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August 11, 2018 02:34 pm

Should Online Courses Film Students Taking Tests?

Recently the Palm Beach Post noted that 20% of the academic credit awarded at Florida Atlantic University is for online courses. So how can they stop cheaters?Where once it was enough for a professor to roam the aisles of a classroom, checking for cheat sheets and keeping an eye out for students signaling one another, proctoring today's tests often requires web cams and biometric IDs. A field of more than a dozen test-proctoring services has emerged in the past decade. Typically, the company gets some sort of visual on the test taker via a web cam and then asks the student to show the camera his or her ID. Other security layers can include software that recognizes faces or even keystroking patterns.The next step is to monitor the student during the test. In the online proctoring world, that is done in one of three ways: * A remote but live proctor who watches in real time.* A record-and-review method in which a proctor watches the testing session, but not in real time.* An automated system, in which the software is programmed to spot abnormalities and flag them. Honorlock -- one of the record-and-review outfits -- expected to proctor roughly 100,000 tests in the 2017-2018 school year, and promises schools that their solution also searches the web for copies of the test and automatically files takedown notices for any leaked copies, according to a link shared by Slashdot reader Presto Vivace. Besides filming students during tests, it also includes patented technology that "detects and prevents searching for test answers online from any secondary device." And it even verifies the identity of test takers using "any government issued" i.d. (like a driver's license or passport) or student ID which includes a photo. One student complained on Reddit that "This seems crazy invasive and should probably be illegal," adding "is there anything passive aggressive you want me to say into the mic?" But what do Slashdot readers think? Should professors be remotely detecting searches on handheld devices, using photo IDs to verify identities -- and filming students taking tests?

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