Since the onset of COVID-19, many schools and universities have moved to online learning to prevent contact between students and reduce case numbers. This has brought up the issue of cheating while taking tests and exams, which many teachers, institutions and administrative boards are trying to combat. Whether it be proctoring through a human or application, each method of ensuring fairness in academics requires access to the students’ webcams and microphones. Some proctoring techniques even go as far as checking the students’ surroundings and examining browser history. Conversely, many students and professors around the world are concerned about using these services as they breach privacy and security. Here is a summary of the issues surrounding proctoring software in online learning:
Written by Ahmed Ahmed
Cheating within online and in-person courses
Academic dishonesty has always been a problem with tests and exams, even during in-person classes. However, now students have an easier path to cheating than they would have a few years ago since the answer is always a quick search away with online learning (Watson, G. 2010). Many students resort to cheating to perform better on courses, potentially due to cultural and parental pressure. Studies have also found that gender influences scholarly integrity: females usually are more ethical than males and will resort to cheating less often. Age also affects moral values, since students become less likely to cheat on exams or tests as they get older. Moreover, one survey showed that 73.8% of students thought it was easier to cheat in online classes rather than in-class learning (Watson, G. 2010). The study proved that there is not a significant difference in cheating between the two learning formats, apart from the fact that students taking exams online could easily message someone who has already taken it. Overall, it showed that cheating within in-class exams provides a higher chance of getting caught, proving that concerns of academic dishonesty during the pandemic are valid and crucial.
Anxiety
Many students have expressed their concerns about proctoring applications as it may hinder their test-taking abilities by creating anxiety (Chin, M. 2020). Students felt that being watched very carefully in their private homes is unethical and unnecessary. The use of proctoring applications has been called intrusive and non-secure, as it essentially allows strangers to enter students’ private space. A pre-pandemic study was done by concluded that 30% of students get anxiety in online learning (Saade. 2017), and this number is likely significantly higher in our current model of education. When a student is anxious, they have difficulties with learning the materials. In turn, this causes even more stress on the student, leading to the deterioration of their mental health.
Access to Proctoring software
For some students and faculty, having access to all the software and hardware to be able to use proctoring applications is difficult and impractical (Lawson, S. 2020). Secure and high-quality webcams, microphones and internet access are often required for exams to be taken, which may come with hefty costs that not all students can afford. Furthermore, proctoring applications do not allow other people in the same room as the student. This is problematic as not all students have access to a quiet space with no interruptions, especially post-secondary students living on residence. Finally, some software does not run as smoothly, which might affect the overall exam of the students from computer malfunction.
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