Mobile agent based realization of a distance evaluation system

The growth of the Internet has led to new avenues for distance education. A crucial factor for the success of distance education is effective mechanisms for distance evaluation. Existing computer based evaluation mechanisms, such as Web based testing, rely principally on the client-server model. Such mechanisms usually do not scale well and do not fully support features like evaluation of subjective questions, delivery of dynamic content, and off-line examinations. These features are extremely desirable for distance evaluation and there is a need for alternate ways of designing such applications. We propose the use of mobile agents for effective structuring of distance evaluation. Mobile agents are autonomous and dynamic entities that can migrate between various nodes in the network. They offer many advantages over traditional design methodologies like reduction in network load, overcoming network latency and disconnected operations. We have designed and implemented MADE, a mobile agent based system for distance evaluation of students who may be spread over large areas. MADE aims to map closely to real world examination scenarios and addresses the full gamut of the examination process, viz., paper setting, distribution and testing, evaluation and result-compilation. In this paper we present our experiences in the development of MADE and show how mobile agents can be leveraged to effectively structure such large-scale applications.