Smartedu, an Integrated Exam System for Smarter Learning
BANDUNG, itb.ac.id – To support more effective and efficient teaching and learning activities, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has created SmartEdu, an integrated computer-based examination system. This innovation is the result of a collaboration between ITB, PT. INTI, and the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education.
SmartEdu was developed by Ir Adi Indrayanto MSc, PhD., (KK Electronics) and Yusep Rosmansyah ST, MSc, PhD (Information Technology KK), as well as a team of lecturers and researchers at the School of Electrical Engineering & Informatics (STEI) and the Center for Microelectronics (PME) ITB. The hardware on SmartEdu was developed by Adi Indrayanto, while the software was developed by Yusep Rosmansyah.
In an interview with ITB Public Relations Reporter, Adi Indrayanto explained that the SmartEdu system was initially designed to assist lecturers in selecting material to be presented in class. "So before class begins, lecturers conduct a pre-test. From the students' scores and the distribution of correct and incorrect answers for each question, we can determine which material requires more in-depth explanation, thus making learning more efficient and targeted," he said.
According to him, what makes SmartEdu a smart system is that it's more concise, simpler, and mobile than existing computer-based exam systems. He added that the SmartEdu system consists of three main components.
First is the device. This device is a smartphone that has been used and developed by Adi Indrayanto himself since 2016. This smartphone is used to replace a computer. The applications on the smartphone use a homemade operating system.
The second component is a portable docking station, a suitcase for charging and storing smartphones, arranged in 10 rows, each holding five smartphones. Sensors installed in the suitcase automatically detect whether each row has a low battery. If the battery is low, it will automatically charge and stop charging.
"The third component is the access point. Using a local access point aims to prevent cheating or activities unrelated to learning," said the lecturer from the ITB Electronics Expertise Group.
Simple Working System
Adi Indrayanto explained that the application he developed has a simple interface. Participants simply log in and are then directed to the question packages. They then simply select the questions they wish to work on. While working on the questions, there's a feature to mark any doubts about the selected answer, the question numbers are assigned a different color, and the questions can be worked out of sequence.
"After completing the assignment, participants simply submit their work and log out of the application. The results will be displayed immediately and can be viewed by the test taker," he continued.
The development process faced many challenges for the team. For example, during testing, bugs were frequently encountered, necessitating reprogramming to address them. Furthermore, the operating system used is open source, requiring reinstallation (injection) of any changes to the operating system. This presents a challenge for smartphones that experience issues due to frequent operating system injections, which can cause some components, particularly the storage memory, to become easily damaged and require replacement.
"In the future, we want to develop an energy supply for charging. Currently, charging requires electricity. Later, the system will be integrated with portable solar cells so it can be used anywhere, including in remote areas in Indonesia without electricity," he said.
Adi Indrayanto hopes that SmartEdu can be used for all types of computer-based exams in the future. Not only for universities, but also for civil servant (CPNS) and university entrance exams.
Reporter: Indah Lestari Madelin (Environmental Engineering, 2017)
This article has been published on the site itb.ac.id