Cheating Methods in Online Exams

Online assessment is a popular method of testing students, yet cheating remains an issue. Students can still use clever techniques to cheat during online exams that surpass remote invigilation with cameras.

Some methods used by students to cheat online assessments include: using external devices, connecting with friends during testing sessions and impersonating themselves during exams. Let’s investigate some of these strategies that students employ when cheating in exams online.

Screen Mirroring/Sharing

As technology has played an instrumental role in advancing online learning, students have found creative ways to cheat during tests. Students could scour the internet for answers or consult family or friends before taking tests; some even resort to using smart gadgets and phones! Educators must devise new measures against academic dishonesty that safeguard online assessments.

Screen mirroring/sharing is one of the most prevalent methods of cheating during an online exam, enabling students to display their desktop screen on an external device and connect multiple monitors in order to simultaneously view questions and generate answers simultaneously. However, this type of cheating can be easily prevented through remote proctoring solutions that utilize advanced AI to detect suspicious activities, such as body language changes or modifications in head/eye positions during testing.

Cheating during an online exam can also involve hacking the answers to multiple-choice questions using hacking software or apps that transform these options into coded text that can then be run through an online coding tool to identify which is the correct answer.

Some students attempt to cheat during online exams by using virtual machines to search for answers to exam questions. Unfortunately, this form of cheating can be hard to detect as remote proctoring solutions often monitor only one operating system while not permitting other applications or virtual machines from running. Luckily, advanced AI-based proctoring solutions can detect if student devices are running virtual machines by monitoring CPU load levels as well as for suspicious noises and activity on student devices.

Even though traditional methods of cheating in an online exam (like writing notes on palms) may be ineffective, some students still try them. Luckily, advanced remote proctoring tools can detect these tricks that record student head and eye movements, detect suspicious behaviors and block access to electronic devices during an assessment session. Furthermore, these tools detect other people in the room to prevent them from engaging with or distracting the student during testing.

External Devices

Online proctoring systems rely heavily on technology to detect cheating. For example, they record the head movements, keystrokes and eye movement of test-takers during exams in order to monitor any instances of cheating; cameras observe the room to identify any external devices used for accessing answers; yet some students find ways around these systems using inventive, high-tech solutions.

Some students use a projector to mirror their screen on a display outside the exam room – this method of cheating allows a third party to look at questions, search for answers and pass them along to candidates – an effective cheating technique in online exams. This technique is easy and common practice among those attempting to cheat their exams online.

Cheating through using friends and family as help is another common form of cheating, whether physically coming into the room and sitting next to the computer, using screen sharing options, sharing their phone/tablet to store answers with them or texting/calling other individuals taking the exam through mobile apps such as WhatsApp.

Many candidates use auto coding software designed for programmers to cheat in online exams. By selecting multiple-choice options and running them through software to extract correct answers (with ones) and zeros (incorrect answers), candidates are able to bypass proctoring services and achieve an untraceable form of cheating that’s nearly impossible for proctoring services to detect.

Additionally, candidates can utilize external devices such as microSD cards and USBs to create copies of exams on external memory storage media such as microSD cards and USBs for later sale or sharing on social media; alternatively they could even use smartwatches with cameras attached for storage purposes.

Cheating in online exams can have detrimental repercussions for both the individual student and academic institutions alike, eroding trust and fairness in the assessment process. Cheating prevents students from developing essential skills like critical thinking and problem-solving, hampering both personal and professional growth as well as undermining credibility of academic institutions by diminishing reputation and devaluing degrees or certifications. Therefore, it’s crucial that online exams be administered in a secure and transparent environment.

Friends/Family

Proctoring online assessments is becoming an increasingly common part of education, employment and corporate environments. Proctoring helps prevent cheating and fraud during assessments but there are still numerous methods students use to attempt cheat during these online examinations.

One of the most prevalent strategies of cheating during online exams is turning to friends and family for assistance during tests. Students can utilize various software programs to share their screens with loved ones while taking tests; or ask them to search the internet for answers to specific questions, provide handwritten notes or search online databases on specific answers to questions that arise during tests. Unfortunately, this method of cheating can be hard to detect due to multiple monitors and screen sharing programs being used during testing sessions.

Students often utilize another way of cheating in online exams by hiring someone else to take it in their place. This strategy can occur either prior or during an assessment, with high-stakes or competitive exams often seeing test-takers using tiny, virtually undetectable bluetooth devices as part of their plan to cheat during assessments; such devices could store formulae or information that help students score higher on exams.

Students may try to cheat by using external smart devices like hard drives, USBs or microSDs to make copies of exams before or after taking them – this way they can sell or post copies online so as to gain an edge in class or find employment more quickly. Unfortunately these types of cheating attempts can often go undetected until an advanced and robust proctoring system has been put in place.

Educators and administrators can combat cheating during online exams by creating an academic integrity policy with clear rules, providing practice exams that closely mirror the real exam platform and test features, and using technology to prevent students from accessing external resources during assessments such as secure browser environments that will convert any device into a safe workstation without internet connectivity during testing sessions.

Copy-Pasting

Cheating during online exams using computers is not uncommon, with students frequently employing techniques like copy-pasting answers from documents or notepads prepared prior to tests and pasting them onto the screen in an effort to beat remote proctoring software. Some may employ impersonators during exams in order to avoid detection – these impersonators can easily be legitimized through fake identity documents and admit cards, then switch places once an exam taker sits for authentication before taking over their test.

Text messaging is another popular means by which students cheat in online exams. Often this involves talking to friends, family, or assistants in order to send texts with answers or screenshots from exams that contain questions that students need help with, as well as hiding books around the room or searching through Google for exam content – although this method only works if an exam isn’t proctored.

Students can use their computers to search for answers while taking an online test, which can be difficult if exams are unlocked. ManyCam provides software which will mask their real webcam with prerecorded images to fool the proctoring software and allow students to continue their search for answers while taking a test.

One of the most dangerous techniques for cheating an online exam is hacking answers. To do this, multiple-choice answers must be selected and run through coding software with correct ones (1s) marked as correct while incorrect ones will be marked with zeroes (0s). This practice can be extremely dangerous as answers may resemble those written by participants themselves and thus be misread as correct work.

Though it may be impossible to eliminate all forms of cheating in an online exam, educators can reduce opportunities for students to cheat. By equipping their programs with anti-cheating technology and requiring students to sign an academic integrity contract prior to any tests they can remind students about the importance of academic integrity while potentially deterring cheaters.