Above all, RAINBOW's goal is to be an accessible tool for users that doesn't get in the way of it's primary purpose -- to facilitate teachers and students toward a better testing experience. RAINBOW strives to be simple and intuitive, so that users can feel assured that the system does exactly what they want and nothing else.
To ensure that the RAINBOW experience is a productive one, RAINBOW enforces strict privacy & security policies without limiting the ability of users to have the customization and flexibility they need. The following is an overview of these qualitative aspects of RAINBOW.
Since RAINBOW requires keeping student scores private, as well as keeping tests available to those who have the authority to view them, privacy is an important concern. The system works on an authorization system where users must authenticate themselves to the system before being able to access tests, questions, and other features of the system. Once a user authenticates himself or herself to the system, he or she is not required to re-authenticate while using the program.
In order to allow students to access the tests they need, teachers can set up a registered list of students using student services rosters, or by creating accounts for the students. Teachers release tests to authorized students in the class and once tests are graded, the system only releases graded tests to the student who took the test. The goal is to promote availability of tests while maintaining confidentiality.
A primary security concern is test security -- both in storage and in test taking. When teachers create tests, the tests are stored locally on their harddrive which means they are able to be transfered off the drive, which can pose a security risk; however, the files are stored encrypted and can only be opened and accessed by authorized users who are logged into the client. The goal is to inhibit theft by making the test unusable without proper authorization.
When students are taking a test, it is important that the integrity of the data is maintained, so that the system does not alter their answers or allow students to spoof the system into taking incorrect answers. This means the system must be a closed system -- students should not be able to subvert the access controls that prevent them from altering answers after they submit a test and must not be able to access the tests before the instructor has published the test.
RAINBOW is designed to cater to the needs of users with little to no technical ability while still maintaining flexibility and customization for the test generation process. The wizard style test generation makes the process of designing and generating a test simple and efficient, without over-complicating the process. Each screen is designed to give the user all the options he or she needs when they are applicable; the options the user has are available in button form, so the user can always see every possible option for creating a test when creating it.