The Best Online Exam Tools for Instructors Starts With User-friendly Technology

<p id="">User-friendly technology is a must as institutions continue their move to online learning. That starts with cutting-edge technologies like Canvas. At <a href="https://www.instructure.com/events/instructurecon21" target="_blank" id="">InstructureCon 2021</a>, educators at all levels can explore the latest technologies and discover products that make digital learning better. This includes an in-depth look at the best online exam tools for instructors and how the integration of Rosalyn into Canvas is transforming remote testing.</p>

Room Scanning For Online Testing Ruled Unconstitutional

<p id="">How far are schools willing to take checking for cheating when it comes to exams proctored online? Answer: having students pan their camera around the room to show that it’s free of other devices, individuals, and anything else they deem cheat-centric.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p id="">While these might not sound like searches to some, U.S. district court Judge J. Philip Calabrese ruled on August 25 that not only are room scans indeed searches, but they are also unreasonable and thereby unconstitutional.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p id="">Lead counsel Matthew Besser stated, "The case appears to be the first in the nation to hold that the Fourth Amendment protects students from unreasonable video searches of their homes before taking a remote test.”</p><p id="">‍</p>

Online Test Administration Software: Cheating Prevention and Student Dignity

<p id="">The final exams and papers that assess student performance are an incentive for students to do their very best work. If assessments become compromised, it threatens the whole institution. A systematic appraisal of the interplay between online test administration software, cheating prevention, and student dignity surfaces some principles and strategies to help make the best online test administration software choices. A crucial stratagem is engaging with students to understand their view of the appropriate balance.</p><p id="">Students, parents, school administrators, faculty, and employers are all aligned around academic integrity. They want it. Without academic integrity, the whole value chain of education falls. It’s a social contract, but it got frayed by the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. &nbsp;</p><p id="">Students did not get the collegiate experience that they were expecting. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/10/11/college-sports-cut-seasons-canceled-student-athletes-feel-abandoned/3585109001/" target="_blank" id="">Sports were canceled</a>. There were no parties, concerts, or dances. Gone were the everyday cues in school that remind you to do your own work and play by the rules. &nbsp;In their place were only videoconferences.</p><p id="">Students paying $50-$70,000 to develop their minds collegially in a bucolic campus got something very different for the last 15 months. The deal has been broken. It is easy to understand how some students feel like they deserve to cut some corners. Some students violate the rules of exams and get outside help. Others crib their final papers from online sources. It is also easy to understand how the vast majority of students trying to make the best of a lousy situation see the few’s actions as a betrayal. Furthermore, they see the ad hoc implementation of proctoring technology by their schools as just another letdown. Systems are either not effective in stopping non-independent test-taking and, perversely, threatening to catch innocent students up in suspicion.</p><p id="">A lot has been written on how to prevent cheating, not so much on the moral obligation of colleges and universities to advance student learning while doing so. It’s time to take 20 steps back and get a handle on academic integrity from a perspective where the students’ dignity is given more consideration. </p><p id="">Five ways to put students first in online test administration software cheating prevention: </p><ol id=""><li id="">Explain why you are doing what you are doing.</li><li id="">Make sure it works. Always make clear the purpose of the invigilation. </li><li id="">Acknowledge and respect the trade-off between students’ privacy and academic integrity. </li><li id="">Commit to radical transparency. Behave as if in a partnership, not allowing students’ data to be exploited for ancillary uses of data not directly related to delivering educational value to students. </li><li id="">Make common cause. Acknowledge the difference between punitive and developmental objectives in promoting academic integrity.</li></ol>

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