![]() ![]() Some students were told to ensure no one else in their home used the internet during an exam, despite the fact that students may live together and take the same classes, or live at home with family members also working and learning online. When COVID-19 forced institutions online, protests and stories began to emerge about the extremes these technologies can impose. (Shutterstock) Control over students’ environmentsĮven prior to the pandemic, some higher education voices had raised concerns about proctoring platforms. When COVID-19 forced institutions online, protests and stories began to emerge about the extremes that proctoring platforms can impose. Others force students to verify their identity via government-issued ID, potentially outing trans or undocumented learners. Some platforms use discriminatory facial recognition technologies that work poorly with darker skin, forcing students to sit for exams with bright lights shining in their faces in order to be recognized by AI. ![]() In the all-seeing eye of the remote proctor, all students become potential cheaters.Įquity is also not a consideration for online proctoring. Tools that use eye tracking can flag students who fail to keep their eyes on the webcam or screen, even if the reason is autism or disability rather than cheating. Some also offer human proctors as an option in combination with AI. Some proctoring vendors use algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to flag suspicious behaviour. Institutions pay proctoring services to address a core paradox of online learning: the internet puts a world of knowledge at learners’ fingertips, but schools tend to count using that knowledge as cheating. Testing and proctoring methods that invade privacy and erode trust end up undermining the very integrity that institutions demand students uphold.Ĭonsequences of being flagged by the tool But the risks of exchanging the four walls of the classroom for surveillance platforms may be higher than many institutions bargained for. Proctoring tools can monitor eye movements, capture students’ keystrokes, record their screens and track their searches as well as their home environments and physical behaviours.Īs an education technology scholar, I see institutions turning to online proctoring in the name of academic integrity, to prevent cheating. Monitor students’ laptops, tablets or phones during the course of an exam. Designed by for-profit tech startups, they These tools go by names like ProctorU, Examity, Respondus and Proctorio, among others. As a result, some students will write exams online via remote proctoring platforms that surveil their activities. The health risks posed by COVID-19 mean most Canadian university classes are online this year. ![]()
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