Virtual Proctoring

Virtual Proctoring was started as an experiment and later has grown into a go-to solution, this method helps numerous academicians and students during the challenges related to examinations. Earlier conducting offline exams was a tedious task from setting up centers for physical exams to giving exams remotely and accelerating the assessment process ignoring the number of students. Online proctoring has authorized the education institutions to overcome all the challenges during the time of global health emergencies or pandemics. 

According to diverse manifestations, it is noticed that virtual proctoring is one of the best alternatives for colleges, universities, and other educational centers. Moreover, online proctoring has become the leading priority for various examinations. The scope of online assessment is expanding promptly, with the evolution in technology.

Earlier, to conduct an online assessment a trustworthy and honest invigilator was required to observe the students avoid unfair means by sitting in front of a PC. The obligation of such an assessment includes switching on the audio and video of all the candidates who appeared during the examination. A real-time video of all the candidates was monitored by an invigilator from the starting to the end to ensure the conduction of the assessment according to the institutional guidelines and to avoid any unfair means.

These invigilators or proctors are not the faculty members of the institution, rather the institution hires some professionals for the smooth conductance of the examination with a strict inspection. 

There are multiple ways a proctor collects information for monitoring and smooth functioning of the examination virtually are:

  • An invigilator should be vigilant to various noises, such as murmuring or whispering in the background to determine the presence of any person near the student.
  • The proctor should be able to determine whether a student is doing any unfair means by citing the behavior of the student. 
  • They should be aware of any device or gadget such as tablets or mobiles near a student during the exam. 
  • They can handle multiple students across different time zones at once. 
  • They are surprisingly particularly related to maintaining the smooth functioning of the assessment with completing honesty and establishing that students present with due respect. 

Therefore, a human invigilator does all these things to maintain the integrity, credibility, and decorum of the assessment process and preserve the reputation of the institutions. 

What is auto proctoring?

Auto proctoring means a system or software incorporated with AI-based proctors that take care of all the things that a human invigilator does from the smooth functioning of the assessment without the presence of human proctors. This is a new-age form of proctoring and taking examinations and ensures minimal chances of error with an accuracy of 95 percent in anticipating interruptions or any other suspicious activity.  

A trained and experienced auto-proctoring system learns from the actions of human proctors by making use of algorithms that are trained in a similar way in which humans are performing the task. The system can reproduce how humans summon all the information and make the decisions. Moreover, we can conclude that auto proctoring intensifies human actions, not just replaces them.

An auto-proctored exam is a fantastic, flexible, and convenient way of taking examinations for any institution. This also ensures and verifies the candidate’s authenticity, can identify other people except for the candidate during an examination and can control any form of online cheating, auto proctors are like a set of additional eyes that can be used to avoid any mishappening during the examination. It also provides some additional features like recording the proceedings of tests so that they can be reviewed later. Such levels of solidity grant magnificent ease and integrity to the whole process of virtual online examinations. 

Types of online auto proctoring

Three ways can be used by auto proctors to avoid cheating during the online assessment are:

  • Video proctoring:

In online video proctoring the session of the whole proctoring is recorded by the system automatically. Later, this recording is played to review the whole process to check for any unfair means or to check for suspicious activity during the online assessment which is missed by the proctor. The examiner also needs to check for the time the AI has indicated any unfairness to eliminate and mark accordingly. One of the most important and noticeable advantages of video proctoring is that the candidates can take their exam during any time slot and the video proctoring was started once the test is begun by the candidate. In some places, video proctoring is also known by name like webcam proctored exam. This video proctoring system is sufficient for low-stake assessments.

  • Audio proctoring:

Audio proctoring software examines the candidate’s physical environment to search for any background noise or murmuring with the help of microphones of the PCs or smartphones to guarantee the smoothing execution of the exam. The software is capable of determining the difference between the sound that can and which need not be there during the assessment time. For example, Mercer | Mettl’s audio proctoring software is so advanced that it can easily differentiate between the sound that can be there.  

  • Image proctoring:

Image proctoring is a type of auto-proctored system in which it captures the photos of the candidate in real-time during the time of the exam. An advanced AI software will provide you with random snapshots/live images of the screen of the candidate and the live footage of the system camera at regular intervals, maybe every ten seconds. These random images taken at regular intervals are time-stamped and are stored in the cloud so that they can be reviewed later.

How is Mercer | Mettl’s virtual proctoring feature a class apart

Mercer | Mettl’s is one of the most developed and advanced next-generation auto proctoring software that works in a manner to provide smooth functioning of the assessments with proper ethics and fairness. This software is capable of eliminating all the possibilities of malpractices that can happen. Mercer | Mettl’s auto proctoring technology is capable of supporting multiple candidates at once that can take exams from any part of the world.  

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