What Is Proctored Exam? How Does Online Proctored Exam Work?

The Minister of Human Resource Development Mr. Ramesh Pokhriyal – has been one of the most prominent names that have been hustling through the entire year of “2020” & now “2021” to ensure that all students get – “best education facilities”.

He came with new initiatives from time to time.

I would like to mention one of his tweets -

“Glad to launch India Report on #DigitalEducation, 2020 today. The report elaborates on the innovative methods adopted by Education Departments of States and Union Territories for ensuring accessible and inclusive #education to children at home and reducing learning gaps.”

This reflects that right from the beginning of the pandemic, the government has been focusing to help institutions adopt the best e-learning practices.

The pandemic had made it clear that we don’t have a choice in the upcoming years but to embrace the digitization of education. And kudos to the Indian educational institutions – schools, colleges, and universities – who have successfully conducted online teaching & learning classes by implementing innovative e-learning software.

However, when it comes to online examinations & online assessments, there remains a wide scope of improvement in terms of malpractices or cheating-free & monitored examinations. Online proctored exams are thus, buzzing in the education sector.

Let us understand what is online proctored exam and then we will jump on to how the online exams with proctoring technology work.

“How to cheat in an online proctored exam?”

Jokes apart, as a faculty, you would need an online examination system

How Does Online Proctoring Software Work?

Here is a step-by-step process that would help you understand how the online proctoring software works.

#1: Online Registration of Candidates

First & foremost, students need to do the online registration for the exam. They need to add their details such as name, address, class, academic year, and other information asked by the online proctored examination software to complete the online registration successfully.

#2: Authentication before Proceeding

After the successful online exam registration, students would get an ID and password that they need to use while appearing for the online tests. The online assessment software would authenticate whether the ID & password are correct & even send an OTP for confirmation. Once the authentication process is done, students can proceed with the examination.

#3: Examination Session & Monitoring

Depending on the type of online examination –semester exam/yearly exam/entrance exam students would be given instructions in the beginning. They need to abide by the rules & continue with the exam. Here, the faculty would be able to monitor them as soon as they start the online examination.

#4: Additional Browser Disablement

The online proctored exam software would disable all the additional browsers to eliminate the risk of cheating. Students can’t escape the examination via any means.

#5: Random Image Capturing & Video Monitoring

The online assessment software would capture random images of students in real-time & send the screenshots to the faculty. In addition, the faculty can also monitor students’ videos by asking them to turn on the webcam in real-time.

It all depends on the features of the exam proctoring software you have. Unlike the traditional examinations, as a faculty, you won’t have to walk across the rooms for invigilation. Everything – right from online student attendance to roll list generation & exam proctoring – everything can be done virtually with robust online proctored software.

What are the Benefits of Online Proctored Examination Software?

As we mentioned, it helps faculty to conduct online examinations successfully. In addition to this, the online proctoring software offers the following benefits to students & educators & faculty–

Benefits of Online Proctored Examination Software for Students

• Provides flexibility of attending exams from a remote location
• No need to visit exam halls especially in a pandemic situation
• Requires just internet & login credentials
• Multiple online test formats – MCQs & Descriptive
• Provision to get instant results after final answer submission
• Feedback from teachers to enhance learning outcomes

Benefits of Online Proctored Examination Software for Faculty

• Additional browser disablement to avoid cheating
• Real-time monitoring of students activities
• Random image capturing & video monitoring
• 100% secured online exam setup
• Easy-to-conduct examination & scorecard generation
• Minimizes a lot of effort & paperwork
• Cost-cutting due to remote invigilation
• Online feedback to students for improvement

Features of an Online Proctoring Software

Data Security

End to end security for the student’s information, results and questions of the exam to maintain integrity.

Technical Support

Complete support and easy communication among the invigilator and students in case of any technical issues.

AI Based Monitoring

Integration of AI technology for detailed analysis and improvements in functioning of the system.

Types of Online Proctored Exam

Live Online Proctoring

In a live proctoring exam, an invigilator monitors the candidates online with real-time feed from audio, video, and screen sharing. The invigilator is trained to verify a student's identity and look out for any suspicious activities.

He or she can monitor 16-32 students at a time. However, this proctoring method requires human involvement like an offline exam.

Recorded Proctoring

In the recorded proctoring method, there is no involvement of humans in invigilation. Instead, the audio, video, and screen of the candidates are recorded.

This can be viewed later by the moderator at a higher speed as a reference for any suspicious activities. It eliminates the need for scheduling but still requires human involvement for proctoring after conducting exams on an online exam platform.

Advanced Automated Proctoring

In automated proctoring, the audio, video, and screen share are recorded during the test. The software checks for background voice, suspicious activities in video and uses face recognition for authentication.

It monitors the student and checks for any malpractices using advanced video and audio analytics. It does not require scheduling and human intervention for proctoring.

Key Takeaways

Online proctored software is a boon for all the stakeholders.

Real-time monitoring gives an assurance of the best practices and allows the institutions to manage fair exams. The proctoring technology acts as a band-aid for overcoming cheating & other unethical activities. As a teacher, you can stay stress-free while your students attend the online examinations!

Still, have doubts regarding what the proctored online exam software has to offer?

I would like to quote the words of Jim Crapko, Training and Coaching Professional–

"If you continue training the same way you’ve always trained, don’t expect to get better results."

This is exactly the mindset we need to develop.

Change is required & necessary for growth. Therefore, you must not be nervous or doubtful about adopting the online examination software with proctoring technology.

Get in touch with our educational ERP software experts for detailed guidance on online proctored software & queries on how to proctor the online exams.