Secure Data Management in an English Speaking Test Implemented in General-Purpose PC Classrooms

The Kyoto Institute of Technology Speaking Test, "English for the 21st Century" is being developed to assess the English speaking ability of undergraduate students learning English as a lingua franca. The ultimate goal of this project is to introduce the computer-based English speaking test as part of entrance examinations to graduate programs. Despite the high-stakes nature of the test, it needs to be implemented in general-purpose PC classrooms mainly due to financial constraints. A secure data sharing system needs to be established between the PCs used for the test and the servers to preserve confidentiality, integrity, accessibility for the audio data. External graders will need access to carry out online evaluation of the collected data.

Also, the computer rooms must resume normal operation soon after the test administration. We administered the first two large-scale feasibility tests (approximately 700 examinees each) in January and December 2015. In this paper we will demonstrate the Windows custom image and secure data sharing tools we have developed for the tests and also report on how they were operated in the actual administration of the tests