ExamTools
Scientific Olympiads - as for example the regional or international Physics Olympiads - follow a relatively complex workflow in the process of discussing, voting upon, translating and marking the exam problems for the students. To simplify the formerly predominantly manual processes, ExamTools, a web-based tool was developed and successfully introduced at the International Physics Olympiad 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland.
While the source code of the tool itself has been released under an Open Source license, the original development team offers paid hosting and support for future organizers of Scientific Olympiads on the basis of Software-as-a-Service agreements.
Past use
Features
Feedback and voting system
Gather electronic feedback on the posed problems and vote on-line on changes. The text location that the feedback relates to can be indicated and feedback can be up- or downvoted.
Live edits
Changes can be worked in on the fly and can be released to the audience as desired. Differences to older versions are shown in Diff format.
Translation
The tool supports block-by-block translation from the original language version to over 60 supported languages. The system ensures that no structural information is lost in the process. Support for LaTeX formulas, images and tables is included.
Automated printing and scanning
Automated generation of beautifully rendered PDFs. Distributed bulk printing and scanning of student answer sheets. Automatically generated QR codes allow for automated sorting and consistency checking of the answer sheets.
Marking and moderation support
During the grading process, markers and delegation leaders can input the awarded marks for every sub-task of the exam. The arbitration process between the markers and leaders is supported by a specifically designed "moderation view".
Compatibility and flexibility
Works from anywhere on any recent web browser. All platforms (Windows/MacOS/Linux) are supported. No installs required.
Availability
The source code is available on GitLab
with documentation
here.
Support
If you are considering using ExamTools for a future Olympiad, please contact us. We
are happy to discuss your needs and come up with a tailored offer to support you best in your endeavour.
We can support you in hosting of the software, advise you on choosing the right network and printing hardware,
training of your IT personnel as well as with technical support of the tool on-site.