Is your proctoring tool student-friendly?

Recently, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a public interest research organization filed a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General for D.C. against multiple online test proctoring services. The complaint states that such online proctoring services violate student privacy online and that they must limit their intrusive practices like collecting unnecessary student personal information and having third-party proctors surveil students via webcams.

Even before this complaint was registered, students’ displeasure at the monitoring methods used by online proctoring services has been well-documented. To add to the undue amounts of anxiety caused by webcam monitoring, online proctoring services also have been known for questionable practices when dealing with student personal information.

There is little doubt that online classes and examinations — aided by online proctoring systems — will become a standard part of the global education system in the future. However, making these processes and systems student-friendly will be a key precondition for that future to materialize.

Understanding what “student-friendly” really means

While educators and edtech service providers may be key players in the global education ecosystem, students are a more vital part of the same. The integration of any trend or technology into the education system needs the approval and acceptance of the students. That is why, the tools and technologies introduced in the education sector must be student-friendly more than anything else.

Ideally, a ‘student-friendly’ proctoring system makes the process of online learning and test taking as convenient as possible for students. But before even starting to think about convenience, it is important that the online examination system addresses their biggest concerns and anxieties associated with taking online proctored assessments. Most of these concerns pertain to how well the online proctoring system protects student privacy online. And considering how hard it is for online proctoring services to protect student personal information and privacy, achieving this functionality will put your online examination system a league above most others. But how do you get this functionality?

Ensuring student privacy online

Protecting student privacy online means ensuring that none of a student’s personal information, be it the footage of them taking their test, their browser activity, or their biometric data is collected, stored, or accessed by unauthorized people for unauthorized purposes. This can be easily done by using an AI-based proctoring tool like uLearn that analyzes students’ behavior through their webcam and picks up on suspicious behavior. By handling the task of constantly monitoring the students, it minimizes the need for third-party proctors to be involved, thereby eliminating the “creep factor”. Moreover, uLearn also has a transparent and privacy-friendly data management policy that ensures that student personal information is not unnecessarily collected or stored. As a result, students can take tests by focusing on performance and forgetting about privacy.

However, it is important to balance student privacy and convenience with exam integrity, which is where uLearn truly shines. In addition to protecting student personal information, it uses a combination of tech-driven features to ensure that students do not engage in malpractice while taking tests. As a result, it not only ends up being a student-friendly solution but also makes life easy for proctors and educators.

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