Embedding Ethics Into Online Exam Proctoring
Online exam proctoring has exploded in popularity in recent years, largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated the shift to remote learning and online exam delivery. However, this transition hasn’t been seamless for educational institutions. Aside from overcoming a steep digital learning curve and navigating technical issues, institutions have also had to confront ethical concerns raised by students, parents, and other stakeholders regarding online exam proctoring software and practices. From privacy concerns to equity issues, online exam proctoring has sparked vigorous debate in the education sector.
For that reason, discussing how institutions can embed ethics into their online proctoring choices and actions is imperative. In this article, we’ll delve further into the world of online exam proctoring, examine guiding principles for institutions, and provide steps educational leaders can take to ensure their online proctoring practices are ethical and equitable.
What Is Online Exam Proctoring?
Online exam proctoring is the process of monitoring students during online exams using specialized software. Unlike in-person proctoring, where invigilators physically monitor students in a designated testing location, online exam proctoring involves the recording of students’ computer activity, webcam video, and audio to prevent cheating and uphold academic integrity.
Two types of online exam proctoring exist: live online proctoring and record and review proctoring. Live online proctoring consists of a live session where a student schedules their test session in advance and is monitored by a proctor in real time. The proctor can see and hear the student throughout the exam and reports any violations they observe to the institution.
Record and review proctoring, meanwhile, allows students to take the exam at their convenience. During the session, the entire exam is recorded using webcam video and audio to scan the student’s surroundings, verify their identity, and monitor their behavior. Following the record and review session, a proctor reviews the exam, flags instances of possible cheating, and provides an integrity report to the institution.
What Are The Benefits Of Online Exam Proctoring?
Online exam proctoring offers benefits to institutions and students alike—from saving money to creating a standardized testing experience. Below, we consider these benefits in detail.
1. Convenience
Online exam proctoring means students can take an assessment whenever and wherever they want as long as they have a reliable internet connection. They don’t have to travel to a testing center and can instead take the exam from the comfort of their own home.
Likewise, institutions find online exam proctoring convenient because they don’t have to hire proctors to physically monitor students. Exam administrators can grant proctors access to a proctoring system so they can monitor students online in real time or have them review students’ exam sessions afterward. This arrangement also ensures scalability as institutions can host exams for hundreds or thousands of participants online instead of confronting the limitations of manual proctoring.
2. Cost Efficiency
Institutions save money when they opt for online exams. They forego the costs of physical testing centers, printed tests, and in-person invigilators. Other overhead expenses, like the cost of maintaining computer equipment and facilities, are also reduced or eliminated.
Similarly, students don’t have to worry about the expenses associated with traditional in-person proctoring. Among other cost-saving examples, they avoid testing fees and commuting expenses for traveling to and from the testing site.
3. Security
Online exam proctoring solutions ensure secure assessment in numerous ways. By using multi-step identity verification, proctoring software can confirm a user’s identity so no one other than the student takes an exam. Online proctoring solutions also leverage encryption to prevent unauthorized access to exam content.
Another way that online exam proctoring promotes security is by maintaining test integrity. According to a Wiley report, 69% of students stated that they’re less likely to cheat if proctoring software is used, thus upholding academic integrity.
4. Standardization
In contrast to in-person proctoring, which is prone to human bias and subjectivity when it comes to observing students, online exam proctoring involves standardized and objective practices. From conducting room scans to detect anomalies in a student’s surroundings to tracking eye contact to flag if students consult authorized materials, online proctoring software follows a consistent protocol to identify possible cheating.
Additionally, online proctored exams leverage automated systems to grade assessments, providing more accurate results. This is unlike manual grading, which is more susceptible to error.
Is Online Exam Proctoring Ethical?
When equitably administered and responsive to students’ privacy concerns as well as broader legal and social implications, online exam proctoring can serve as an ethical and effective means for institutions to uphold academic integrity. However, when those concerns aren’t adequately addressed, several ethical challenges emerge, including privacy, data security, equity, and legal risks.
For example, test takers may be uncomfortable with online proctoring technology capturing their surroundings. They may also fear that cybercriminals will gain access to private information. Moreover, online proctoring systems may inadvertently perpetuate racism, ableism, and other inequities.
The collection of significant amounts of biometric data raises additional concerns about surveillance and potential legal ramifications. Students who feel their rights have been violated may seek legal recourse against institutions and proctoring vendors. To mitigate these risks, educational leaders must assess the implications of online exam proctoring. They must also deepen their understanding of fundamental ethical principles.
6 Principles For Ethical Online Exam Proctoring
The following six principles—all of which are featured in an essay on the ethics of online supervision technologies—can provide a framework for institutions striving to implement proctoring practices that are both effective and ethically sound.
1. Fairness
The aforementioned essay defines fairness as equal access to technology and remote exam settings as well as an unbiased, nondiscriminatory determination of cheating. This principle is especially important since AI-based proctoring may reinforce inequities by misrecognizing different racial groups and discriminating against people with disabilities.
To promote fairness, institutions should be mindful of how facial recognition and other features of online proctoring might adversely affect students from marginalized groups. They should also consider more equitable options beyond closed-book assessments to test students’ knowledge.
2. Transparency
Transparency refers to an institution communicating when, how, and why they’re using proctoring technology. The concept also includes explaining the use of AI-based red flags to identify cheating behavior.
For example, institutions should inform students of how online exam proctoring technologies work, what constitutes suspicious behavior, and how students can challenge AI-based cheating allegations.
3. Nonmaleficence
Using technology safely and effectively so it doesn’t harm students comprises nonmaleficence. Students should be able to trust online proctoring technology to do what it’s intended to do without endangering test takers’ physical, mental, or emotional health.
To adhere to this principle, institutions should regularly assess online proctoring systems for dangerous elements or unsafe outcomes. Proctoring software could be vulnerable to cyber attacks, leaving students vulnerable to identity theft. Or, the technology could make false cheating allegations, causing students emotional distress.
4. Privacy
Privacy extends to the collection and securement of personal data as well as the recording of test takers’ physical characteristics, behaviors, and surroundings. Educational leaders should ensure their online proctoring solutions have end-to-end security so students’ personal information is protected. They should also understand and comply with privacy laws like the Fourth Amendment and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
5. Respect For Autonomy
Test takers should be able to exercise choice when it comes to the use of AI-based proctoring, their personal data, video recordings, and proctors. Student choice reinforces the idea of autonomy, a fundamental ethical right that must extend to online exam proctoring practices.
Although allowing students to exercise choice in all matters of assessment is infeasible, institutions should consider giving test takers the option of declining online exam proctoring in favor of in-person proctoring or other appropriate options.
6. Accountability
Accountability for institutions involves vigilance and responsiveness regarding the potential misuse and harm of online proctoring technologies. It also includes respecting and protecting students’ due process rights in the face of cheating allegations.
This principle will become increasingly important as assessment technology grows more advanced and potentially invasive, forcing institutions to re-evaluate their online proctoring practices.
6 Best Practices To Uphold Ethical Standards
Actively practicing ethical principles helps institutions convert them from abstractions to actions. Below are six best practices for ethical online exam proctoring.
1. Use Safe And Effective Proctoring Systems
Institutions should choose online proctoring solutions that function as intended, protect students from harm, and reduce risk for all users. Otherwise, students and educational leaders will be vulnerable to malicious actors and subject to any distress associated with system breaches.
To ensure institutions use the safest possible online proctoring solutions, they should check that their proctoring systems use secure browsers, require multi-step identity verification, collect and store data properly, and secure test content through encryption. Systems should also have robust technical support for effective and efficient troubleshooting.
2. Provide Clear And Comprehensive Proctoring Guidelines
Comprehensive guidelines promote transparency and strengthen students’ trust in the institution by explaining how and why the institution uses online exam proctoring. For example, guidelines might explain that students’ webcam audio and video will be recorded throughout an exam session to effectively monitor students’ behavior for signs of cheating.
Proctoring guidelines should be easily accessible to students via the institution’s website, course syllabi, academic integrity policies, Learning Management Systems, and within the proctoring system itself.
3. Collect Only Essential Data From Students
Gathering more data than is necessary for proctoring purposes can be classified as an ethical violation. For that reason, institutions should gather the minimum amount of information needed for monitoring test-taking behavior and verifying students’ identities.
One way to accomplish this is to use single sign-on (SSO). This helps students avoid re-entering their personal information when accessing their exams from a Learning Management System. Another option is to limit the amount of biometric data collected from test takers.
4. Offer Alternatives And Accommodations
Students may find online exam proctoring invasive, discriminatory, inaccessible, or otherwise inconvenient. Address these concerns by allowing students to opt out of online proctoring in favor of in-person proctoring. Or, grant accommodations like extended time and regular breaks.
Another option is to use alternative assessment methods. This includes un-proctored exams with reflective prompts, project-based assessments, and research papers.
5. Maintain Human Oversight And Judgment
Human oversight ensures accurate assessment of exam integrity. It also works in conjunction with AI-based proctoring to fairly identify and analyze potential instances of cheating.
Human proctors should investigate behaviors flagged by AI-based proctoring systems, taking into consideration students’ intentions, unexpected events, and other extenuating circumstances. They can then determine appropriate action for each situation.
6. Continuously Evaluate And Improve Online Exam Proctoring
Online exam proctoring systems are often powered by AI, which can produce errors, reinforce biases, and have other unintended consequences. Given this, institutions should continuously monitor their proctoring systems and evaluate their practices.
For instance, they must conduct regular audits of their proctoring systems to gauge system effectiveness. They should also solicit feedback from students and other stakeholders on how to improve their exam integrity approaches to foster trust as well as promote equity and inclusion.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 and AI-accelerated digitization of education coupled with students’ growing preference for online learning indicates that the use of online exam delivery will only increase. Needless to say, so will educational institutions’ use of online exam proctoring.
However, present and future changes in education don’t mean that institutions should neglect the ethical implications of their online proctoring practices. Instead, educational leaders should be cognizant of the various social and legal concerns raised by these practices.
They should then compare these concerns against fundamental ethical principles and bridge the gap by adopting practices that encourage the use of safe systems, transparent communication with students, human judgment, and continuous improvement. Doing so will not only help institutions uphold test integrity but also ensure more ethical assessments for test takers.
