NYTimes report on use of online & remote proctoring in college courses

Online Test-Takers Feel Anti-Cheating Software’s Uneasy Glare

As universities and colleges around the country expand their online course offerings, many administrators are introducing new technologies to deter cheating. The oversight, administrators say, is crucial to demonstrating the legitimacy of an online degree to students and their prospective employers.

Today's article makes a good point about the risks of placing too much reliance on automated (non-proctored) algorithm-based technology, although clearly recent advances may be making this form of cheating deterrence more useful for certain types of non-summative assessments. Fairness and privacy are key concerns.

I would have liked to see more discussion on recent developments in live online proctoring as well. These were only hinted at in the article. I admit bias in this area based on many years experience with high stakes test security. But the recognition of the need for live proctoring is growing even in college testing circles. The best solutions are likely to offer convergence -- live proctoring tightly integrated with secure lockdown technology, biometric authentication, 360 degree monitoring and sophisticated detection mechanisms (such as motion, gaze and expression monitoring). Some of these technologies remain experimental, and fairness, privacy, conduciveness and regulatory issues are yet to be fully ironed out.

I'm interested to hear the experience of assessment programs venturing into this area, and what their perspectives are on some of the issues raised in the article.