Many educational establishments and training bodies – including Oxford and Cambridge Universities – are moving exams online. However, with online exams, proctoring is more difficult.
It comes as Covid-19 has meant that pen and paper exams are often unfeasible, with laws permitting gatherings of multiple people as well as enforced school closures.
Proctoring, or invigilating, is the process of watching people take exams to ensure that they done not cheat. But what are the benefits of this, and how can you ensure that it is done online? This blog post explains.
5 benefits of proctoring exam sessions
The proctoring process has benefits for both the pupil and the credibility of the exam body:
- They ensure that each candidate has an equal opportunity to demonstrate their abilities
- They ensure the security of the examination, before, during and after the exam takes places
- They prevent possible candidate malpractice
- They prevent possible administration failures
- They liaise with the examination officer
The role of the invigilator can be quite complicated and broad. This document by the NOCN is no fewer than 10 pages long.
They must ensure that they give their full attention to the exam taking place and be able to observe each candidate at all times. If they are suspicious of any activity that threatens the integrity of the exam, they must report it immediately.
Ultimately, strict rules exist in order to prevent cheating in exams – including not allowing anyone who has helped prepare the students for the exam to act as an invigilator. Which is part of the reason that they are essential to the examination process.
Invigilators have the role of ensuring the exam is set up in the right conditions – such as chairs being the correct spacing to ensure spacing and signage is correctly displayed to deter the threat of cheating.
With such a stringent mechanism placed on invigilating during an exam, it is no wonder that educational establishments are concerned about the validity of exams which may take place online.
How can EDExams help?
EDExams utilises lock-down technology in order to create a secure exam environment.
The platform is designed to support all examination and assessment methods. It is available as a bespoke solution which can be tailored to your individual needs.
The platform is safe and secure, and is constantly reviewed to stay on top of technology and trends. Ultimately the service provides high quality technical and learning opportunities for learners.
For more information, click here or call 01909 568 338.
