At this point, at-home schooling has become a new normal for both instructors and students. With a plethora of technical tools at their disposal, educational institutions now have the option of delivering learning totally online. This has resulted in the education sector receiving critical benefits from electronic learning, such as lower costs, shorter learning time frames, consistency, and greater flexibility.
What Are Online Proctored Exams
What is a proctor in technology? Proctored exams are timed tests that you take while a proctoring software monitors your computer’s desktop, webcam video, and audio, as well as your responses. To ensure that the data recorded by the proctoring software is accurate, it is passed to a third-party proctoring provider. Proctored exams may or may not be required, depending on your course and enrollment track.
So, in essence, an online proctored exam is the same as any other exam, except that it is supported by an online infrastructure that facilitates all of the accompanying activities. As well as, maybe most crucially, invigilation so that the exam room can remain as private as possible.
How Does It Work
What is the procedure for online exam proctoring? Like an in-person proctor, a remotely supervised test is conducted to ensure that no abnormalities that could indicate cheating are present during the process. It is possible to undertake online proctoring in three different ways:
- When a candidate takes an online test, a proctor monitors them in real time through a camera. In some cases, the proctor may also request to observe the surroundings of test-takers first. In addition, nearly all online proctors will require that the screen be shared throughout the exam as well.
- Test takers and their screens are videotaped while taking the exam, and proctors afterward analyze the footage to determine any irregularities. This is known as record-and-review proctoring.
- Automated proctoring, which makes use of artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor the video and audio feeds and the screen-share for any anomalies, is becoming increasingly popular. Proctoring in this manner is identical to record-and-review proctoring, except that a human proctor may only check a feed if the AI flags it as potentially suspicious.
As technology advances, it is anticipated that automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will play an increasingly important role in remote proctoring services. It is possible to use artificial intelligence to confirm a test-taker’s identity by using facial and voice recognition, identifying suspicious objects or behavior in the video feed, and even catching eye movement detection to indicate the reading or use of unauthorized material.
Advantages of Online Proctoring
There are many reasons why online proctoring is so important now, but some of the most prominent advantages are:
- It eliminates the need for a test center to be established.
- Physical proctors are no longer required, nor are they readily available.
- Because of automation, the security and integrity of advanced exams are ensured.
- It saves applicants the effort of going to far-flung exam places and allows them to take the exam in the comfort of their own homes, which is more convenient for them.
Who Benefits from Online Proctoring?
There has never been a time when remote exam proctoring was more beneficial. COVID-19 mandated that the majority of testing centers in the United States close their doors during the spring of 2020, causing many testing organizations to scramble to find alternative testing solutions to suit the needs of professionals in the industry.
Online exam proctoring should prove to be particularly beneficial for students preparing for the insurance license exam. Despite the fact that testing centers in several states have reopened, test takers have had difficulty securing a testing date, and it will likely be months, if not years before in-person examinations are widely available again.
There are online testing and remote proctoring solutions available online. Find out whether or not online exam proctoring is offered for a certain exam in your state. If remote testing is not currently available in your state, be sure to check back frequently for new information. In light of the backlog of in-person tests and the ongoing concerns about the pandemic, it is anticipated that more states may embrace remote testing in the near future.
Conclusion
Your institution will benefit from online proctoring in the long run since it is a critical component of student success. In an age when students have apparently limitless technological options at their disposal, ensuring the academic integrity of your online exams by using proctored online testing services is now more critical than ever.
