App turns teachers’ smartphones into automatic exam graders

Quick Key is a new app that makes grading multiple choice papers quicker and easier, enabling teachers to spend more time fine-tuning their teaching plans.

Platforms like GoSoapBox already harness mobile technology to glean information about student performance, but judging their work still relies on long marking sessions out of hours. Quick Key is a new app that makes grading multiple choice papers quicker and easier, enabling teachers to spend more time fine-tuning their teaching plans. Exam boards already use computer-readable test sheets to grade large batches of student work, however not every teacher could afford to own such equipment. Created by teacher Walter O Duncan IV, Quick Key instead leverages smartphone cameras to act as scanners. Students complete multiple choice quizzes by blocking in the boxes next to the answer they think is correct. When scanned, the app compares each student’s answers with the correct pattern and assigns a mark to the corresponding individual identified by a QR code located on the sheet. Scanning each sheet takes a few seconds and a database of grades is automatically created, a task that would otherwise take hours. The following video shows how the system works: Although not suitable for more complex examinations, Quick Key cuts grading time for educators using multiple choice questions already, or could enable extra testing of students without significantly increasing workload. Could similar technology improve productivity in other sectors by automating traditionally manual work? Spotted by: Murray Orange