With the world moving toward digitisation, various processes have shifted online. Nowadays, students seek Assignment help online to get away with their daily deadlines. They even submit homework over the internet, attend classes and appear in exams. In order to make things easy and help students to know the internet world, schools, colleges and universities have ventured out on the path of online exams.
But as we all know that good and evil exist simultaneously, and it is important to maintain a safe environment throughout the examination. Thus, giving rise to the concept of remote proctoring. In this article, you will gain a detailed idea of remote proctoring, features and other relevant factors related to the same.
Table of Contents
What is virtual exam proctoring?
Virtual exam proctoring involves monitoring an online exam from a fixed location to ensure that no students are using illegal procedures. Mostly, AI software, under the supervision of an experienced invigilator, takes care of the entire process. In addition, scheduled dates and times are programmed within the software, making the task a lot easier.
A student appearing for the exam has to confirm on their ID, and the software will keep a tab on their activities over the webcam. In addition, you cannot leave the page, change tabs, or open a new page using the same IP address. Under certain conditions, the screen gets recorded as well.
Types of virtual exam proctoring:
There are three virtual exam proctoring types:
- Live proctoring: Here, the students’ screen is monitored throughout the exam and made sure they are not resorting to illegal measures. Everything gets recorded whenever someone tries to move out of the guidelines mentioned, and immediate consequences are implemented. Live proctoring software and the invigilator in charge take care of the entire arrangement.
- Advanced proctoring (automated): Software is mainly responsible for completing the process at the initial stage. Each and every activity on the screen will be recorded, and the invigilator will go through the same once free. Strict actions are also implied here against students who are undutiful to the guidelines.
- Recorded proctoring: Here, everything is recorded and stored on the cloud to combat future escalations. Although none is reviewed immediately, the intensity of the escalation remains the same.
Does virtual proctoring have a stable future?
In modern times, with everything moving online remote proctoring has a bright future to proceed. Universities and offices all around the globe are incorporating remote proctoring guidelines within their exam schedule. On-time records and a user-friendly interface help invigilators take action accordingly. Evidence gets stored in the cloud to monitor future escalations.
What is the credibility index in virtual exam proctoring, and how is it calculated?
Just like a simple calculator taking care of the sums, a credibility index is used to monitor the level of truth maintained by an individual student during an online exam. A student’s credibility is calculated based on the various proctoring flags recorded throughout the exam.
The basic scenarios that hamper credibility are:
- Face not visible or can be seen partially during the exam: Students appearing for an online exam proctored remotely needs to be in front of their webcam all the time. Therefore, showing their face partially will attract adequate consequences. Â
- The presence of another person other than the student has been detected: The applicant is not facing the camera and trying to have a conversation with someone else.
- There have been multiple rounds of distracting movements: The student is looking here and there suddenly.
- A noisy environment: The AI has full control over the microphone, detecting additional voices in the same room.
- Detection of unauthorised devices: When the webcam detects another device in the room or when the signal tracker notices similar searches on a different device logged in with the same email address.
- The student’s face is certainly away from the test window: The student has to maintain a scheduled distance from the window. Not abiding by the same will make them liable to consequences.
Is it easy to monitor virtual exams?
Monitoring an online exam remotely gets easy with the various AI-based proctoring tools available online and the internet is at its best. Let’s have a look into the various ways by which institutions can stop illegal activities before and during online exams:
1. Eliminate impersonation before and during the exam
It is a common problem in online exams, where students were earlier found to share their login credentials with an outsider and make that person appear for the test. However, with modern-day AI tools looking after your whereabouts throughout the exam over the webcam, things are no longer that easy. Impersonation in all forms is absolutely impossible.
2. Stop screen sharing and mirroring
With the IP address getting tracked, students can no longer share the exam screen with friends and family. This way, only one device is logged into the exam portal at a time, and no more external hassles to care for.
3. Eliminate the use of external microphones and mobiles
Over the years, students were found storing information in hi-tech cameras, calculators, microphones and external chips. These devices were, till now, not detectable, but with AI taking charge and monitoring even the slightest of movements in front of the screen, everything is under control.
4. Answer sharing over the net
Modern-day solutions for proctoring remote exams prevent students from browsing other internet tabs. Instead, a real-time warning gets flashed on the screen, and a final notification is sent back to the exam centre, facilitating ultimate consequences.
5. Presence of human help (family or friends)
There are various institutions monitoring both the audio and visual environment of the student. This way, the software can detect voices in the same room, and help invigilators take adequate answers. Friends or family can no longer spill answers from the side.
6. Logging out of the exam window intentionally
All the online remote exams allow one-time login, and students can no longer log out intentionally to come back with the answers they do not know.
Final Thoughts
Virtual Exam proctoring is easy only with all the necessary AI-driven tools. Unfortunately, institutions have faced a lot of hassles in the past with maintaining a healthy environment during online exams, and it was only until now that they have finally been able to crack the deal.