The Right Form of Proctoring

The curve of online learning has witnessed a boom in the last year or so. Even the number of students who are enrolling for online courses are on the definite rise. One thing for sure online assessments with online invigilation is going to be the talk of the town in the coming days. The field of proctoring solution is witnessed a lot of interest. For this reason, new technologies along with service providers have emerged in the last few years. Even the market for this field is evolving at the speed of knots. By the year 2026 it is anticipated that the market would touch around $ 226 million as this covers all facets along with training.

The market is spreading like wildfire as proctoring would be the ruling technology and is the smartest tool that would keep a control over the cheaters. What the future holds is that it keeps a tab on the cheaters. But before diving into this ocean you need to have a fair understanding of what are the rules of this game.  You need to have a concise idea about proctoring.

The types of proctoring

Live online proctoring

An experienced proctor analyses the screen sharing feeds along with audio-video visuals in real-time. Here a live proctoring of examinees is conducted. The solution provider has the candidates who are located in far off positions who are there to trim unethical student practices. For a proctor they can monitor 15 to 30 candidates at a single go once again that depends upon the service provider. A major benefit of live proctoring is it eradicates local constraints with this concept.

The downside to it is that still you have to schedule the tests. Even to conduct this process a significant amount of human intervention is necessary. Being scalable the price charts are on the higher side.

Recorded proctoring

During the course of this feed nobody is monitored in real-time. In fact, the audio-video visuals along with the screen feeds are recorded during the exams. In due course of time a proctor goes on to study the recordings of the test. Normally the recordings are observed in a fast-forward manner and for any suspicious activity it is red-flagged. Still there is human intervention needed for the review and hence it is on the expensive side.

This is  a form of proctoring where you have to take into consideration that cheating is something that cannot be avoided. But a proctor can audit the tests later on to detect cheating. To some extent it is decently scalable as at the time of the test a proctor is not needed. He might be needed in order to review the exam. Moreover, in a way it is a viable solution.

Automated proctoring

This form of proctoring caters to the elite class of clients. In this type of proctoring there is a recording of the audio-video visual or screen sharing feeds of the candidates. Even there is a provision for monitoring the suspicious activity of the students. By this system the software trims down all possibilities of cheating. It can be easily detected if the candidate opens software or takes the help of other person in the room. To testify the authenticity of a candidate facial recognition is used. In fact, the upsides of remote proctoring are very much there and you do not have to think twice before you schedule an exam. It can be termed as a viable and cost-effective solution.

A highly scalable method as it can support any number of test-takers at a given point of time. being 24/7 there is no need for a proctor at any given point of time. It has to be said that the future holds for this form of proctoring. More and more developments are taking place that is expected to eradicate live proctoring.

The mechanism to decide

By now you might have had a fair idea on which one to choose.

Stakes involved

Teaching is a mechanism that facilitates learning. No way would it matter if the integrity of the test is compromised. An appropriate proctoring solution is determined if the stakes of your exam are found out. You have to ascertain the purpose of the exam and have an overview of whether it is high or low stake. When the stakes are high a mechanism of the remote proctoring solution is to be used. For example, a degree exam where the final scores of students are declared is a high stake exam. These are exams that define the life of a student hence an apt solution is to be considered.  This same logic might extend to entrance exams where the stakes are high.

When it is a low stake exam remote proctoring  solution would suffice. An example in this regard is corporate assessments that can be monitored in that way. In certain cases, internal exams could follow this route.

Budget considerations

For a lot of us money is an area to address. Before deciding the solutions, you need to adopt confer your requirements along with your budget. You have to align it with the purpose of conducting assessments and the decision becomes an easy one. You need to go for the best option available.

In the concept of eLearning online assessments are the future; companies irrespective of their location can conduct job assessment tests. This is until you have a reliable proctoring module at your end there are no assurances that the outcome of the test could be full-proof. For this reason, you have to seek out the authentic of a candidate. This sounds more than enough for an examiner to opt for online proctoring.

A lot of debate is centered on the fact which is the right proctoring solution the matter of judgment, preferences and needs come into prominence. Numerous ways are there by which you can ensure the integrity of the exams. It can be via live proctoring, automated proctoring, or recorded proctoring.