Like other colleges and universities, community colleges need proctoring that protects exam integrity, supports faculty, and gives students a fair testing experience.
Community college students already have a lot to manage outside the classroom, so the testing process itself can’t become another obstacle for them. But the right approach to proctored testing can help faculty protect academic integrity while supporting students.
Is flexibility a convenience or necessity for community college students?
Most community college students work while taking classes. Nearly three-quarters of full-time students and 82% of part-time students had jobs, with many working full time.
For those students, an open exam window can make the difference between having time to test and missing the exam entirely. Unfortunately, many online proctoring services take away the flexibility the instructors provide by making students schedule exams around their proctors’ availability.
If an instructor gives students several days to complete an online exam, they should be able to test during that window when their schedule allows. That’s especially true for community college students. A student may plan to take their test after work, then get called in for another shift. By the time they’re free, the next open proctor slot could be past the deadline. Then what?
Community college students need the ability to take online proctored exams anytime within the instructor’s exam window, not just when a proctoring company has someone available. For many students, that flexibility can affect whether they’re able to enroll, keep taking classes, and finish at your institution.
On-demand live, multilingual support
24/7/365 proctored testing needs 24/7/365 live support because students may take their test after work, on a lunch break, or late at night, and they need a real person who can respond within seconds.
That support also needs to be available in multiple languages, which is especially important for community colleges because they enroll a larger share of multilingual learners than four-year public, four-year private nonprofit, or for-profit institutions.
More than 27%1 of community college students reported speaking a language other than English as a first language, and 65% of multilingual learners said they speak more than one language on a daily basis.
1U.S. Dept. of Ed, National Center for Education Statistics, National Postsecondary Student Aid Study: 2020 Undergraduate Students (NPSAS:UG).
Honorlock’s live support responds in less than 15 seconds and provides real-time multilingual translation in 50 languages, so students can get step-by-step help in their preferred language whenever they test.
That creates a more equitable testing experience and gives faculty and administrators more confidence in the validity of exam results because students can understand the rules, get help quickly, and complete the exam under consistent conditions. It can also help community colleges expand access and grow programs for students who speak different languages.
Helping students prove job skills
Proctored hands-on exams can help community colleges assess the skills students will use in their current jobs or future careers. With flexible settings, instructors can proctor applied assessments where students use approved software, present their work, solve problems by hand, or complete job-related tasks without unauthorized help.
Examples of hands-on activities that can be remotely proctored:
- Accounting students using Excel or other approved software to correct budgets, invoices, or balance sheets, then providing a written explanation within Word or Google Docs about what they changed and why
- Nursing students reviewing a mock patient case, documenting next steps, or explaining how they would handle the situation
- Education students delivering a mock virtual lesson they developed
- Welding, HVAC, or automotive students reviewing a diagram they prepared, then explaining the required parts, tools they would use, and safety procedures
- Open-book exams where students use instructor-approved textbooks, notes, websites, calculators, or software while all other resources are restricted
- IT or computer science students using an approved coding environment to write, debug, and explain code for a real task while all other software and sites are blocked
- Math, science, or technical program students completing handwritten calculations and showing their work before submitting it in the LMS
Preventing the use of AI and cell phones
Any online exam, including hands-on exams, can be compromised by different types of AI.
For example, a student can use a conversational AI chatbot to:
- Generate written responses
- Answer math questions
- Write and correct code
- Produce spreadsheet formulas or identify errors in a worksheet
- Analyze case studies, visuals (e.g., diagrams, charts, images, and screenshots)
- Provide step-by-step instructions to complete tasks in software
And then there are AI exam assistants, sometimes called “invisible AI,” which can do nearly all of those tasks while operating as a transparent overlay on top of the exam screen. They can read what’s on the student’s screen, listen to questions that may be asked during oral exams, and then display answers in real time.
The interactive click-thru below (view in full screen here) shows how hidden test answer AI tools work and what makes them nearly undetectable.
See an interactive click-thru that shows how hidden test answer AI tools work and what makes them nearly undetectable.
AI doesn’t have to answer every question to put an exam result at risk. It only has to help on them with juuuust enough to pass, which may only be a few questions.
Students can also access those tools through cell phones, smartwatches, and tablets used outside of the webcam view screen. That’s why online proctoring needs to do more than lock the browser and you can’t rely on a live proctor, who may be watching a dozen other students, seeing a student using a hidden device.
Honorlock prevents students from using AI on proctored online exams by:
- Blocking unauthorized AI tools and applications
- Instructors can allow approved AI tools and software when the assessment requires hands-on work
- Detecting cell phones and secondary devices such as smartwatches and tablets
- Verifying identity and scanning the workspace
- Monitoring and recording behavior and desktop activity
- Listening for phrases like “Hey Siri” or “OK Google,” that activate virtual assistants on hidden smart devices
Saving faculty time with a focused review
Many proctoring platforms create more work after the exam by sending faculty and exam admins into overly complicated, inefficient session viewers full of unimportant flags.
For example, irrelevant noises like a dog barking or a student coughing, which your team will need to review. Those types of proctoring platforms eat up a lot of faculty time that could and should be spent on teaching and supporting students.
Honorlock’s hybrid proctoring model combines AI monitoring with live proctor review. When the AI detects possible misconduct, a live proctor reviews the behavior in real time and only intervenes when the behavior needs to be addressed. If the behavior isn’t important, they don’t intervene and the student isn’t interrupted.
Faculty and exam admins can still review every flag if they want to, but Honorlock helps them focus on the behavior that most likely compromises academic integrity.
Honorlock’s Session Viewer combines webcam video, screen recording, event logs, authentication assets, proctor notes, and timestamped flags in one review experience. Faculty can use those timestamps to jump straight to flagged behavior, review the evidence faster, and make more informed decisions with less manual search.
“Honorlock flags possible infractions so that we can do reviews of those testing sessions without consuming every hour of the day. It also saves me time in ease of setup and enables me to collaborate with evidence in hand for academic disputes.”
Dana Einfeld, Ed.D
Division Chairperson Academic Transfer Mathematics & Engineering
Coastal Alabama Community College
Reducing test anxiety
While proctoring is only one part of the online learning ecosystem, poorly designed proctoring can contribute to test anxiety.2 Negative academic emotions, including anxiety and anger, can interfere with performance.2,3
If students are assessed when negative emotions cloud their memory and disrupt their focus4,5, among other negative repercussions, is it really a valid assessment?
Section references
2Conijn, R., Kleingeld, A., Matzat, U., & Snijders, C. (2022). The fear of big brother: The potential negative side‐effects of proctored exams. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 38(6), 1521–1534. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12651
3Camacho-Morles, J., Slemp, G. R., Pekrun, R., Loderer, K., Hou, H., & Oades, L. G. (2021). Activity achievement emotions and academic performance: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 33(3), 1051–1095. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09585-3
4Alshareef, N., Giga, S., & Fletcher, I. (2025). Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: A qualitative study. Medical Education Online, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2025.2505177
5Chu, K. L., Edwards, E. J., & Vaughan, R. S. (2026). Untangling the influence of anxiety and motivation on cognitive performance of international university students. Journal of International Students, 16(1), 127–140. https://doi.org/10.32674/kb71w355
“Honorlock was a lot less invasive and less glitchy. It felt way more seamless and creates an easier testing experience. It just lets you take your test without any interruptions.”
Madi Kuokos, Student at the University of Florida graduate
Honorlock’s combination of AI and live proctors helps reduce state anxiety before and during an exam. Pre-exam tutorials, unlimited practice exams, and extensive student resources let test takers see how proctoring works, confirm their device works, and know what to expect before the real exam.
During the exam, AI monitors the session and alerts a live proctor only when something may need attention, so students are not interrupted without a reason. When a proctor does step in, they are trained to respond calmly and help students move forward.
“It’s the empathy that sets Honorlock apart. Our students are anxious enough; having someone actually respond and care made all the difference.
Caryn Sever
Director of Instructional Design and Development, Northern Virginia Community College
Online proctored exams can support students, faculty, and program quality when the model is designed for community college students lives and how they actually test.
The right online exam proctoring approach gives students flexible access and real support, helps faculty trust the results, and keeps academic integrity intact.
