The effectiveness of holding Advanced Level GIT examination in online

Abstract

This research discussed about the effectiveness of holding General Information Technology examination which is held for Advanced Level students in online. This is a computer related optional subject that has to be appeared by all the A/L candidates. The GIT examination had started in 2005, but it became compulsory in 2015. From 2005 to 2018 the GIT paper was held as a writing paper. But in 2019 the Examination Department has decided to hold the GCE A/L GIT examination as an Online pilot test. It was held from 11th of march 18th of march at 655 centers with the participation of 186,097 candidates. Two exam papers were given for 3hours. 10 extra minutes was granted as a loading time and paper should be answered according to the system. The candidates who got the admission for the GIT pilot examination 2019 were the population of the research and some candidates who got the admission for GIT pilot paper, were randomly selected from the western province . Finding whether the candidates have the basic computer literacy, the most effective method is either online paper or writing paper, issues that were occurred during the examination sessions and the effectiveness of holding the GIT paper as online paper continuously were the objectives of the research. The outcome of this research indicates that most of the students don’t have primary computer literacy even to operate a computer and they haven’t enough facilities to learn. Therefore, some students were afraid of facing the exam and some were even not participated. Moreover, some students were not able to face the examination properly due to some issues like power cutting and system errors. Finally, this research gives a conclusion that this online pilot paper wasn’t successful one without a proper preparation and it is better to hold the GIT examination as a written paper