ALAN Testing - Technical Presence Required?

[trolley01]

We are being asked to attend lots and lots of ALAN testing at the minute as a technical presence. We do start the tests, but generally sit their and do not a lot. This is now the 10th day of being in the tests, and I am told that there will be manay more to come!

 

I wanted to know if it is actually required that their is a technical presence in the room for the exam. I know it is stipulated in the exam conditions for Functional Skills, but can't find any confirmation for the ALAN tests.

 

We could train someone else to start the exams and upload the results (which we currently do), but most staff do not have the access rights or knowledge to fix things if and when they break.

 

If anyone has any information or guidance on what we can do, or what you do in your schools, it would be much appreciated!!

 

Thanks!

[BKGarry]

TBH, if something breaks on the ALAN tests, you have to hard reboot the machine, so that it starts again form the point it went wrong.

 

Personally, I would not say you need a presence in the room, but what you could do is use school radios (if you have them) on their own channel and make it that if anything goes drastically wrong, you drop it and go straight to the tests.

 

Also, we have the server side installed on a workstation with the test share being on a server share and it works fine with 45 clients running at any time. (haven't had to run anymore at once due to space restrictions)

 

I hope this helps.

[trolley01]

Thanks BKGarry.

 

Radio's don't seem to work on this site (new building - lots of metal!) but will see if we can organise a way of communication.

 

Unfortunately we are a managed services provider, so when the school ask, we don't have much leverage to say no - after all, they are paying the bill and that is what they want us to do.

[BKGarry]

Ah,

 

we are lucky, our radios work in our new building. We do pay for a Managed service, but not directly through the LEP (icky BSF term) which means, myself as the reprisentative of the school and the onsite guys do have a good line of communication, and we come up with solutions. We also use a VOIP phone in the exam room on silent so that we can use that as a way of contacting as well.

 

w

[tech_guy]

We set the tests up and leave them to get on with it. If there's an issue they know where our office is :-)

[Sylv3r]

As above we hang around until the tests start then leave - generally they behave and just work.

 

I do think theres a mention of technical support required on the overview of the exam but not sure if this means to sit throughout the whole exam.

[FN-GM]

When it was done at our place there was 1 IT guy just walking between the 8 IT rooms running them.

[bossman]

I download the exams and the exams officer has the login details of the user account who has access rights to the exam software application and has them all ready to go for when the students get in and all they have to do is log in with their username and number.

 

Been like this since we began them and never had to be called to any of the exams to this day, exams officer just lets me know by e-mail when the exams have finished and I just upload them on the server using the control panel, works like a dream.

 

I and my team have better things to do than sit and watch over online exams, not our remit, only when there is a technical problem would we be called.