Digital signatures for electronic assessments benefits and challenges of operating an electronic examination room

Electronic assessments are gaining more and more relevance at many universities and other educational institutions. At Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria, an electronic examination room was established in 2011 and is being continuously developed since then. It has emerged as a user-friendly and highly automated means of administering assessments in multiple faculties. Digital signatures involving the students' identity cards are utilized to ensure legally binding and highly secure submissions. This research discusses preliminary findings and presents the outcome of a current evaluation.