Group Of University Students Using Online Resources
Remote online proctoring allows students to partake in various forms of assessments in a remote location. Typically, as the student takes the test, he or she is monitored by tech tools or a human proctor to maintain the integrity of the exam, verifying student identity, protecting assessment content and preventing plagiarism.
Remote proctoring services, such as Proctorio, include advanced features such as automated ID verification and authentication, real-time monitoring, content protection, a secure browser, computer lockdown settings, administrative controls and data analytics.
Remote proctoring enables educators to continue driving learning initiatives as schools and universities operate remotely. To take advantage of the best proctoring vendors services have to offer, it’s important to understand the challenges involved and also the key features that you shouldn’t overlook.
Let’s explore how a remote proctoring platform can result in best outcomes for your institution.
The integrity of the assessment is the main concern of remote proctoring. At the same time, students’ privacy is still top priority. Finding the balance between these two requirements is a challenge for many institutions. Thus, monitoring tools of student activity during an assessment must be customizable to your institution’s specific needs and requirements — and eliminate human bias wherever possible.
In addition, challenges regarding end-to-end data security, data analytics and the function of general proctoring capabilities continue to stump educators as they adjust to holding remote assessments for their students. However, many advanced proctoring services can accommodate all three needs of institutions — you just need to know what to look for in a solution.
We’ve put together three requirements that you should look for in a remote proctoring platform, including end-to-end security, data analytics capabilities and AI and ML integrations to get rid of human error or bias.
End-to-End Security
Beyond ID verification and computer restrictions, end-to-end security measures of a remote proctoring platform help to protect the integrity of the exam. Such features include preventing internet access, mobile device use, screen capture and sharing capabilities. In addition, the platform must ensure a secure access point into the exam and offer no loopholes for other entry ways. Finally, students should not be able to access the exam after the final attempt.
Technical Support
Setting up a secure and effective testing environment can be difficult even inside a single school or college. The task gets exponentially more challenging when each student has to take the test from an individual location. Simply configuring a camera or microphone on a remote desktop — times every student at your institution — can cost your organization a significant amount of time and money on technical support. Thus, when looking for a remote proctoring solution, make sure that technical support for remote rest takers is at the forefront of available features.
Advanced Monitoring Features
Data analytics integrated with remote proctoring can be invaluable for tracking test integrity. Features such as academic integrity tracking across various courses, general trends of testing violations and individual student ratings support this initiative.
AI and modern learning capabilities take remote proctoring to the next level. Advanced machine learning and facial detection technology can deliver accurate, reliable automated proctoring that can outperform human proctors. Plus, by leaning on these smart capabilities, your institution can achieve a higher level of assessment integrity by removing bias and human error.
Ensuring that your proctoring tools are IMS Global certified is the best way to ensure that your remote proctoring platform suits your institution’s needs. When your EdTech tools operate within an interoperable, plug-and-play ecosystem, your applications and content can work together, providing more innovative options for learning and assessment and reducing the total cost of ownership of your tech stack.
The IMS Proctoring Services standard is based on the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) specification, which is the foundation of interoperability in education. LTI operates on the premise of a single-entry launch from a platform into an IMS-certified third party application. In other words, this specification allows seamless and secure data and content transfer from your assessment platform to the proctoring service.
If you can’t find standards compliant system, ask about their support and documentation for their APIs. Good support will make a huge difference in your implementation experience.
Gain the confidence, ease of use and security in your online assessment practices. When following the IMS framework, your institution can easily integrate remote proctoring services with your assessment platform, allowing your students to experience the exam in a secure, seamless way from the comfort of home.