Online learning did penetrate the education system a while back; however, acceptance and broader use started since the inception of the pandemic. Remote learning offers an excellent opportunity for students and educators to continue with the learning process without the need to be present in the classroom. Proctored testing services like Proctortrack solved the challenges of fair and timely assessment. The support mechanism of proctored testing did help the remote learning gain trust and credibility that it needed.
Let us try to find the answer to how does online proctored testing work?
What Is A Proctored Exam?
Online Proctored testing takes place in the supervision or monitoring of a person or software or a combination of both. Similar to the traditional exams in the classroom, where invigilators are present to ensure no academic misconduct happens. Online proctored exams are needed when students appear from remote locations, and physical invigilation is impossible.
Remote online proctored exams are a great tool to safeguard the academic integrity of online courses and programs. Industries have given due acceptance to online learning because the robust infrastructure of the remote online proctored exam backs them.
Types of Online Proctoring:
Online proctored testing software has evolved significantly. Customizable Proctoring Solutions have come to help preserve the trustworthiness of online exams. These are some of the most used remote proctoring software variants.
• Browser Lockdown Software
A common problem during the proctored online exams is students accessing prohibited websites and study materials online. An effective way to stop this is using software that locks the browser and prevents such access. This automated infrastructure does a massive help in deterring and preventing cheating incidents. Such software like Proctortrack also disables a few keyboard shortcuts to strengthen security.
• Automated Proctoring (AI Proctoring)
Indeed, Artificial Intelligence has helped develop innovative online proctoring programs to identify prohibited and suspicious user behavior. The online proctoring tools have pre-flagged functions to identify prohibited and suspicious user behavior. It helps remote invigilators with real-time notifications when academic misconduct may occur. Automated proctoring supports large-scale exams in remote setups.
• Live Remote Proctoring
There are numerous exams where proctoring does require the keen eye and discretion of a live proctor who doesn’t just monitor but also supports the students. Online proctoring solution providers provide the option of choosing to conduct the exams with the support of live proctors if the institutions have any resource challenges. Having a trained proctor supervise a test can significantly help the students appearing for examinations on a remote platform. They can get real-time guidance from the proctor and focus entirely on the test.
• Blended Online Proctoring (AI with Live)
Blended proctoring can save the day in exams with high stakes, and institutions cannot take any chances with cheating incidences. Here the expert eye of the remote human proctor is at work alongside the accuracy of the AI-powered software to monitor students. Such a proctoring method can prevent physical misconduct or suspicious computer-based attempts. Here live human proctors also get real-time notifications from the software if any undesirable behavior happens; instant intervention is possible.
• In-Classroom Online Proctoring
Many institutions allow students to bring their own devices ( BYOD) for computer-based in-classroom\on-campus exams. Proctored testing software can help the invigilators present in the classroom with effective proctoring in these scenarios. The student devices can be secure, and any preventive action is possible in real time. The online proctored testing solutions can deliver multiple purposes like notifications for suspicious behavior, live communication between students and invigilators, and real-time remediation of any technical or other problems.
Essential Proctored Testing Services Features
• Student ID Verification
A very fundamental use of having a web-proctored exam is to ensure that no imposter appears for the test on behalf of the student. Hence, the proctoring solution should be able to identify and validate the student before the start of the test.
• Video and Audio Monitoring
The webcam and microphone are potent tools to mitigate cheating. The designated proctoring solution should be capable of using these hardware devices and detecting any misconduct. Using a webcam and microphone should happen during the test; using appropriate system data like screenshots, more effective proctored testing is possible.
• Browser Locking
Having the mechanism to lock the browser is rather essential for any proctoring solution. Because, Students may attempt to access unauthorized websites or study material online, which needs robust digital prevention. The capability to lock the browser helps contain most compromises on the exams’ security.
• Non-Intrusive Approach
An essential feature of any proctoring solution is to have the highest ethical values regarding data privacy. Definitely the solution’s approach should have clear boundaries for using the details of the users, and every piece of information must be in use for the intended purpose only.
• Efficient Report Generation
An online proctoring solution is also critical in generating reports for post-exam analysis. There are specific suspicious actions that may require thorough investigation. Also, these reports are extremely useful in automated proctoring where the live human proctor is not present.
• Customer Support
Any proctoring solution provider should have a vital client support function. Remotely taken tests can happen in various time zones, and besides that, students or administrators may get stuck completing the exam. Therefore, having a continuous customer support function makes life easier for all.
• Stealth App Detection and Prevention
Additionally, the proctoring solution should have the function to detect and prevent the use of any prohibited application or virtual machines. Hence, The proctoring software must identify if the student’s system has any parallel operating system running to access prohibited data or information.
How Will You Choose the Right Proctoring Solution?
Subsequently, these are simple points for consideration before choosing the right proctoring solution for your tests.
- The scale and volume of the tests required
- The number of enrolments happened for the course
- Types of questions in a particular test ( MCQ\Descriptive)
- How high are the stakes on an exam
Benefits of Proctored Testing
For Educators
- Maintain the integrity of exams
- Helps in analyzing suspicious student behavior and actions during tests
- Supervision at a larger scale
- Cost saving for a physical exam infrastructure
For Students
- Preserves the fairness of tests
- Makes online education available to all
- Online proctors help during the tests
- Saves time and money for traveling to testing centers
Proctored Testing: A Key to Achieving Exam Integrity
Indeed, institutions and educators have various technologies to choose from for exam proctoring purposes. The relevant stakeholders should evaluate each available proctoring option and select the most appropriate one. Proctoring solutions like Proctortrack have customization options depending on the high stakes and specific technicalities. The key takeaway is that along with the technical features, other aspects like client service and scalability should come into consideration before choosing the proctoring solution. Therefore, a thorough understanding and analysis of the proctoring options should happen before finalizing the right one for your tests.
