By creating and empowering a base of student advocates who can inform their peers, other students can more readily understand the reasoning behind adopting the proctoring process. This can reduce feelings of anxiety and misinformation as well as reinforce the university’s commitment to a fair and equitable experience.
Have answers readily available
Helping students feel comfortable with any new technology requires openness and access. Students need information, and they want the information from a source they already trust and have a relationship with–not with the company that manages the product.
One best practice is for schools to create an information hub for remote testing–for example, a landing page on the school website that students can easily access and visit for information they need on proctoring and university policies. Information can include:
- What hardware and software do I need to have?
- How is my personal data secured?
- How is my identity verified?
- What if I have an accommodation request?
- What happens if the proctoring solution flags concerning behavior during a test?
- How does the proctoring service ensure all students are treated fairly/equitably?
- Who do I contact if I have a problem or concern?
- What support is available?
- What is the scheduling process like?
Make sure instructors feel comfortable
Students can pick up cues from their instructors. If instructors are uncomfortable with the proctoring software and cannot vouch for it, students will notice.
Teaching online can be intimidating for instructors, whether they are experienced in online instruction or teaching online for the first time. To mitigate that, give instructors time to get to know the software. Similar to how a university can create an information hub for students, the same can be done for instructors. If resources don’t allow for that, universities can hold a town-hall-style meeting in partnership with student representatives and the proctoring partner to answer questions. The last thing a university wants is for students to feel like they can’t trust their instructors. Make it clear that proctoring is not designed to weed out cheaters, but to create a safe space for all students that encourages honorable exam-taking. If instructors can confidently answer students’ questions and concerns about the intent of proctoring, then students will be more open to the process.
Encourage instructors to provide practice tests and offer flexible exam times
Online exams may be new to students, and even if they’ve taken online exams, this may be their first time using remote proctoring.
Practice tests are a great way to ensure that students understand how to use the online testing platform and are clear on instructor expectations for online exams. The more experience students have with remote proctoring, the more comfortable they will feel with it. It also allows for greater exam flexibility. By being able to accommodate various times for exam-taking, students can choose the place and time that best suits their current situation, whether in a dorm, at home or while on the road.
Online exams are a great alternative to traditional in-person assessments because they’re flexible and efficient. The right online proctoring service will offer students key benefits–comfort, convenience, and academic rigor. With so many advantages, it is important that remote proctoring is introduced to students in an approachable and understandable way.
Brandon Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Honorlock, has served in the education and ed-tech fields for over 10 years. Brandon currently oversees the Honorlock Customer Success, Support, Proctoring, Engineering, and Product teams.He is passionate about building a culture that exemplifies a customer centric approach throughout the customer journey, and has a successful track record in identifying lean operational efficiencies and delivering upon organizational goals with professional and ethical workmanship. As an executive and global business leader, he brings a record of success for driving business growth strategies, evangelizing customer success best practices, and developing support centers of excellence. Previously, Brandon served as the Executive Vice President of Operations at ExamSoft and the Director of Education at Kaplan College (KHEC).
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