Abstract:

Online proctored exams (also known as “Remote Proctoring” or “Online Invigilation”) have been experiencing a significant upswing in educational institutions in general and also in the university context during the last years.

There are many reasons for the worldwide trend: the universities' striving for internationalisation and the international provision of learning content lead to the necessity of offering examinations for internationally distributed learners. Further development drivers are absent students such as competitive athletes or learners with mobile impairments, who are sometimes not able to take part in a campus exam.

Exams from home or from anywhere else in the world make the testing process more flexible and individual and often allow a more convenient environment for the students compared to the stiffly conditions in the lecture hall.

However, in the relatively new field of "Online Proctoring" there is only limited experience in many aspects: In addition to technical requirements and the management of security-critical aspects of data transmission and storage, there are questions about the data protection of the mostly sensitive personal information such as audio and video recordings during the exam. Furthermore the prevention of fraud outside the relatively easy to inspect lecture halls on the campus also requires novel, often technical solutions.

The presentation will first introduce important basics and features of online proctoring. Then the advantages and disadvantages as well as possible target groups of online proctoring solutions will be presented and explained.

Finally, the presentation focusses on different scenarios and practical applications for online proctoring. The compilation is based on a series of interviews with responsible persons for online proctoring projects of European universities and educational institutions. The interviews were conducted with the help of an interview guide and provide the practical experiences of educational institutions from three different European countries. Complementary to the scenarios the involved technical systems are presented and their most important characteristics are briefly explained.

The presentation concludes with an outlook on the further development of online proctoring in Europe and the discussion of open issues.

Keywords:

Online Proctoring, Online Proctored Exams, Scenarios for Online Proctoring.