The proctored test or proctoring is mainly defined as a kind of mechanism which is to ensure the authenticity of the one who is taking the test and so that it can prevent them from cheating with the help of proctor which is there during the time of the test.
When one wants to know a proctor is an individual who is basically trained and qualified in order to undertake the students’ authentication and can also prevent them from cheating in any form. Online testing things have become a very common thing in the last 2 decades and these days the tests are done in different formats. The major and very common type in online testing is to go for an objective test where a candidate us used to understand the profile and their learning ability.
Now why there has to be online proctoring services? What problem can one face when one conducts a test or online tests without any kind of proctoring?
• The organizations who are administering any kind of tests, it becomes very challenging for them to provide a proper proctored examination center near the location of the ones sitting for the examination.
• It is also very difficult to find out qualified proctors. Also it is very hard to ensure that what will be the quality of proctoring. One cannot keep a record on how the hired proctors have done their services.
• When there is a limited supple of proctors and related test centers, one has to keep on conducting the test for a longer schedule to cater every applicant.
• When there is an online test that happens without any kind of proctoring then there are lot of cases of cheating and impersonating. The applicants can ask someone else to sit for the test on their behalf, or they can refer to text books, smart phones and other devices to search for the answers and take some other modes of cheating.
What Is This Online Proctoring In Examination?
When there is an online video test or a written test and proctoring is added to that; the candidate sitting of the examination is monitored throughout the test duration and this is mainly done with the help of a mic, a webcam and some other processes to get access to the screens of the candidates.
In order to go for an online proctored test, and that too from a remote location; the candidates need:
• A proper device to take the test like a desktop, a laptop or a tablet.
• A proper and well working internet connection with possible maximum speed.
• A well-functioning mic or a webcam.
• Some modern search browsers installed in the computer.
What Are The Major Types Of Proctoring?
1. Live Online Proctoring
In case of a live proctored test, there are proper and qualified proctor which can monitor the candidates and go for a screen share feed when the applicant is taking the test. Here, the proctoring service providers can have people sitting in a remote location who have been properly trained so that they can prevent the candidate to do any kind of cheating. A proper proctor monitor can easily keep an eye on at least 15 to 30 candidates depending on the provider. It can also remove the location constraint when in the time of proctoring. The only disadvantage is, it still requires the examination to be scheduled because human involvement is necessary as offline proctoring is a very expensive thing.
2. Recorded Proctoring
When one acquires this method, there is actually no proctor monitoring during the time of the test. Instead of that, there is an audio video and the screen share feeds which can test the candidates are clearly recorded during the time of the examination. Here, any representative can play back the recordings later and there will be red flags appearing of there are any kind of suspicious activity conducted. The major advantage in this is, it can easily remove any kind of location and schedule constraints.
3. Advanced Automated Proctoring
This is said to be the most advanced form when it comes to proctoring. Here, the audio- video and the screen feeds are recorded when the candidate is taking the test. In addition to this recording, this system can also monitor the feed of any kind of suspicious activity by using the audio analytics and advanced video. This also ensures the thing that the candidate can only focus on the test screen and also there should be enough light in the room to check whether there are any suspicious things present there. This also does a proper student authentication. This particular way of proctoring not only removes the constraints but it also does not require any kind of human intervention to do the reviews. That is why; it is very much cost effective.
Here are some additional things that are also needed to make this online proctored examinations more secure. They are:
• One can limit the candidates with some particular IP address.
• Also block the copy and paste options.
• One can also freeze the screen of the device by blocking the access of the candidates and by switching the windows easily.
The demand of this service has mainly increased because there is a good growth of e learning and there is also elimination of high costs due to some proctored assessment centers. It also saves the money and time of the learners.
There are some assessment providers who can always provide some readymade assessments and they can also provide a single test engine to the candidates and clients. This can lead to some additional opportunities in the revenue and also improves the usage depending on the demand and the client base. Remote proctoring can also take this business to a global map.
But the major thing that is served by this is to check whether a candidate is cheating when they are sitting for an online examination. This helps in conducting a fair process.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about why proctoring services are much needed for test and exam implementation for higher education.
Interested in more articles about higher education and testing?
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