The Future of Exams

Calm before the storm... ok so its a somewhat tenuous link to the image above taken at the wonderfully named Lake Titicaca in Bolivia... but having just sat my first exam in over a year I was struck by just how antiquated the examination process is - filing one by one into an examination hall, sitting in silence and handwriting the answers you have memorised the night before!  To quote our teachers advice prior to sitting it 'you don't have to understand it - just remember it'.  

With the advent of the internet enabling students to access information almost instantaneously (whether this is a positive or not is the subject of another debate)  it would seem far more important to test the student's ability to find quality information and apply it to the problem at hand.  Online examination (that is examinations allowing students access to the web or a modified version thereof) is surely an option that educators need to consider.

What would need to happen before exams could be taken online?  Would all subjects be amenable to online examination? Could wikistyle development of test questions and marking systems improve standardisation?  Should there be a change from memory testing to problem solving?

To me online examinations are inevitable and institutional change will inevitably take a long time nevertheless questions such as these need to be addressed.  As always I'm interested to hear what you think?