The online version of All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) is loaded with 'convenience' features offering students major advantages over offline version. While giving the online exam in 2012 students can change the language of answer as many times possible during the exam itself.
If a particular question in English is not understood properly by a student due to the language factor, he or she can switch over Hindi and answer it. They can then continue in Hindi afterwards or switch back again to English throughout the exam. This switching between languages will not have any negative bearing on the evaluation. After the students finish their online exam, a copy of the question paper will be automatically emailed to them.
Abhishek Bansal, who runs a coaching centre, said, "This advantage is available in offline mode only to those who opted for Hindi medium as the question paper comes in both languages. On one side, the questions are written in Hindi and on the other in English. Students opting for English medium do not have that advantage at all."
The AIEEE 2012 online version is also going to be held daily from May 7 - May 26 giving students ample time to prepare. As the offline exam is scheduled for April 29, students can avail of more than a month's extra time to prepare. To top it all, the three hour long online exam will be held twice daily, with morning test starting at 9 am and the afternoon one starting at 2pm. However, there are many students who have been advised by their coaching classes to opt for the offline exam. Many argue that the online version's advantage is still minimal.
Bansal said, "it is not the mode of exam but the nature questions that count. Other things like language medium and frequency of exam are minor issues. Students want to ensure that they get questions they have prepared for. I have not recommended any particular version to my students as I want them to take the decision themselves. For next year, I would be more comfortable with offline version
