NFC and Cloud-Based Lightweight Anonymous Assessment Mobile Intelligent Information System for Higher Education and Recruitment Competitions

Abstract

The lack of anonymity when being examined is a problem for students and teachers alike. So far, student identification in examination processes consists in a physical mark that unmistakably represents the student. New technologies provide us with methods that can handle digital data in an efficient and secured way. Android Operating System for mobile devices has had a steady increase in the number of users during the last 6 years. On the other hand, due to its popularity the trend for Smartphone devices is to increase their functionalities by adding new technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC), but although there are several successful use cases of this technology, it has not been fully explored in the Education area, in special regarding anonymous assessment processes. With the joint use of these technologies, Android and NFC, personal data such as name or student identification number can be replaced by a small tag fixed on the examination papers, physically identical to those of the other students in that examination process. This paper describes a platform that allows the student to keep its anonymity throughout the entire process of the examination including correction and exam review.