Week 16: EOTO Pt.2 - Online proctoring

With the coronavirus pandemic, millions of students are taking tests from the comfort of their homes, but there is nothing comfortable about taking these tests with many schools taking to online proctoring. Since tests can no longer be taken in classrooms, schools are preventing cheating by using online proctoring systems.

Demonstration of Proctoring system (video link below)

Test taking can be stressful enough for students, especially students with test anxiety, but when being stared at by an online proctor the stress can feel a lot worse. In fact it has made students uncomfortable to a point where students from schools like Rutgers and the University of Arizona had hundreds sign petitions against online proctoring.

In my personal experience with online test proctoring I found that it really does add to the stress of wanting to do well on the test alone. I felt the pressure of being watched both on my person and in the way that I navigated the screen itself as the proctor has access to both my camera and my screen. They are very strict to a point where you can't look away from the screen which I really struggled with and you can't move around because they need to clearly see your face and eyes. On the first test I took under this format, I sat back in my chair and my computer rang and alert tone and I received a warning right in the beginning of the test. That added so much stress as I felt like I was multitasking throughout the rest of the test to keep my body still. I have asked numerous friends what their thoughts are and everyone I've spoke to feels very uncomfortable as well.

If classes are going to continue to be online, I think an alternative has to be found because it is unfair to students who wouldn't normally be taking online tests and aren't used to the system. There is too much going on right now to have that little bit of added stress unnecessarily.

test proctoring anxiety

proctoring process video link