Applying Cloud Computing for Automated Generation of Parameterized Tasks and Test

Testing students' knowledge is an indispensable part of the educational process by means of e-learning. A sufficient amount of suitable questions is necessary for creating a necessary number of test variants whose creation is demanding. For that purpose it is possible to use a generator of parameterized text tasks. However, application of this generator depends on a particular computer in which a system is installed with an embedded generator and where the source codes of the generator are stored. The possibility of a wider use of the generator by more users is thus significantly limited. This contribution presents basic characteristics of the created cloud application which enables the use of a generator of parameterized questions comfortably from a web browser from whatever place in the world. The CloudMat system is presented including a brief technical description of this application and it is complemented by samples of the application interface on a desktop and a mobile device. The presented solution provides outputs in PDF and Moodle XML formats. The created web interface in cloud makes the technology of the test generation accessible to a wide range of users without the necessity of special knowledge, expensive hardware or specific licensed software. A common web browser is sufficient to enable a fully-fledged use.