in the start continues to write the examination and not replaced by a different examinee. The electronic device 20 will prompt the examinee 20 in specific time intervals to authenticate through biometric reader. The camera will also capture the photograph of the examinee at regular intervals for digital audit trail. A microphone (not shown) in the electronic device 20 will pick up any dialogue the examinee 20 has with neighbour examinees or proctors. If the proctor suspects any malpractice or prompting/copying by the examinee 20, the proctor can review the audio records of the examinee 20 after the examination and if convinced of malpractice, can mark the examinee 20 for mal practices. The camera can also function as a source for regular video feed of the examinee 20. This feed can be viewed through a 3^rd party surveillance system for monitoring the activities of the examinees 20.

The above automated invigilation functions will reduce the proctor to examinee ratio which is currently in vogue.

Provision for zoom in / out will be provided on the first display unit 26. The examinee 20 will have the option to submit the answer responses to the examination whenever he/she completes or only at a specific time or auto submit after elapse of the total time allotted for the exam. These exam rules will be set by the controller of Examinations (COE) through the authoring system 14 and the Exam player will engage the rules as specified by the COE. The Exam Player will play alerts a few minutes before the end time of the examination. If the examinee 20 fails to click the submit button at the end of the examination, the exam player will auto submit the responses with an alert message and close down the exam player.

Since this process is envisaged to support large scale conduct of

examinations, similar to that of paper based examinations, the answer responses have a need to be stored in a file format where the file size will be small. Although support will be provided to store answer response information in traditional formats like Jpeg etc as raster files, this would entail high volume of data being transported to the storage server 16 server and evaluation systems 18, as the file sizes of these formats are large. This will lead to choking of bandwidth and latency issues.

Therefore, the exam player will provide encrypted file storage with compression in file size through various technologies including storing of answer responses as vector data to ensure smooth and fast transfer of answer responses to the respective servers. The answer scrip will be stored in a manner that a 3^rd party online evaluation system can segregate the answer scrip to support a specific evaluation process. For e.g. the Online evaluation system might use a process for distributing Question no.1 for a specific examination to one or more evaluators registered with the evaluation system 18 and question no.2 to other evaluators so that no single evaluator evaluates a single answer scrip as a whole.

The exam player answer scrip file format will support features required by online evaluation systems. The answer scrip's will also support open

standards/frameworks required by 3^rd party online evaluation systems. Key

information about the examination like examinee id, exam code, examination centre, date, time, examination subject, question number wise, page wise answer responses, etc will be stored as meta data along with the answer scrips.This meta data

information can be used by the online evaluation system for fast and accurate retrieval of answer scrips, specific responses in answer scrips etc.

If the storage server 16 is used for the examination, the storage server 16 will validate various information types including the no. of examinee's Who started the examination, the number of examinees who have submitted their responses and number of examinees who have not submitted. This information will be presented in a dashboard to the Examination centre in charge. After revalidating the information, the examination centre in charge can confirm completion of the examination and allow the storage server 16 to proceed with transporting the examination data, A-Docket, to the evaluation system 8 and authoring system 1 immediately or schedule it for a different time and shut down the storage server 16. This activity will be governed by the rules set by the COE and the storage server will engage the rules. Based on the deployment model chosen and network connectivity availability, the COE will be able to view all exam relate key activities from a dashboard. The storage server will support pushing of critical examination related information to the COE dashboard for proactive monitoring and decision making.

Before the A-Docket is transported to the online evaluation systems 18, the Storage server 18 will validate the identity of the online evaluation systems 18. This is to ensure the right sets of A-Docket are transported to the appropriate evaluation systems 18.

Once the examination is over, the storage server 16 and electronic devices 12 can be used for the next batch of examinations or shut down and shipped back to the COE office. All data in the storage server 6 and electronic devices 12 will be backed up at the COE Office and after successful back up, the data can be purged from the storage server 16 and electronic devices 12. Interfaces will be provided to the COE office to view the backed up examination related data. In Fig. 1 , though it is illustrated that same storage server 16 is used for storing both the examination data in form of the E-Docket and captured responses of the examinee in form of A-Docket, however it is within the scope of the invention that separate server may be used for storing the E-Docket and A-docket and it is also within the scope of the invention that a storage server 16 is not part of the deployment and that the electronic devices 12 can connect directly to the authoring system 14 and Evaluation system 18 directly, which would perform the functions of the storage server 16.

Figs. 2 and 3 describe various components of the electronic device 12 as used in the examination system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment in accordance with principles of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic device 12 includes a first module 34 and a second module 36. The first module 34 includes the first display unit 26 and a metallic sheet 38 (shown in FIG. 6). In another embodiment, the first module 34 includes the first display unit 26 and a conducting coil 27 (shown in FIG. 7). The first display unit 34 is used as a writing pad and capturing responses inputted by the examinee 20 to a question, the question being part of the examination data. The responses are inputted by the digital pen 28 having a magnetic tip 40. In another embodiment, the digital pen 28 has a metal tip 41. In yet another embodiment, the digital pen 18 will not have any metal or magnetic tip, but will have a normal tip and will write over the writing film 42 with paper texture.

The first display unit 26 is provided with a backlight. The exam player will be displayed in this panel. Question paper, a few icons, instruction pages, some alerts, messages will be displayed in the first display unit 26.

The first display unit 26 includes a writing film 42 (shown in FIG.4) being laid over the first display unit, the writing film having a texture similar to that of paper. The writing film 42 is a transparent textured film. This writing film 42 will be layered over the first display unit 26. The writing film 42 will have properties of anti reflection, dust proof and scratch proof. This textured writing film 42 will give the experience of writing on paper. Examinee 20 will write on this writing film 42. This writing surface film 42 can be replaced after certain amount of page written, e.g., 10,000 page writes. The second module 36 includes the second display unit 24 being used for displaying information related to the examination, the information being part of the examination data and a control unit 44, the control unit 44 controlling plurality of functions of the electronic device 12. The control unit 44 includes a validation module 46, a recognition module 48, an alert module 50, brightness control unit 47, contrast control unit 49, volume control unit 51 , speaker unit 53, and a numeric keypad 54. The validation module 44 validates the identity of the examinee 20 before the examinee 20 is given access to the question paper.

Figs. 3 is a block diagram showing various components of the electronic device 12 as used in the examination system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment in accordance with principles of the present invention.

s

The electronic device 12 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 56 with at least a single core processing capability, the first display unit 26, the second display unit 24, a first display controller unit 58, and a second display controller unit 60. The electronic device 12 also includes a permanent storage unit 62 using solid state storage or similar technologies used for permanent storage of data, secondary storage unit 64 that is removable solid state storage for redundancy, a validation controller unit 66 for controlling the validation module 46, a recognition controller unit 68 for controlling the recognition module 48, and a wireless unit 70. The first display controller unit 58 and the second display controller unit 60 controls the display state of the first display unit 26 and the second display unit 24, respectively. Alternatively, one single display controller unit can control the display state of the first display unit 26 and the second display unit 24. The electronic device 12 also includes a power control module 72 and an encryption module 74.

Since examinations are critical to institutions and organizations, loss of data due to accidental switching off of the power by the examinee 20 will be disastrous. Switching off power will be enabled through a combination of plurality of buttons. Therefore, the power control module 72 includes a plurality of buttons, combination of two or more of the plurality of buttons enabling switching off of power during the examination and wherein the examinee is prompted for a password when the two or more of the plurality of buttons are pressed, thereby, ensuring that only an authorized person can enable the switching off of power. The encryption module 74 decrypts the examination data received from the authoring system 14 and wherein the encryption module encrypts the captured responses of the examinees before sending the captured responses to the evaluation system.

The central processing unit (CPU) 56 executes the exam player software (embedded exam delivery software), examination related information, operating system, device components, drivers etc. The permanent storage unit 62 maintains a copy of the primary storage for redundancy purposes. Also shown is a position detector sensor unit 76. Principles of operation of the position detector sensor unit 76 are disclosed in U.S. Patent no, 4,878,553, titled "Position detecting Apparatus," the contents of which are incorporated by reference. Geometric and Engineering digital pen will be provided for drawings on the first display unit 26. The size of the digital pen will be designed to scale. The scale will vary based on the first display unit 26 form factor. The digital pen 28 will work in conjunction with these additional stylus types for drawing on the first display unit 26. The electronic device 12 is provided with an ergonomic and protective casing which will encapsulate all its components, A recognition module controller unit 81 controls the recognition module 46. The recognition module controller unit 81 controls the capture of the photograph of the examinee 20 by the recognition module 48.

Power supply unit 80 is provided to recharge the batteries and also work on AC power. Since the electronic device 12 device has components which will generate heat as the electronic device 12 will be used over long durations, powerful and compact exhaust fans 82 will be provided to ensure the electronic device 12 operates within the defined temperature parameters.

The electronic device 12 will be provided with a digital clock (not shown) that will display the following: Current Time, Examination Duration, Examination start time, an examination end time, and time left.

FIG. 4 shows the writing film 42 that helps in writing on the first display unit 26. Magnified view 84 of portion of a layer of the writing film 42 is being shown. The magnified view 84 shows texture 86 of the writing film 84. The texture 86 is similar to that of paper, thereby giving the experience of writing on the paper.

FIG. 5 shows the cross section view of the electronic device 12 shown in FIG. 2. The electronic device 12 includes the first display 26 and the second display unit 24. Also shown is the writing film 42 laid over the first display unit 26. Underneath the first display unit 26 is the first electronic circuit unit 57. The electronic circuit unit 57 includes, e.g., position detector sensor unit 76, the first display controller unit 58. Similarly underneath the second display unit 24 is the second electronic circuit unit 55. The second electronic circuit unit 55 includes the second display controller unit 60, the validation controller unit 66, a recognition controller unit 68 and few more components. Also shown is the metallic sheet 38. In another embodiment, conducting coil 27 is disclosed in U.S. Patent no, 4,878,553. FIG.6 shows the digital pen 28 and mechanism of creating a drag on the digital pen 28 according to first embodiment of the invention. The digital pen 28 has a magnetic tip 40. The concept of eddy current braking will be used to create some drag. Also shown is the metallic sheet 38 made of non-magnetic metals like

aluminium, copper, etc. The first display unit 26 and the writing film 42 and electronic circuit board provide distance between the metallic sheet 38 and the digital pen 28. The magnetic tip 40 will have a permanent magnetic field 90 surrounding it. When the magnetic tip 40 moves rapidly on the first display unit 26 close to the metallic sheet 38, the pen tip 40 is slowed down because of induced circular (eddy) current in the metallic sheet 38 that generates an opposite magnetic field thereby producing drag on the movement of the digital pen on the first display unit 26. This drag on the digital pen 28 produces the experience of writing on the paper. Direction 93 of the drag is shown by an arrow.

FIG. 7 shows the digital pen 28 and mechanism of creating a drag on the digital pen 28 according to second embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the digital pen 28 has a metal tip 41. Also shown is a conducting coil 27. The first display unit 26, electronic circuit board and the writing film 42 provide distance between the conducting coil 27 and the digital pen 28. The conducting coil 27 will have a fixed magnetic field 96. During every pulse, the magnetic field 96 generated will have a fixed direction, which will cause an induced magnetic effect on the metal tip 41 of the digital pen 28, leading to a traction of the metal tip 41 on the first display unit 26. The direction 98 of drag on the digital pen 28 is shown by an arrow. The metal tip 41 will be made of a ferrous metal or other magnetic metals/alloys for it to be magnetized.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram showing the method of writing examination using the electronic device 12 shown in Figs 2 and 5 according to an embodiment of the invention. At step S 00, the examination data in form of the E-Docket is received from the authoring system 14 at the examination centre 22. At step S102, the E- docket is stored in the storage server 15 positioned locally at the examination centre 22. The E-docket is downloaded to the electronic device 12 used by each of the examinees 20 at step S104. In another embodiment, the E-docket is transferred directly to the electronic device 12 from the authoring system 14 (S106). After the examination is over, the captured responses of the examinee 20 are stored in the form of A-docket in the storage server 16 (S108). Then, the A-Docket is transferred to the evaluation system 18 from the storage server 16 (S 10). In another embodiment, the A-Docket is transferred directly to the evaluation system 18 from the electronic device 12 (S 1 2).

It is to be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations provided they come within the ambit of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An electronic device for enabling each of a plurality of examinees to take an examination, the electronic device receiving an examination data from an authoring system, the electronic device comprising:

a first module includes:

a first display unit being used as writing pad and capturing responses inputted by an examinee to a question, the question being part of the examination data, the examinee being one of the plurality of examinees, the responses being inputted by a digital pen having a magnetic tip, the first display unit comprising:

a writing film being laid over the first display unit, the writing film having a texture similar to that of paper; and

a metallic sheet, the metallic sheet positioned at a distance from the digital pen, the first display unit, electronic circuit board and the writing film providing the distance between the metallic sheet and the digital pen, wherein when the magnetic tip moves rapidly close to the metallic unit, an eddy current is induced in the metallic part producing a magnetic field, thereby slowing down the digital pen and producing a drag while writing on the first display unit; a second module includes:

a second display unit being used for displaying information related to the examination, the information being part of the examination data; and

a control unit, the control unit controlling plurality of functions of the electronic device.

2. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one display controller unit; the at least one display controller unit controlling state of display of the first display unit and the second display unit.

3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the metallic sheet is made up of non-magnetic metals.

4. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a tray configured to house the digital pen and other geometric, engineering stylus inputs.

5. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , comprising an eraser module coupled to the first module, the eraser module erasing and correcting the responses of the examinee.

6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a power control module, the power control module includes a plurality of buttons, combination of two or more of the plurality of buttons enabling switching off of power during the examination and wherein the examinee is prompted for a password when the two or more of the plurality of buttons are pressed, thereby ensuring that only an authorized person can enable the switching off of power.

7. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a validation module, the validation module validating identity of each of the plurality of examinees before each of the plurality of examinees has access to the examination data. .

8. The electronic device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the validation module uses data related to at least one of a group consisting of image voice DNA, image, palm, finger, retina, RFID code, barcode and similar unique identifiers for examinees.

9. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , comprising an encryption module, the encryption module decrypting the examination data received from the authoring system and wherein the encryption module encrypts the captured responses of the examinees before sending the captured responses to the evaluation system.

10. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , comprising an alert module, the alert module comprising at least one alert light and at least one alert sound, the at least one alert light and the at least one alert sound alerting the examinee when a predermined event happens, the predermined event being at least one of a group consisting low battery, examination end time, and low memory space in the electronic device.

11. An electronic device for enabling a plurality of examinees to take an examination, the electronic device receiving an examination data from an authoring system, the electronic device comprising:

a first module includes:

a first display unit being used as writing pad and capturing responses inputted by an examinee to a question, the question being part of the examination data, the examinee being one of the plurality of examinees, the responses being inputted by a digital pen having a metal tip, the first display unit comprises of:

a conducting coil, the conducting coil positioned at a distance from the digital pen, the first display unit and the writing film providing the distance between the conducting coil and the digital pen, wherein magnetic field generated in the conducting coil due to passage of current induces a magnetic field on the metal tip, leading to a drag of the pen tip on the first display unit; a second module includes:

12. A digital pen for being used in an electronic device for enabling a plurality of examinees to take an examination, the electronic device having a first display unit, a writing film being laid over the first display unit, a metallic sheet positioned at a distance from the digital pen, the first display unit, electronic circuit board and the writing film providing the distance between the metallic sheet and the digital pen, the digital pen comprising:

a magnetic tip, wherein when the magnetic tip moves rapidly close to the metallic unit, an eddy current is induced in the metallic part producing a magnetic field, thereby slowing down the digital pen and producing a drag while writing on the first display unit.

13. A digital pen for being used in an electronic device for enabling a plurality of examinees to take an examination, the electronic device having a first display unit, a writing film being laid over the first display unit, a conducting coil positioned at a distance from the digital pen, the first display unit and the writing film providing the distance between the conducting coil and the digital pen, the digital pen comprising: a metallic tip, wherein magnetic field generated in the conducting coil due to passage of current induces a magnetic field on the metallic tip, leading to a drag of the metallic tip on the first display unit.

14. A method of writing an examination by a plurality of examinees in an exam center, each of the plurality of examinees using an electronic device, the electronic device having a first display unit and a second display unit, the method being performed by an exam delivery program embedded in the electronic device, the method comprising steps of:

receiving an examination data from an authoring system;

storing the examination data at a storage server positioned locally in the exam center, the storage server being electronically coupled to the authoring system;

validating identity of each of the plurality of examinees before each of the examinees has access to question data, the question data being part of the examination data, the electronic device being electronically coupled to the storage server;

providing access to the question data to an examinee whose identity has been validated on the second display unit;

capturing response of the examinee to the question data on the first display unit;

sending the captured response to an evaluation system, the evaluation system being electronically coupled to the electronic device.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of downloading the examination data from the storage server to the electronic device before validating identity of each of the plurality of examinees.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of capturing photograph of the examinee whose identity has been validated.

17. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the examination data comprises at least one of a group consisting of control data, source data, electronic device data, student data, exam data, exam rules data, exam Instruction data, question paper.

,

18. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of storing the captured responses in the evaluation system.

19. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of sending the stored captured responses to at least one evaluator electronically, at least one evaluator registered with the evaluation system.

20. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of encrypting the captured response of the examinee.

21. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of providing the electronic device with a plurality of buttons, combination of two or more of the plurality of buttons enabling switching off of power during the examination.

22. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of prompting the examinee for a password when the two or more of the more of the plurality of buttons are pressed, thereby ensuring that only an authorized person can enable the switching off of power.

23. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step of receiving the examination data comprises the step of receiving the examination data related to descriptive type questions.

24. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of providing the electronic device with at least one timer to keep track of at least one of a group consisting of current time, examination duration, examination start time, examination end time, and examination end time.

25. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising the step of providing the electronic device with at least one alert light to indicate at least one of a group consisting of low battery, examination end time, and low memory space in the electronic device,

26. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step of receiving the examination data comprises the step of receiving the examination data in a question and test interoperability specification (QTI) format.

27. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step of validating identity of each of the examinees comprises the step of validating identity through biometric data of each of the examinees.

28. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step of validating identity of each of the examinees comprises the step of validating identity through a RFID code or barcode, the RFID code or barcode being provided to each of the examinees, and providing the electronic device with a RFID reader to read the RFID code or barcode.

29. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprises step of validating identity of the corresponding electronic device being used by each of the examinees and storage server.

30. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step of capturing photograph of the examinee whose identity has been validated comprises the step of capturing photograph through a camera for recording attendance of the examinee.

31. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising step of validating identity of the personnel who manage the examination for access to the storage server and the electronic device.

32. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising step of conducting a pre examination self check by the electronic device to ensure preparedness of the electronic device for the examination.

33. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising step of engaging examination rules as defined by the authoring in the electronic device during examination.

34. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising step of using meta data for search and retrieval of information from the examination data

35. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising step of capturing all activities of examinee through digital audit trail.

36. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising step of using vector data to store the captured response.

37. An apparatus having means to perform the method as claimed in any of the preceding claims.

38. A method of writing an examination by a plurality of examinees in an exam center, each of the plurality of examinees using an electronic device, the electronic device having a first display unit and a second display unit, the method being performed by an exam delivery program embedded in the electronic device the method comprising steps of:

storing an examination data at a storage server positioned locally in the exam center;

validating identity of each of the plurality of examinees before each of the examinees has access to the examination data, the electronic device being electronically coupled to the storage server;

providing access to the examination data to an examinee whose identity has been validated on the second display unit;

capturing response of the examinee to a question on the first display unit, the question being part of the examination data;