Slashdot Mirror
Should Online Courses Film Students Taking Tests? (mypalmbeachpost.com)
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?
* 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?
From students showing their student photo ID to enter an exam room and sitting down to do the exam in front of a person. Over a set time.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
For example:
Masters Level Nursing Courses via the University of Texas ( Arlington ) require that you have a webcam enabled where
you and your computer / desk are in full view at all times during any test. ( It is monitored in real time during the test )
Before the test even starts, you will show your StudentID to the camera so they can verify you are who you claim to be.
You must then pan the room with the webcam to show you are alone and that nothing is on or around your desk you can
use to cheat. You are not allowed to leave the room once the test starts and you cannot talk with anyone.
Even though you can do all of your coursework and testing remotely via the above method, the certification tests ( NCLEX )
will require you to test at one of their approved locations.
I don't want respect from an online course.
I want knowledge.
So what's the problem then? If you just want the knowledge, save yourself a shitload of money and just read the book on your own time. You don't need to go to college to read a book. So why even bother signing up for the course (online or otherwise)? I'm guessing it's because you want it to count toward your degree, but why bother getting a degree? I'm guessing it's because you want it to help you get a job, but if that's the case, why don't you just get your degree from some cheap hole in the wall that's even worse than University of Phoenix? I'm guessing it's because you wan't to get it from a university that most employers will actually RESPECT when they see it on your resume.
I'd much rather have the option to take it at a test center, since I'm not feeding them video of my personal living space. Also, taking the test in front of a human proctor feels a lot more "natural" than performing for a camera where someone may or may not be watching you.