How much of an auto-proctored assessment is actually automated?

Whenever a new form of automation technology emerges, people often have two major concerns. The first one is regarding how well the technology performs the designated task when compared to the best humans in that field. The second concern is whether that technology will have any ethical implications, or more precisely, whether it will displace humans from the field entirely. And if you’re an educator looking to automate a proctored exam online, you may have come across auto-proctoring capabilities of advanced tools like uLearn. You may even be impressed by the convenience such a tool can offer while conducting proctored assessments. However, you will also have a few reservations as to how effectively this tool functions and how much work will actually be “automated”. To do that, it is important to understand the limitations of manual proctoring in online assessments.

Problems with a non-automated proctored online exam

The biggest issue with traditional modes of proctored online exams has been that they are intrusive to test takers’ privacy. That’s because in most cases, the task of proctoring online assessments is outsourced to human invigilators from different countries. These proctors use the test taker’s camera and microphone to watch over test takers and ensure that they do not engage in malpractices. Being constantly watched by an unknown person while taking an important test can not only be a little unsettling and detrimental to performance but also infringe upon the test taker’s right to privacy.

To add to this, online proctored assessments also involve the test takers installing software that give control of their browsers or computers to the proctors. This, again, leads to serious ethical concerns and jeopardizes the test taker’s privacy. To overcome this, there needs to be a system that deters cheating during online assessments yet ensures that no unauthorized person has access to a student’s private data. And this aspect of proctored online exams is what advanced technologies take care of in an auto-proctored exam.

Parts of auto-proctored exams that are automated

The fact that a human invigilator is constantly required to oversee every test taker is a major hurdle in conducting proctored assessments online. Therefore, this role is handled by artificial intelligence in an auto-proctored exam.

An auto-proctoring tool like uLearn ensures that the students don’t cheat by automatically monitoring input from the test taker’s camera and microphone. It looks for patterns that are indicative of cheating and notifies human invigilators of the same. The invigilators can then investigate the flagged event and decide whether there has been an actual attempt at cheating. So, the human invigilators only need to be involved when a suspicious action is flagged by the auto-proctoring system, ensuring maximum privacy for test takers.

By using an auto-proctoring solution like uLearn, educational institutions, MOOC platforms, as well as certification agencies will have a scalable solution to conduct cheat-proof exams while also ensuring student privacy in the process.

To learn more about uLearn, visit our website: www.ulearn.io