Gradually things have moved from physical to digital, and learning and development followed the suit. Online learning and assessment technology has transformed the L&D needs of organizations to eliminate the operational bottlenecks and enable seamless functionalities during these Covid-19 affected unprecedented times. But, administering exams and maintaining integrity and fairness during the online assessment process has been a big challenge for organizations. Online remote proctoring or AI-proctoring came as a pioneer to accelerate continuing learning with the right kind of assessment. If you are wondering what exactly online remote proctoring and AI-proctoring do and how they help in online assessment, worry not! Here is a quick walkthrough explaining the meaning of online proctored exams.
Remote Proctoring Vs. AI-Proctoring:
First thing first, let’s understand what is remote or online proctoring. It is nothing but the process of remotely invigilating an online exam to prevent malpractices and maintain exam probity. Here, no certified proctor is there rather the AI does most of the things and might exclude candidates with special needs. Whereas AI-proctoring involves an AI-powered online proctoring software and a certified human proctor keeps an eye on candidates during the exam.
These proctored exams offer a robust, flexible, sustainable, and responsive platform for seamlessly conducting online assessments. Online assessment with these platforms eliminates the challenges related to cost, infrastructure, credibility, accessibility, accuracy, and exam administration support. Moreover, AI-proctored exam tools accommodate specially-abled candidates and candidates with non-white or darker skin tones – and promote inclusion.
How do Online Proctoring Services Work?
Talk about identity verification, face recognition, voice recognition, face logging, browser screen locking, and candidate authentication, the proctoring software can perform all of this through your webcam (webcam proctoring). And, in the case of AI-proctoring, a certified human proctor and AI-based algorithms do the job. The proctoring application can flag dubious activities of candidates and flash warning messages on the candidates’ screen to retain the exam integrity and prevent cheating while the human proctor verifies the flags. With the help of both the proctored online exams – candidates can appear for exams from any corner of the globe.
Ways Candidates Cheat in Exams:
While online exams are a norm, people tend to take them for granted and try cheating during the exams. They use sophisticated devices, share screens, use mobile phones, deploy auto coding software, impersonate others, intentionally leave the login screen, have other people in the room, connect external devices, use search engines, or copy-paste answers. Online and AI proctoring prevent all of this.
How Online AI-Proctoring is Done?
Online assessment using an exam proctoring can manage 100K candidates at once. Role-based access is enabled for the proctoring platform that both admins, proctors, and candidates can access depending on the relevant permissions. Payment issues like delayed, failed or un-secure fee payment methods can be eliminated as the proctoring software allows an integrated payment gateway to streamline payments. Moreover, the application enables organizations to have flexible Q&A patterns for customizing the assessment papers as they desire. Let’s see how proctoring is done:
- Authenticate the Candidate – Before the Exam Starts:
Candidates’ identity is verified and authenticated by the certified human proctor as soon as the candidates log in to take up the test. The human proctor verifies and authenticates the identity and exam registration details using valid ID proof and pictures clicked by the application using the webcam. It prevents candidates from using anyone as a disguise.
- Control the Browser – As Soon As the Exam Starts:
Online web proctoring or AI proctoring involves controlling the browser – so that the candidates can’t access information to cheat in the exam. It involves blocking web browsers, tabs, websites, and search engines while sharing is disabled for desktops and virtual environments. Moreover, external devices or printers are blocked along with any mode of data transfer.
- Live Proctoring – During the Exam:
Apart from the AI-enabled system taking care of the exam probity, the human proctor keeps an eye on the candidates through the webcam. The system and the proctor warn the candidates if they notice any unusual behavior by face logging, face and voice recognition, camera hiding logs, etc.
- Recording for Audits – Post Exam:
The entire exam session is recorded to ensure that the exam was conducted fairly. This recording helps as proof for future review and manual review for optimum exam probity. The recording is stored only for reviewing the session and audit purposes for a certain period without jeopardizing the security or privacy of the candidate.
At the end of the exam, the online proctoring software can also generate automated certificates as required by the organizations. These certificates are downloadable and candidates can have them as soon as they successfully pass the exam. For more information on online AI-proctored or remote proctored exams, stay tuned to MapleLMS!
