As online learning and testing continues to gain in popularity among students, test-takers, and exam administrators, many organizations understandably have questions about the options available for online proctoring.
For institutions and organizations using online learning and exams, online proctoring is a critical tool to add security and rigor to the process. Online proctoring allows exam administrators to:
- Verify a test-taker’s identity continuously throughout the course of the exam
- Flag suspicious behavior for evaluation by an academic integrity officer
- Record and reference data streams of test-takers following the exam
- Review audit trails of proctored session data
- Gain flexibility and peace of mind for both themselves and test-takers
An overview of fully automated proctoring
Fully automated proctoring means a proctoring solution is completely managed by technology. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies, it’s a software-only identity verification and exam recording solution for reviewing exam data to identify and report suspicious behavior.
This technology allows organizations – including higher education institutions, certification and licensing bodies, private businesses, and government entities – to layer on proctoring capabilities without the need for a live person.
Here’s a breakdown of how fully automated proctoring specifically helps these types of organizations:
Colleges/universities
Fully automated proctoring supports testing in hybrid or remote learning environments, so students can schedule their exam at the time and place that works best for them. The system provides audit trails of proctored session data, making it easy for instructors to review suspicious behavior if needed. Fully automated proctoring is great for low-stakes assessment for synchronous or asynchronous courses.
Professional/trade associations, credentialing organizations, and licensing bodies
Many professions are reluctant to commit to certifications due to the time and travel investment. Fully automated proctoring gives your test-takers much-appreciated flexibility and peace of mind. At the same time, remote exams allow you to offer access to a larger geographic audience while lowering your organization’s travel and operations costs.
Corporate training, HR, recruiting, and pre-hiring screenings
Fully automated proctoring helps businesses make the recruiting and hiring process easier. Adding an element of automation enables HR teams to expand the organization’s recruitment territory while enhancing the candidate vetting and evaluation process.
Government and municipalities
Government entities often require an element of continuing education, testing, and certification for professionals in many areas, from electrical wiring to elevator safety. Fully automated proctoring is a great solution for these entities because it’s cost-effective and streamlines processes. Low-stakes exams can be entirely proctored with AI.
4 advantages of fully automated proctoring
Fully automated proctoring is ideal for low- to medium-stakes exams. For higher-stakes exams, organizations may want to consider human-assisted proctoring, which includes additional oversight from a person.
In situations that don’t require a live human monitor, fully automated proctoring offers these key benefits:
- Reduced test anxiety: Given that students and test-takers increasingly prefer a remote or hybrid model for courses and exams, fully automated proctoring is an ideal solution.
- More freedom for exam administrators: Fully automated proctoring takes the pressure off exam administrators to monitor exams, so they can stay focused on teaching and evaluating knowledge.
- Cost-effective: Fully automated proctoring is an on-demand, convenient, and cost-effective solution for online exams. When you don’t need enhanced proctoring support from professional auditors, automated proctoring is a great solution for test-takers and exam administrators.
- Easy to install and use: Exam administrators and test-takers get the same great customer support as with any other proctoring solution. All questions, concerns, and issues should be addressed within two minutes.
How fully automated proctoring promotes exam integrity
Many organizations like the idea of online exams but have concerns about integrity issues. Fortunately, the automated proctoring system’s AI helps to ensure the integrity of the exam, from identity verification before the test starts to the final review.
To prove their identity, the test-taker’s photo is captured without requiring them to install anything on their computer. The proctoring solution then records video as they take the test and uses AI to analyze and flag any suspicious behavior, such as:
- Not maintaining consistent eye contact with the screen
- Clicking anywhere other than the exam page
- Talking with others during the exam session
- Walking away from the webcam view
After the exam is finished, the exam administrator is notified about any anomalies the AI detected. They can then review the flagged behaviors and determine the best course of action.
Integrating fully automated proctoring with other technologies
Fully automated proctoring technology works as an easy, seamless add-on to your existing learning management system (LMS) like Canvas or Blackboard, or as a standalone solution that can run on its own as an integrated solution.
The success of fully automated proctoring depends heavily on the technology you use. For the sake of your organization, test-takers, and exam administrators, your proctoring technology needs to be user-friendly and secure with strong tech support.
