Can Professors See If People Cheat On Online Exams
Students attempting online exams may cheat in various ways. One popular technique involves mirroring their screen and having friends look up answers on the internet for them. Luckily, there are ways to prevent such forms of cheating.
Institutions use various tools to keep their exam policies secure. Below are just a few.
Proctoring software
Online learning has become the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it does present unique challenges. Chief among them is cheating. Luckily, there are multiple methods available to prevent cheating on online exams; most commonly use proctoring software – which monitors student behavior via webcam during an exam session – or live proctors to keep watch over student conduct during testing. Either way these programs are intrusive; flagging students as suspect may signal them out for suspected cheating behavior.
Software designed to detect cheating can detect cheating by monitoring test-taker actions and matching them against a list of behaviors indicative of cheating, then alerting professors with color-coded probabilities that student may be engaging in academic dishonesty – so they may investigate any suspected instances. Furthermore, recording video and audio from students are stored on servers while Wi-Fi connections allow it to also record locations of those suspected.
However, these tools do not effectively deter cheating because they are too intrusive and could harm innocent students. For instance, they might punish students without private rooms or low-speed Internet as well as penalize those taking exams at home with family or friends.
One drawback with these tools is their inability to detect impersonation, a popular form of cheating in which students request someone else take their exam on their behalf and fake their face or alter documents and passwords in order to appear like the real exam-taker. Unfortunately, software typically only conducts authentication and verification before an online examination takes place, thus leaving impersonators unpunished.
Solution to this is finding less invasive ways of discouraging cheating, such as randomization to make it more difficult for students to coordinate answers and designing exams in such a way that it does not lend itself to sharing them easily. Professors may also utilize various monitoring techniques, such as eye-tracking software that detects when students look away from the screen.
Screen recording software
Screen recording software can assist in the prevention of cheating during online exams. By monitoring students’ computer activity – such as webcam and microphone use – to detect any attempts at cheating during an exam, as well as any suspicious activities, professors can be alerted for review. There is a range of free and premium screen recording solutions available with some offering easy use while others requiring greater technical know-how – most available software supports Windows platforms and has various price points.
One way to stop cheating in an online exam is to restrict access to its pages with an exclusive link and code, so only eligible candidates can log in. Other security measures include time stamping each answer and disabling Practice Another Version; although these methods cannot always prevent students from circumventing them by changing their IP addresses or locations during exams.
Proctoring tools are an effective way of combatting cheating on an online exam, providing an impartial monitor who can observe a student’s environment and detect any signs of suspicious activity in his/her environment. Such programs can identify devices like mobile phones and smartwatches as well as noises that indicate suspicious activities; detect unusual body language and facial expressions; as well as track any unauthorized uses of other applications or websites such as searching the internet or communicating with helpers over messenger apps during an exam session.
Software tools exist that can prevent students from accessing private files or websites during an exam, such as recording mouse clicks and tracking cursor movements to detect any possible instances of cheating. While these measures don’t guarantee that students won’t cheat, they serve as an excellent deterrent against impersonation or other forms of cheating.
Proctoring tools can provide a highly effective deterrent against cheating on an online exam; however, their implementation must take into account all possible causes for why students cheat. Students may engage in cheating because they feel overwhelmed or overextended during an examination; pressured into passing because it impacts on grades, scholarships, or majors is another possibility.
AI-flagging software
AI-flagging software is one way to combat cheating during an online exam. These programs detect any illegal acts by tracking student eye movements, monitoring typing rates, and recognizing sounds in the room. In addition, these programs detect when students leave their camera view or open new tabs on their computers – though these methods aren’t foolproof as students could still take notes using another computer or phone or access websites not blocked by exam administrators; plus these programs could mistakenly flag students using laptops with touch screens or moving around during testing sessions as instances of cheating may occur!
AI-flagged software poses many potential issues, including racial discrimination and privacy concerns, in addition to challenges for students with disabilities. Actions flagged as suspicious may include fidgeting or talking aloud – common behaviors among ADHD and learning disability students – or fidgeting while fidgeting around or talking incessantly in class -which may also trigger anxiety among nondisabled students as well as worsen it for those suffering from chronic or posttraumatic stress disorders.
These tools may leave students feeling constantly watched when taking exams at home, especially if pets or children distract them. Furthermore, anxiety- or health-related factors could prevent them from sitting still for extended periods. Finally, using headsets to reduce audio volume or having to turn their heads around so as to see the exam questions could even result in penalties being assessed against them.
There is good news: there are ways to stop cheating without resorting to artificial intelligence. The key lies in designing assessments with lower stakes that do not put too much emphasis on one assignment. As automation increasingly becomes the norm, we should prioritize compassion over surveillance: rather than fear technology can create unjust assessments, but rather seek ways to create fair assessments designed for all students.
Online assessment software
Online assessment software can assist in the prevention of cheating during an online exam by detecting suspicious activity during testing. Some tools use artificial intelligence to detect out of frame viewing or blinking frequently while other applications employ face recognition and eye tracking software to track student movements during exams. Furthermore, this type of software may check for forbidden materials such as cell phones or tablets and block access to the internet during exams as well as notify administrators if their IP addresses change during the exam session.
Remote assessment software is another useful way of combatting cheating on online exams, eliminating the need for invigilators by enabling students to take tests from anywhere without invigilation and providing real-time feedback during exams. This technology is available both educationally and professionally, as it can easily integrate into existing LMS systems.
First step to combating cheating on an online exam: ensure it takes place in a secure environment. Protecting sensitive data and information from unintended users is paramount, so the assessment system should only be accessible to authorized individuals – this will reduce risks of data breach while simultaneously guaranteeing reliable results.
An effective assessment system must store test questions, submitted answers, and candidate scores in a secure location accessible only by authorized users. This will minimize data breaches or leakage risks while simultaneously providing test administrators with quick review capabilities of candidate performance.
eNetAssess is an online assessment solution tailored to the needs of higher education institutions and industry professionals, including examination boards and awarding bodies that administer high-stakes exams online. Designed specifically to reduce administration-related time and costs while offering clear audit trails and advanced reporting functionalities, eNetAssess allows examination boards and awarding bodies to conduct examinations without disrupting student workflow or disrupting professional growth.
Limiting the number of questions presented at once is one way to prevent cheating on an online exam, as it will keep students from having to search the web for answers and open multiple tabs to locate answers they might already know the answers for – and avoid backtracking by trying to locate incorrectly answered ones again later on.