Development of a security-enhanced online examination system and examining the technology acceptance level

The most talked-about problem in distance learning environments is the online exam system and the fraudulent behavior while using this system. With the development of Web technologies, some studies seem to focus on solving this problem. The purpose of this study is to develop a security-enhanced online exam system (GAOSS) and to examine the level of technology acceptance of this system. For the development of the examination system, first of all a systematic review was carried out to determine the methods of the cheating detection on the online examinations and the security measures that could be taken to ensure security. According to these measures, it is developed an online exam system that collects and analyzes "image", "voice" and "log" data and has functions for cheating detection and prevention. At this point, an online exam environment was created in which users can participate the exam from computer lab with web cam and microphone, and under machine-proctered. This research has been conducted according to the mixed method research design to examine the level of technology acceptance of users against this developed system. In the 2014-2015 academic year, it was allowed to enter the exam twice through the developed online system for 105 vocational school students. In order to question the relationship between the level of acceptance of the developed system and the factors related to the level of acceptance, data were collected from the participants via the Technology Acceptance Model scale. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 students selected by maximum diversity sampling method among the participants in order to reveal the factors affecting the level of acceptance. The factors involved in the Technology Acceptance Model were considered as a theme in the qualitative dimension of the study and content analysis was conducted on student expressions within the framework of these themes. Within the scope of the study, thanks to the developed system and exam implementation steps, findings on how to make an online exam system which is safe and accepted by the students is reached. In addition, it was observed that the level of acceptance of GAOSS was medium-level and this level was affected by 14 cases. It has been understood that the technical measures implemented in GAOSS are sufficient for online exam security, improve the efficiency of preparatory work, it can be easily used at the high school and college level, verbal content lessons' exams and multiple choice test method. Key Words: Security-enhanced online exam, secure online exam, technology acceptance model