The OMR Correction Mobile App (RedPen Application) revolutionised the way skill assessment data was collected, processed, and delivered. Designed to simplify and accelerate the evaluation process, this app enables teachers to scan OMR sheets and transmit students’ answer sheets directly to a centralized server. By leveraging automated border detection and answer recognition, the app allows teachers to make corrections for instances like erased and reshaded responses before submitting. This eliminated logistical bottlenecks, reduced costs, and drastically improved the turnaround time for delivering assessment reports.
The Backstory
Traditionally, conducting and evaluating annual skill assessments involved multiple time-consuming steps:
- Preparation: Question papers and OMR sheets were printed and shipped to schools for conduction the skill assessment.
- Administration: Schools distributed unique 15-digit serial numbers and OMR sheets to students for the test.
- Pickup & Delivery: After the test, OMR sheets were collected from schools and transported to a central warehouse.
- Scanning & Evaluation: OMR sheets were scanned at the warehouse, and results were uploaded to a server.
- Result Compilation: Once data from 100-200 schools was received, national averages were calculated, and report cards were printed and shipped back to schools.
This process often stretched over 3-4 months, frustrating punctual schools and causing some to abandon the product altogether. The delays were primarily due to logistical challenges:
- OMR Pickup Issues: Scheduling and coordinating pickups from remote schools required significant time and effort.
- Transport Challenges: Damage during transportation, storage issues, and retrieval delays hampered efficiency.
- Processing Bottlenecks: Scanning and analyzing data in bulk created significant delays.
The pickup process emerged as the most critical bottleneck, consuming valuable time and resources while hindering timely delivery of results.
Solution
The RedPen Application was developed with a clear goal:
- Eliminate the need for OMR sheet pickups and the associated logistical challenges.
- Ensure timely delivery of reports to schools and students.
The app enabled teachers to scan specially designed OMR sheets and transmit data directly to the server for evaluation. This significantly reduced dependency on physical transportation and shortened the reporting timeline.
Key Features of the Application
- Offline Functionality – The app was designed to work entirely offline, crucial for remote schools with limited network access. Data was stored locally until ideal network conditions allowed seamless uploads
- Live OMR Detection and Correction – Teachers could view detected responses in real-time and make corrections for erased or re-shaded answers, ensuring accurate data submission.
- Robust Auto OMR Detection – The app’s OMR detection algorithm was fine-tuned to handle challenging conditions, such as shadows, dim lighting, and unclean camera lenses, ensuring reliable performance in varied environments.
- Queue Server Implementation – A scalable server system was developed to manage large datasets, queuing data for orderly processing before writing it to the database, even during high-volume uploads
Results
- Faster Report Delivery – Reports were printed and delivered to schools within one month, reducing the timeline by 75%.
- Cost Savings – Eliminated logistical and operational costs for OMR sheet transportation, resulting in $100K annual savings
- Improved User Satisfaction – Streamlined workflows for schools, enhancing punctuality and ensuring that reports reached students and parents promptly.
The RedPen Application (OMR Correction App) showcased the power of digital transformation in simplifying complex workflows, reducing costs, and meeting user expectations with efficiency and reliability. This solution not only addressed immediate logistical challenges but also set a benchmark for OMR detection using a generic mobile device
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