As schools have moved online due to the coronavirus, they have partnered with proctoring services to monitor online exams and prevent cheating. Those services go by names such as Respondus LockDown, ProctorU, Proctorio, and Examity, among others. What gets overlooked as the contracts are signed, however, is student privacy.
Forbes compared such proctoring measures to “spyware.” Chris Dayley of Utah State University, for example, “described the software with a laugh as ‘sort of like spyware that we just legitimize” in The Washington Post. College administrators, the Post noted, defend the software because “it’s a crisis situation. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
But do desperate times really justify breaching the privacy of millions of college students? Maintaining academic integrity is important in higher education, but the extent that these proctoring services go is beyond typical anti-cheating measures.
The Washington Post detailed the experience of a sick student at the University of Florida. She asked permission to vomit and, with no bathroom breaks permitted, remained in her seat in front of the camera, waiting to clean herself up until after she finished the test and logged off.
The invasive software that uses live proctors to “ensure test-takers abide by a strict set of rules” is the most concerning practice.
I'm sort of at a loss.
Universities are in a better position than K-12 teachers are, because universities can expect a certain level of technology access. Perhaps a professor could give a test at a specific time, students would log into software that tracks IP address and relative location, and students would have to scan/send all paper work (I'm thinking math tests here) to the instructor within 10 minutes of the end of the test? That would be something.
In K-12, we're screwed. Cheating occurs like the sunrise, and we hand out grades like candy.
I've mentioned before that I teach as an adjunct in the U of Maryland system. Since we had to move to online classes this issue came up in my class. When I starting talking about the first online midterm coming up I was surprised to be interrupted and told about this Respondus system that was available to me if I chose to use it. I didn't know about it at the time but when I mentioned the upcoming midterm a number of women immediately asked me if I was going to use Respondus and how much they hated it. I had to have them explain what they were talking about and it was exactly what your linked articles talked about. Many of the women stated they were creeped out knowing that some unknown person was watching their every move.
ReplyDeleteI have a daughter and I would be concerned if some unknown person, possibly a predatory male, had unlimited access to observe my daughter during a stressful exam. Some of the women expressed their concern that this observer could figure out who they were and where they lived if the system was hacked. Seriously, even many of my male students chimed in stating that this spy system was creepy. Luckily, I was able to tell them that I had already decided that I would conduct the test like I would in the classroom. They would go to the class BlackBoard site at the designated test time, download the test, take it writing answers by hand (no typing allowed), and submitting it electronically to me by the end of the test time. I extended the testing time 30 minutes to account for time to download the test, take pictures of their work, uploading, transmitting, and Murphy to do his normal interference.
Worked great. I had each student's test in their own hand-writing and so could do my normal comparison checks for possible cheating. I did not find any suspect cases and test grades were compatible to previous in-class results. Sometimes you have to treat college students as adults and they will surprise you and act like adults.
As for K-12, I agree with you that it just isn't going to work.
My junior at UW-Seattle is finding teachers either do what Steve did or they don't bother with tests and do major assignments instead.
ReplyDeleteMy just-graduated high school kid had a school that never figured out testing and just used papers, assignments, and presentations.
I find myself very curious at how AP exams in courses like History. Literature, or Art History were handled. I know that in previous years, test security has been pretty tight.
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