Click or beep when examinee answers a question (mouse or keyboard)
Give some audio indicator that an examinee has answered a question. When giving remote exams it is important for VEs to ensure that the examinees audio is operating properly. Sometimes mouse clicks that shake the work surface can be heard; sometimes key clicks can be heard if they are answering via keyboard, however they are only with some candidates and vary greatly examinee to examinee. It would make it easier for the VEs to verify the examinee's audio, if a low-volume audio response was generated by the testing software given when an answer is selected.
Comments: 10
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09 Aug, '21
Dave WickertBTW: This was requested universally at our VE team. Not just my suggestion.
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09 Aug, '21
Bryan J GonderingerThis would be an annoyance for in-person exams. I realize that these are probably currently the minority of exam session in ExamTools, and that users could be instructed to turn down their device volume, but is just one more thing for us to worry about in those sessions.
I also think that as a candidate, I would find it very distracting and annoying while taking an exam.
If this is something that would be useful for remote exams, could ET be set up to only play the sounds when the exam session is marked as remote? This would solve the issue for both cases easily. -
09 Aug, '21
Heather KM6ZQBOr just have a toggle on/off button for any session.
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09 Aug, '21
Richard Bateman AdminEven if we implement this, it would depend on having audio enabled on the applicant's computer, unless you want it to play on the VE's computer, in which case it would get really confusing figuring out which you need.
I'm not sure I fully understand the problem you are trying to solve; for now my inclination is to say "no" to this one, but if you want to explain better we can maybe think of something. -
10 Aug, '21
Dave WickertOk. The problem this suggestion is trying to solve is with remote exams.
When you are proctoring an exam, the combination of audio and video is key to ensuring the integrity of the exam. Audio is just as important as video. Sometimes either because of the acoustics of the examinees room, or physically where keyboards are placed, you can hear key clicks, mouse presses, etc. as the candidate is taking the exam. This is very helpful because it shows that the audio is working. However, sometimes there is dead silence. You wish that the candidate would mutter to themselves, or in some way engage the audio so you know it is working in the room. If the software gave a low beep, or some audio clue when a question is selected, then we know the audio is working. This helps with the integrity of the exam.
We completely agree that this is *NOT* for in-person exams. Quiet is king for in-person exams. However this is not the case for remote exams. You *want* audio at some level (this feature). -
15 Dec, '22
Dave Wickert AE7TDThis suggestion was made again at last week's online session. It continues to be a frequent "ask" by our VEs. I made a point of saying that some candidates am find it distracting to have their computer "beep" when answering the exam. I was immediately outvoted with all of our VEs saying that the reverse is true -- that the candidates would welcome an audio indicator that an answer is accepted.
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16 Dec, '22
Heather KM6ZQBI have never had a VE request this yet and I’ve done a significant number of exams as have you. Are you sure there isn’t a setting on the computer which would accomplish this?
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16 Dec, '22
Richard Bateman AdminI can kinda see it, but I don't feel that the distraction or complexity added would be worth the negative impact on user experience. If you are watching the screen then you can see when an answer is clicked on or selected -- the visual change occurs at the same time as any audible alert that I may add. I'm not saying I absolutely refuse to ever consider it, but I do not currently plan to do so.
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26 Dec, '22
Bryan J GonderingerMy understanding is that they do not necessarily want a sound to be played when an answer is selected, but have just provided that as a solution they have come up with for the root problem - to be able to verify that the candidate's microphone audio is still active during a remote exam. I'd imagine this is to ensure that the candidate does not somehow mute their microphone audio once they start the exam (since it obviously needs to work during the "pre-test" portion of the exam session). Perhaps they are concerned that someone would be providing answers audibly to the candidate during the session.
One concern I would have is that if they already are not able to hear a candidate's mouse clicks or keypresses, this audio may have to be pretty loud (especially in a quiet room) to be able to be heard on the Zoom call.
This would also mean that the VEs might have to guide the candidate through enabling audio and increasing the volume enough for it to be heard over Zoom. -
02 Jan, '23
Ray BatemanYes mouse clicks and keyboard clicks are likely to be muted by Zoom as Zoom intentionally tries to mute out background noise like that.
Zoom also would try to mute out noise that comes from the computer itself so even if the exam were to make an audible noise it wouldn't always get picked up by zoom.
It's also possible with Zoom to share your computer audio and if the examinee were to be sharing their computer audio the VE would hear the audible noise, but it still wouldn't solve the actual issue of making sure their microphone isn't muted.