Compare Online Proctoring Services

Guide for comparing different online proctoring services

When you compare online proctoring services, you may be surprised to find that they come in many shapes and sizes.

  • Can the proctoring software detect cell phone use?
  • Does it protect my exam questions from being posted on unauthorized test banks?
  • Are proctored exams easy to use to set up for faculty and students?
  • Is a flat-rate cost or will it cost more for variable requirements?
  • Does the proctoring software integrate with our Learning Management System (LMS)?
  • How does it ensure that student data privacy?
  • How long does it take to implement?
Click any part below to skip to that section

Part 1: What is online proctoring and why is it needed?

Online proctoring, sometimes referred to as remote proctoring, monitors students during an online exam using software and/or live proctors to:

  • Prevent cheating and protect exam integrity
  • Preserve accreditation
  • Improve student success
  • Scale online programs at an affordable cost

Some proctoring services use one method or a combination of both to effectively proctor online exams.

How does online proctoring protect accreditation?

Some online programs are required by law to verify identification. This is to ensure that the person taking the proctored exam is the same student enrolled in the course. 

According to the federal government’s 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act, higher education institutions that receive Title IV funding are required to verify the identity of enrolled online students by at least one of the following methods:

  • Online proctored exams 
  • New or other technologies and practices which verify identify
  • Secure login and password, such as a Learning Management System (LMS)

Improving student success

The right proctoring service will offer your students two key things: convenience and academic rigor.

Proctored exams can help provide online courses with the same level of quality as in the classroom with more flexibility. Students can take online exams at a time that works for their schedule and get needed support at any time

Part 2: What are the four types of online proctoring services?

Common methods of online proctoring services:

  • Browser lockdown software
  • Automated proctoring 
  • Live proctoring
  • Blending automated proctoring and live online proctoring

Browser Lockdown Software

What is browser lockdown software?

Test software tools like browser locks are used to prevent students from accessing other browsers, websites, or applications during an exam and to also restrict certain function keys and keyboard shortcuts. A browser lock is a starting point for proctoring online exams but lacks many features that address academic dishonesty.

How does a browser lockdown work?

They integrate with the LMS and prevent students from accessing websites, applications, and keyboard functions during the exam.

What are the benefits of a browser lockdown?

  • Easy to implement
  • Simple functionality prevents one aspect of academic dishonesty
  • Printing and screen capture is disabled

What are the issues of using a browser lock?

  • They only address one aspect of academic dishonesty
  • Students can easily work around a browser lock to find answers and cheat
    • If no other proctoring software is used along with the browser lock, a student can use their cell phone to search for answers or refer to their class notes

Automated Proctoring

What is automated proctoring?

Automated proctoring, also referred to as AI proctoring, uses AI software to monitor students during the online exam. 

How does automated proctoring work?

  • A student sits down for the online assessment, verifies their identity, and then starts the exam
  • AI technology monitors the student during the online exam 
  • Someone reviews the recording of their session and prepares a report for the instructor
  • The instructor can also review the session recording to better evaluate any flagged incidents

What are the benefits of automated proctoring?

  • No one has to be present during the online exam
  • Students can access online exams day or night
  • Reports provide critical details about student behavior
  • Instructors can easily review reports and decide if any academic dishonesty has occurred

What are the issues with automated proctoring?

  • Cheating is addressed after the exam
  • AI can miss some potential academic misconduct
  • The exam recording has to be reviewed in its entirety which can be a lengthy process
  • The lengthy review process delays grading, which can frustrate faculty and students 

Live Proctoring

What is live proctoring?

Proctoring services that aren’t using automated proctoring typically use live remote proctors who watch students as they take the exam.

How does live proctoring work?

  • Live remote proctors watch the student while they take their online exam to ensure that academic integrity is upheld
  • Remote proctors can intervene if any issues arise
  • After the online exam, live remote proctors create an exam report and send the recording to the instructor for review

What are the benefits of live proctoring?

  • Live proctoring means that you get many of the same benefits of proctoring an in-person, on-campus exam
  • Having a human monitor the online exams can make instructors more comfortable with the integrity of their exams
  • Live remote proctors can communicate with students in real-time
  • Sessions are still recorded so instructors can review if needed

What are the issues with live proctoring?

  • Live remote proctors are often watching multiple students simultaneously, which increases the chance of missing incidents
  • Students know they’re being watched which can increase exam anxiety and negatively impact exam performance
  • Scheduling is a hassle because students have to schedule ahead of time and align with the availability of the remote proctor
  • Some students have described live proctoring as “creepy” because the proctor is visible on their desktop throughout their exam

Blending AI Proctoring and Live Online Proctoring Services

Proctoring services such as Honorlock combine AI and live remote proctors to prevent cheating, protect academic integrity, and support students throughout.

How does Honorlock’s online proctoring services work?

  • Students can schedule and take their exam at any time – 24/7/365
  • AI monitors the student during the exam and prompts a live human proctor to enter if any issues are detected. This means that when a proctor is alerted, their attention is on one student only
  • Proctors can review the situation before intervening, which provides a less intimidating and non-invasive exam experience
  • Faculty save time when reviewing the assessment report because they don’t have to review false flags
  • Actionable exam reports and recordings are provided to instructors 

Ultimately, you should carefully evaluate and compare online proctoring services and decide what works best for your institution.

Part 3: What questions should I ask about proctoring software features and functionality?

There are seemingly endless features and functionality to consider when you compare online proctoring software.

You’re not just preventing cheating and protecting academic integrity, you’re also setting your faculty and students up for success.

Use these questions to drive your conversations with online proctoring companies:

Can the proctoring software detect the use of cell phones and other devices?

This is an important problem that most proctoring services haven’t solved, yet most students have a cell phone, a tablet, or even a smartwatch. As technology advances, your testing software needs to advance along with it.

Follow-up question: Does the proctoring software capture a screen recording of the specific sites visited by these devices and provide it to the instructor?

How does the proctoring software protect your exam questions and answers from unauthorized use on the internet?

Faculty spend a lot of time crafting exam questions that will allow students to demonstrate their newly gained knowledge. It’s frustrating when these questions are copied and shared with common study sites such as Quizlet, Chegg, and Coursehero.

Follow-up question: Does the proctoring software you’re considering automatically take steps toward removing that exam content from unauthorized sites?

Does the proctoring software integrate with your LMS?

The online proctoring software should directly integrate with your LMS, such as Canvas, Blackboard, and D2L Brightspace, so that faculty and students can work in a testing environment they’ve already mastered. The LMS integration should also allow you to operate within your LMS without requiring additional logins and passwords.

Follow-up questions:

  • How long does the integration process take?
  • Does the proctoring solution natively acquire your institution’s branding in the LMS?

Can you proctor third-party exams such as Cengage, Pearson, and McGraw Hill?

When faculty need to administer exams outside of your LMS, they need a proctoring solution that will provide effective evaluation while preventing academic dishonesty. Make sure your proctoring software seamlessly works with third-party systems.

Is real-time reporting available? If not, how long does it usually take to receive exam reporting?

Many online proctoring systems can take up to three days to provide exam recordings for faculty review. After that, faculty need to log into a third-party system for access. Make sure that the online proctoring service provides timely access to exam reports and recordings.

Follow-up questions: 

  • Are the proctored exam reports provided within your LMS?
  • Is there an additional cost associated with reporting?

When can students schedule and take their online exams?

With live proctoring, students usually find that they have to schedule their exam time in advance. Limited proctor hours can prevent students from being able to take the exam when they are most ready and most alert. This creates headaches and frustration. Be sure that exam scheduling is on-demand to provide a smooth experience for your students.

Follow-up question: If the proctoring software requires scheduling ahead of time and a student needs to reschedule their online exam, will they be penalized?

Does the proctoring software have voice detection?

Online proctoring solutions with voice detection features are often sensitive to sounds which can cause over-flagging. This sensitivity is not only annoying for your faculty but also causes unneeded stress for students. Ideally, you’ll find proctoring software with robust voice detection that reduces false flags. This also gives students who like to read questions aloud the peace of mind that they will not be flagged inappropriately.

The voice detection AI should go beyond simply listening for a voice and have the capability to identify common phrases, such as “Hey Siri” or “OK Google,” to identify students who may be attempting academic dishonesty. Additionally, instructors and administrators should be able to create and update a list of dynamic words and phrases specific to their needs.

Follow-up questions:

  • Is the voice detection in real-time?
    • When an issue arises, the proctoring software should alert a live proctor who can enter the exam session to determine whether the student is acting appropriately
  • Does the proctoring software provide a written transcript when a voice is detected?

Does the online proctoring service quickly verify the student’s ID?

Many online proctoring services state perform identity verification, but how?  Be sure to ask.

The software should read the content on the student’s ID and match it to the student’s name and information in your LMS before the student is can launch the proctored exam. 

Follow-up questions: 

  • How long does the proctoring software typically take to verify a student’s ID? 60 seconds, a few minutes?
  • Does the online proctoring service charge extra for ID verification?

Is the proctoring software easy to use?

If you’re investing in online proctoring software, make sure it will actually be used by your faculty.

Easy-to-use proctoring software will actually get used. This is important because it can be the difference between true technology adoption and a better proctoring experience vs wasting money on a platform that isn’t being used. 

Follow-up questions:

  • What features save instructors time? 
  • What steps are involved for instructors to enable a proctored exam?
    • There should be minimal steps required: Instructors should be able to create exams like they normally would and select the proctoring features to use.
    • The software should also fully integrate with the LMS which means no additional logins or passwords.

Can you customize online exams based on accessibility needs?

Accessibility in the classroom is ever important and instructors need the ability to create specific instructions for any student requiring accommodations. It’s also important to review the company’s VPAT and have it validated by your team. 

Follow-up question: What assistive technologies are supported by the online proctoring solution?

Common assistive technologies are:
  • Natural Reader 
  • JAWS
  • NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access)
  • Text2Speech 
  • Ultra Hal TTS Reader 
  • TTS Add-ons for Browsers.  
  • SpeakIt! 
  • FoxVox 
  • SpokenText 
  • SpeakingFox 
  • Talkie 
  • Chirpy 2.0 
  • Read Aloud 

How does the online proctoring service protect student privacy?

Student privacy is incredibly important to students, instructors, and institutions. It should be a top priority for online proctoring services as well. Obtain the online proctoring company’s privacy policy which should address why and how they’re protecting student data. 

Follow-up questions:

  • What data is collected by the online proctoring service and why is it needed?
  • Does the company sell or share student data?
  • How long is data kept by the online proctoring service?

How does the online proctoring service secure your data?

  • Is the proctoring software reliably hosted by a cloud service provider? 
  • Are employees of the online proctoring service trained and certified in FERPA and Data Protection?
  • Does the online proctoring service have the company’s data, security, and business practices audited annually by independent third parties to obtain certifications such as SOCII?
  • Is the online proctoring company GDPR compliant? This information should be readily available on their website.

Part 4: What should I ask about implementation, training, and support?

Critical variables that are often overlooked when purchasing online proctoring technology are implementation, training, and ongoing support.

Online proctoring implementation should be streamlined, project managed and fully supported during and after

Implementation

How long does it take to implement the proctoring solution?

 You need a quick and easy implementation that takes a few days, not weeks or months. This ensures that you’re getting your money’s worth as early as possible.

To set your institution up for success, you’ll want to establish a few things before you begin the implementation:
  • What’s your go-live date?
    Once the go-live date is established, the full implementation including training and onboarding sessions take place
  • Who are your administrators?
    This is the list of who at your school should have admin accounts (list names and emails)
  • What dates and times are open for your team?

Training

Training should be thorough and leave your faculty with confidence moving forward. Be sure that the online proctoring service provides ongoing training materials and 24/7/365 support for students, faculty, and administrators.

What training for online exam proctoring is available?

 Ask the online proctoring service to provide a sample training plan that details each segment and the goals.

What ongoing training resources are available?

 Online proctoring services should include resources such as quick reference guides, FAQs, and technical information for users. An added bonus is holding pre-semester webinars that cover commonly asked questions by other customers.

Customer Success Managers

 Whether you have feature requests or want help, make sure that the proctoring service includes a dedicated Account Manager or Customer Success Manager to help you along the way.

Support for faculty and students

Since education is an around-the-clock endeavor, remote proctoring support for your faculty and students should be too.
Ask these questions to ensure that you’re receiving the best support possible:
  • What are the support hours of operation?
    Student support should be readily available anytime, 24/7/365, for your students and faculty.
  • Does the proctoring service include technical support or is it an additional cost to the online proctoring software?
    Technical support for online proctoring software is often an added expense. To keep your costs under control, make sure that the online proctoring service includes this price along with the software.
  • How is support provided?
    Ideally, instructors, students, and administrators will have multiple options to connect with a human for support such as support via phone, live chat, and email.Follow-up questions:
    • Is support built into the remote proctoring software or do users have to go to a different program or application?
    • Is remote proctoring support provided in real-time?
    • Will your faculty and students speak with a human or a bot?

Part 5: What are the cost structures and how do you avoid additional costs?

Each instructor, not to mention each course, has variable requirements for proctored online exams. This can lead to unfair hikes in cost.

To avoid unfair online proctoring cost hikes, ask the following questions:
  • Do you charge a flat rate per online exam/student or does the cost vary?
    • With flat rates, you’re able to protect your bottom line and better estimate online exam proctoring costs. As an example, when online proctoring services charge per hour, you may pay twice as much for longer proctored online exams.
  • Do students have to pay extra to reschedule an exam?
    • Some live proctoring services require that students pay a fee to reschedule the exam.
  • Are implementation and training an additional cost
    • Be cautious of additional costs such as implementation and training, which can be tossed into the contract at the last minute or added later. To provide the best experience possible, online proctoring services should provide implementation and training at no additional cost.

Honorlock Online Proctoring Services

Honorlock combines AI and live remote proctors to protect academic integrity. We make online proctoring simple, easy, and human.

Additionally, Honorlock’s online proctoring services can be implemented in as little as two days and provides 24/7/365 faculty and student support.

The benefits of Honorlock’s proctoring services:

Cell phone detection

 Honorlock not only detects the use of cell phones, tablets, and other devices – our patented AI captures a screen recording of the violation to provide evidence of academic dishonesty. This helps deter students from using their phones out of view and you get to proctor beyond the webcam.

Combine AI and live test proctors

Honorlock combines the benefits of AI with those of a live test proctor. Our remote proctoring software partners with our trained proctors to reduce test anxiety and provide human support while upholding exam integrity. 

Our AI software monitors each exam session for problems and alerts a live, US-based proctor to join the session to address possible dishonesty. Our software equips the proctor with an analysis window so they can review the situation before entering the exam session via chat-box to address the situation.

Detect voices

Honorlock’s Voice Detection feature goes beyond by listening for specific keywords or phrases, such as “Hey Siri” or “OK Google,” to identify students who may be attempting to cheat on an exam. If the AI detects any dishonesty, it alerts a live proctor in real-time to pop into the exam session via chat to intervene and redirect the student.

Our AI delivers a more robust voice detection system that reduces false flags, such as dog barking. Honorlock also provides a written transcript to instructors whenever a student’s voice is detected.

Reduce illicit exam content from the Internet

 Once you enable Honorlock in an online exam, our test bank removal technology, Search and Destroy™ searches the Internet for leaked online exam questions.

Plug and play LMS integration

Honorlock’s online proctoring software directly integrates with your LMS.

This also means no additional sign-ons or passwords for faculty and students – in just a few clicks, your students and faculty are ready for the proctored online exam.

Remote proctor third-party exams

 Our proctoring software provides instructors with the ability to proctor third party exams with MyMathLab, ALEKS, Pearson, McGraw Hill, and others. Faculty can easily register third party online exams and customize exam settings in the LMS.

Actionable reporting

Extensive data is collected during the proctored exam in the institution’s LMS. Reports on student activity are provided at no additional cost to the institution.

Honorlock’s analytics provide quick results for a number of potential violations. For instance, if the student’s face goes outside the view of the camera, the violation is detected and available to the instructors via the Honorlock dashboard. The detailed reports that are available to each instructor include violations and any suspicious behavior/activity. 

24/7/365 exam scheduling

 Students can take online proctored exams with Honorlock at any time—even if it’s at 2 am over Thanksgiving break.

Verify student ID in 60 seconds

 Honorlock’s proctoring software quickly captures the content on the student’s ID along with their photo so you can be sure the student taking the proctored online exam is the student getting credit.

Easy to use and quick to set up

Honorlock was designed with the user in mind and removes much of the manual labor involved. Additionally, the LMS integration makes setup quick and simple.

The instructor creates their test in the LMS as they normally would, and then simply clicks “Enable” and the test is ready for online proctoring. And it’s just as easy for the student.

Protect student data privacy

 Student privacy is incredibly important to students, professors, and Honorlock.

Here are a few keys to remember about Honorlock’s approach to student privacy:

  • Honorlock is FERPA compliant
  • Honorlock does not sell or monetize student data
  • Honorlock does not use any student data for anything other than carrying out online exam proctoring services
  • Only appropriate school personnel have access to student data
    • Key staff from Honorlock will have access if needed to help provide quality control and support for instructors.
  • Your school owns the data
    • Honorlock uses an encrypted and secured connection during each online proctored exam. All videos and photos are stored on Honorlock’s platform. All data, including photos and video, is stored in an encrypted format on isolated storage systems within Honorlock’s private cloud in Amazon’s AWS U.S. data centers.
  • We store data in accordance with your institution’s MSA
    • After the specified time of your MSA, all student-related data is automatically purged unless the university requests an extension of a particular student’s data related to an academic integrity case. Upon request from the university, Honorlock can extend the data retention of a student’s data up to an additional 12 months.
Implementation can be completed in 2 days

Honorlock’s implementation is streamlined, project managed, and fully supported throughout to ensure your success and that faculty feel confident and will actually use the proctoring software. 

Training and ongoing training materials

Training is available for instructors and staff at no additional cost.

Honorlock also provides a comprehensive list of quick reference guides, help articles, and videos for faculty and students. This includes resources provided to the admin to assist in student orientation and training. The guides and tutorials are effective as a means of providing ongoing training for new faculty and administrators.

24/7/365 support for students and faculty

 Just like our online exam proctoring, our support is on-demand 24/7/365. From implementation to proctoring online exams, our US-based, trained support agents are available via phone (faculty only), live chat, and email. Support access is available within the online proctoring software in real-time and you’ll speak with a real person.

Fully accessible and customizable online proctoring software

Honorlock is ADA accessible and compliant with Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Honorlock has also been developed and tested to conform to WCAG 2.0 level AA guidelines for accessible use. Conformance to accessibility guidelines is part of our development process and testing is completed using various tools including screen readers (eg: Jaws and NVDA) and Deque’s aXe. All information including details and disclosures have been specified in our VPAT.

Additionally, instructors can restrict or provide access to specific websites and applications during the proctored exam. Instructors are also able to provide descriptive guidelines for students to let them know exactly what is allowed and what isn’t allowed on your proctored exam. 

There is also a section for instructors to put in any specific notes for remote proctors. This is where instructors can list any students that have any specific accommodations. The student guidelines make it easy for the remote proctor to see what guidelines the instructor provided for the student. 

Honorlock’s online proctoring services are used by more than 300+ institutions:

Read quotes from their customer success stories:

Ease of use
 “The faculty loved it because it did what we wanted it to do and it was super easy to use. Even students said they liked Honorlock best.”

 – Jill Simpson, Ph.D. University of North Alabama

24/7/365 support
“Having access to customer support 24/7/365 is huge. Especially during times like this when students may be taking exams at any time of day. You want them to have access to someone who can troubleshoot with them.”
– Daphnee St. Val, Senior Instructional Designer, Broward College
Protecting online exam content from unauthorized use
“One of the unexpected features that has surprised and delighted our faculty is Search and Destroy. So fabulous!”
– Dr. Juliette Mersiowsky, Director of Distance Education and Digital Education Collaborative, Longwood University
Customizing proctored online exams
“Instructors like how they can set different parameters in the exams. It’s a better experience for the students because instructors can be very specific, whitelist sites, and easily administer third-party exams. Overall, the semester has started out very very smoothly!”
– Paula Rodriguez, Director of the University Testing Center, Colorado State University
Quick implementation
“We were working with Honorlock to do a pilot in the Spring and… was able to get us up and running for the Fall finals right away. All of the faculty were able to adapt within the two days; all were able to use it and review the tests. We did it quick!”
– Christopher Harvey, Executive Director of Academic Technology, St. Petersburg College
Reporting benefits
“Honorlock was more than a tool to guard or block students from using inappropriate information. It was also a means to detect and determine many different ways that students approach the exams. Because of access to the wealth of data/information through Honorlock, I became better able to utilize it.”
– Ryan P. Mears, PhD, University of Florida
Blended online proctoring features
“When the AI is triggered, a skilled human proctor intervenes. This model worked better than the competitor’s model having all exams proctored by people who were unable to properly provide student support.”
– Kate Beverage, Director of Technology for Teaching and Learning Services, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
24/7 exam scheduling
“They don’t have to make a reservation like they used to do. They just log in and take the test anytime within the time window provided by the faculty member. It just works!”
– Ken Craver, Director of Distance Education, Tyler Junior College
Exclusive remote proctoring features
“The features Honorlock had to offer blew everyone else out of the water; Search and Destroy and Multi-device Detection made us realize that we had to get this product… If we can’t verify that our students are the ones who are completing the work, and all of our quizzes are out there on the internet where anyone can look up the answers, what kind of quality is that degree?”
– Cody Moyer, M.Ed., Director of Learning Technology, Polk State College

Online proctoring services are an ongoing strategic advantage for your institution’s online learning efforts and plays a vital role in improving student success and learning outcomes.

“We know universities have many options when it comes to online test proctoring. Our goal is to be the best option. We’re committed to leading the industry through innovation and customer success.”
– Michael Hemlepp, CEO of Honorlock

To learn more about how Honorlock’s online proctoring services can help your institution, sign up for a demo today!

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Tyler Stike

Tyler is Honorlock's Director of Content and a doctoral student at the University of Florida focused on educational technology.

Complete Guide to Online Exams

Learn how to create better online exams that prevent cheating and support students

Click the sections below to skip ahead

Part 1: Best practices for online exams

Best practices, creative tips, and ways to provide students with the best online exam experience possible.

Part 2: Common mistakes to avoid in online exams

From not detecting cell phone use to not using video proctoring, these mistakes can make or break your online exams.

Part 3: How to prevent cheating and protect integrity

 Learn ways to prevent cheating and how technology can help.

Part 1: Best practices for online exams

Whether you’re creating your first or your hundredth online exam, these tips will help you improve your assessments.

Provide practice tests

It’s important to remember two things:

  1. Online exams may be new to your students  
  2. Even if they’ve taken online exams this may be their first time using your platform

Practice tests are a great way to make sure that students understand how to use the online testing platform and your expectations for online exams. By the end of the practice test, students should be comfortable with the technology and confident for their first real online exam. 

Tips for creating effective practice tests:

  • Create practice tests that use a format like your actual tests and quizzes
  • If students will be timed in a real test, time the practice test
  • If you’ll include both multiple-choice and essay questions in the real test, use both question types in the practice test 

Use browser lockdown software to limit access to certain information

With any online exam, you need to ensure that students don’t have access to content that will compromise the integrity of the assessment, such as online test banks. However, there may be certain information you want to provide access to that is beneficial to complete the online exam.

However, you need to ensure that students aren’t locked out of information that is essential to solving a problem but doesn’t need to be committed to memory.

For example, figures and tables or authorized websites needed to effectively frame and answer questions should be provided in the testing and proctoring software. This helps students focus on solving a problem rather than remembering models.

Just keep in mind that browser locks only cover a small piece of the puzzle to prevent cheating.

Create test rules that are clear and understandable

When you make effective test rules for online exams, you help avoid confusion and provide a better online testing experience for your students.

How to make better test rules:

  • Create rules that are concise and leave no room for interpretation

Example:

  • Don’t do: Don’t speak to your friends during the exam.
  • Do: No talking during all exams.

In the “Don’t do” example, the student may think:“my peer from class isn’t my friend, so it’s okay to speak with them for help.”

Use question banks to mix things up

 One of the best features online exams have to offer is the question bank — a solution that helps you keep your students on their toes, make sure they’re engaged with the content and mix things up from student to student.

Tips for using question banks in your online exams:

  • Create more questions than actually needed for the exam 
  • If your exam has 30 multiple-choice questions, create 40
  • By creating additional questions, the system will randomize questions pulled for students so that there are no identical tests.

Observe student behavior during online exams

If you’ve ever created materials for online learning, such as exams or assignments, you know that what you intend and what students perceive is not always aligned. This means that students can miss cues you might have felt were obvious.

It’s crucial to review items such as the student usage logs and watch the online exam videos if recorded. By reviewing and performing a quality check, you’ll better understand how your testing expectations are interpreted, which allows you to revise and improve in the future.

Review & optimize your exam settings

 While you may not have control over a student’s environment during the online exam, online proctoring provides many customizable settings to ensure success.

Example:

Only display one question at a time

 Choosing to only display one question at a time has a dual purpose: It makes it more difficult for students to screenshot or copy online exam content and saves their progress after each question.

Randomizing questions and disabling copy/paste

 By randomizing your online exam questions and removing the ability to copy and paste your content, you’re protecting your test questions and course content. Ultimately, you can choose what works best for you and your students by getting to know the features and what they do. And, once you’ve chosen your favorites, remember to review them every time so you know you’ll get the results you want from your assessment.

Create accessible exams and provide accommodations

Accessibility in the class room is crucial for student success. In Honorlock’s online proctoring Accommodations section, you can specify accommodations for specific students, for example:

  • John Doe is allowed to use multiple monitors.
  • Jane Smith is allowed a 5-minute restroom break.
  • John Doe does not have a Photo ID, please bypass ID verification.

You can also use your learning management system to manage online exam availability, time extensions, number of attempts, and extended due dates. 

Request feedback of your online exams

Encourage students to provide you with genuine feedback about your online exams. 

TIP: Be objective and truly listen to the feedback given by your students. Use their feedback in a constructive way to improve your online exams. 

Part 2: Common mistakes to avoid in online exams

1. Not detecting cell phone use

Students have seemingly endless ways to access the internet, such as cell phones and tablets, which makes it easy and tempting to cheat on your online exams. 

How do you ensure that students aren’t using other devices to access the internet during an online exam?
Use software that can detect the use of cell phones and other devices. Students need to be aware that if they attempt to use a cell phone or another device, such as a tablet, during the online exam, it will be detected, and they can be penalized according to the instructor.

2. Not removing test exam questions and answers from the internet

It’s extremely frustrating for instructors to find out that their online exam questions and content are available on unauthorized websites, such as Quizlet, Chegg, and Coursehero. Test bank websites were initially aimed to provide learning support materials, but regardless of their intention, they make it quick and easy for students to find and share your online exam questions and content.

Try this: Google search a handful of your online exam questions

You may be surprised at the number of your exam questions and content that are on the internet without your permission. You may even see questions in the same chronological order as the real exam.

Instructors need smart technology that provides them with confidence that their online exam content isn’t being used on the internet, prevents them from having to continually create new exam questions each semester, and ensures institutions are protecting academic integrity and reputation. Furthermore, instructors need technology that stops students from copying, pasting, and printing your online exam content. 

3. Not checking for notes, textbooks, and other people in the room

Online exams are convenient because students can take their assessments at any time from any location with internet access, but they also provide an opportunity for students to access other resources. Resources can include class notes, textbooks, or even a knowledgeable friend in the room.

How can you detect and prevent students from using other resources?
The best way is to use online exam proctoring that allows you to require a student to scan the room using their webcam before taking the assessment. This gives instructors peace of mind and verifies that the student is alone in the room and doesn’t have their notes or textbooks available during the online exam.

4. Not verifying the student’s identity before the online exam

Before a student begins your online exam, you need to verify their identity.
How can you verify the student’s identity in an online proctoring format?

You need a secure online proctoring software that quickly captures the content on the student’s ID along with their photo so you can be sure the student taking the online exam is the student getting credit. There are differences among online testing and proctoring systems, but essentially, to verify the student’s ID, the webcam is used to capture an image of both the student and their photo ID. When the system confirms that the student and ID match, the student can begin the online exam.

Did you know that for some programs, ID verification is required by law?

The federal government’s 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (Section 602.17, Subsection G) requires higher education institutions that receive Title IV funding to verify the identities of enrolled distance education students by one or more of the following methods:

  1. Proctored exams
  2. A secure login and password, such as a Learning Management System
  3. New or other technologies and practices which verify identify

“Many institutions simply opt for secure student login and password credentials through their Learning Management System (LMS). While this meets federal regulations, basic LMS credentials are not an effective combatant or deterrent against academic integrity violations.” 

– Termini and Hayes, Student Identity Verification Tools and Live Proctoring in Accordance With Regulations to Combat Academic Dishonesty in Distance Education, 2014

5. Not Monitoring Online Exams in Real-Time

Many online exam proctoring companies offer on-demand services via a record-and-review model. While this model may help identify academic dishonesty, it’s time-consuming and can take days for reports to be sent to the instructor, which means that the student is only penalized after the online exam. 

Are you only relying on a record-and-review model to proctor exams?
By providing online proctoring with real-time monitoring, you can prevent cheating before it happens. An online test proctor can intervene as incidents occur, resolve issues, and help students get back on track to improve academic outcomes and their overall testing experience.

6. Watching the entire online exam in real-time

When students know that someone is watching them throughout their online exam, their performance may suffer due to the added anxiety and stress.

Live proctoring has to be scheduled in advance and may not be available at times that work best for the student (like 2:00 am on a Thursday). Further, if the student needs to change their appointment, they may be penalized. 

You also have to consider that a live test proctor is typically watching several students (as many as 10) at the same time, which can increase the possibility that they’ll miss incidents of academic misconduct. Using AI proctoring to monitor the online exam and alert remote proctors to potential issues provides greater oversight and flexibility while maintaining integrity.

To effectively monitor online exams, you need a proctoring solution that blends the benefits of AI proctoring and live test proctors. This blended approach benefits from allowing human exam proctors to give students the benefit of the doubt and get them back on track as needed. 

Part 3: How to prevent cheating and protect academic integrity

With the abundance of technology available to students today, protecting the academic integrity of your online exams with remote proctoring is more important than ever.

Use online proctoring software

What is online proctoring?

Online proctoring, sometimes referred to as remote proctoring or proctored testing, is monitoring students taking online exams with software and services to:

  • Protect academic integrity
  • Prevent and deter cheating 
  • Help and support students complete their online exams

What is Honorlock online proctoring?

Honorlock online proctoring blends AI technology and human proctors. Honorlock also provides 24/7/365 support for your faculty and students at no additional cost.

Proctored online exams shouldn’t be a pain for faculty or students. Our simple, affordable online proctoring software operates around you—no scheduling, headaches, or bulky software downloads. We prioritize academic integrity and are continually innovating to deter and prevent cheating, and our patented mobile device detection system is the only technology of its kind. 

A simple browser guard to prevent access to the internet and blocking right-clicks to copy and paste isn’t enough to prevent cheating in online exams.

“Honorlock has some technologies that no one else has: Search and Destroy and Multi-Device Detection…Honorlock is going to try to keep a problem from happening rather than tell you about a problem after it happens.”

 – Ken Craver, Director of Distance Education, Tyler Junior College

How to prevent cheating using Honorlock online proctoring

Cell phone detection

Preventing mobile phone use is one of the most significant challenges with remotely proctored exams. Fortunately, Honorlock is proud to have the industry’s first and only online proctoring system to detect mobile phone, tablet, and laptop use while a student is taking an online exam. 

How does Honorlock detect cell phone use?

While a student is testing, our patented online exam proctoring software detects the use of secondary devices, prevents students from accessing test bank information, and then takes a screen recording of any additional devices to monitor for suspicious activity and to provide evidence in the event of a violation.

This function deters students from using their cell phones and allows you to better protect the academic integrity of your online exams.

Online proctoring with a human touch

Honorlock reinvented online proctoring and offers the first and only system that combines the benefits of automation with those of a live online exam proctor.

Honorlock’s Live Proctoring uses artificial intelligence to identify academic dishonesty and instantly triggers a live human proctor to intervene in the online exam in real-time. Instead of watching every single proctored online exam from start to finish which can be costly, require scheduling, and makes students uncomfortable, Honorlock’s live proctors only interact with students when they are engaging in suspicious activity.

How does it work?

Honorlock’s AI-driven, Live Pop-In monitors the student for potential problems, and, if it detects any, our live online exam proctor is prompted to join a student’s session in real-time to address possible dishonesty as it happens. 

Live Pop-In keeps the human touch while delivering a much less intimidating and non-invasive testing experience for the student. Faculty save a substantial amount of time when reviewing the assessment report because they don’t have to review false flags.

The benefits of Live Pop-In
  • Live Pop-In provides a 1:1 setting
    When a certified online exam proctor is alerted by the AI, the proctor is attentive and focused on one student. In other settings, a live proctor could be watching up to 10 students for an extended period, a scenario that can be exhausting and may lead to missed violations.
  • Live Pop-In is on-demand
    Students can schedule and complete their online exam at any time, 24/7/365.
  • Cost-Effectiveness
    Live Pop-In is a more cost-effective solution than live proctoring because watching every single online exam from start to finish is time-consuming and expensive. 
  • Review Options
    Live Pop-In gives an online exam proctor an analysis window to review the potential academic dishonesty situation before they pop in. In contrast, live online proctors have to catch it live or they will miss it.

Remove online exam questions from the Internet

We’ve created the most comprehensive and extensive device detection toolkit on the market to protect your exams.

Search and Destroy™, our proprietary test bank removal technology, searches the Internet for unauthorized copies of your test questions and content and requests that they be destroyed.

How does it work?
Once you enable Honorlock in an online assessment, our proctoring software automatically searches for

leaked content. It then requests the removal of the material from third-party websites by filing DMCA copyright takedown notices. As an added measure of protection, we also allow you to prevent students from copying, pasting, and printing during the proctored online exam. Honorlock’s online proctoring gives instructors the confidence of knowing they won’t have to create new test questions each semester, and grants institutions the peace of mind that they are protecting their programs’ academic integrity.

“One of the unexpected features that has surprised and delighted our faculty is Search and Destroy. So fabulous!”

– Dr. Juliette Mersiowsky, Director, Distance Education and Digital Education Collaborative, Longwood University

Meaningful voice detection

With our Voice Detection technology, Honorlock creates a high priority flag whenever words like Siri, Alexa, Cortana, or Google are heard, as well as any word from a dynamic list of words or phrases like “help me,” “what’s the answer,” “cheat,” “question,” “answer,” “copy,” etc. This list can be added to or modified by the University.

  • Faculty report that simple alerts for detected sounds are not useful in that they are typically over-employed during proctored exam sessions. This hypersensitivity annoys faculty and puts undue stress on students. Honorlock’s new AI capability delivers a more robust voice detection system that reduces false flags and gives students who like to read questions aloud peace of mind that they will not be flagged inappropriately. Honorlock’s Voice Detection feature goes beyond by listening for specific keywords or phrases, such as “Hey Siri” or “OK Google,” to identify students who may be attempting academic dishonesty and alerts a live test proctor in real-time to pop into the online exam session via chat to intervene and redirect the student.
  • What if a student is talking to someone else during the online exam?
    If a student starts talking to someone this activity would trigger a live online test proctor. The proctor would then enter the student’s online exam session in a chat window, pause the exam, and correct the student’s behavior. 
  • What if the student is speaking out loud to themselves?
    Honorlock delivers smart voice detection that reduces false flags and allows students to read questions out loud during the online exam without being flagged for academic dishonesty.
  • What if a dog barks or a phone rings?
    Honorlock’s online test proctors have an analysis window to assess whether a student’s behavior is actually “academic dishonesty,” so they do not interrupt online exam sessions for false positives, such as a dog barking. If the proctor determines there are no integrity incidents during the analysis window, they can downgrade the flag (not removing it) to eliminate the need for faculty to review it at a later time.

Quick student ID verification

Honorlock online proctoring verifies the student’s authentication/ID in less than 60 seconds.

Quick student ID verification

 Honorlock captures the content on the student’s ID along with their photo so you can be sure the student taking the exam is the student getting credit.

Remote proctor third-party exams

Honorlock will set your institution apart by delivering proctoring services within third-party exam systems such as MyMathLab, ALEKS, Pearson and McGraw Hill. 

How does it work?

 Faculty can easily register third-party exams and customize exam settings in your LMS. Students can access and launch the exam from the LMS with a few simple clicks. You can rest assured that all online exams – even those outside your LMS – are proctored effectively to protect academic integrity.

Real-time reporting for proctored online exams

Your faculty and students expect fast turnaround times for their exams. The Honorlock online proctoring software collects extensive data and provides real-time reporting analytics during the student’s proctored exam session in the institution’s LMS. Reports on student activity are provided at no additional cost to the institution.

How does it work?

Honorlock real-time analytics provides instantaneous results for many potential violations. For instance, users accessing test bank content during the assessment and/or mobile device violations are detected and available to the instructors in real-time via the Honorlock dashboard. Detailed reports are available to each instructor as the online exams are completed. These reports include violations and any suspicious behavior/activity. Faculty and admins also can export exam summary reports as well as download student videos. Exported data can be used in third-party analytic and reporting tools that are popular at many institutions such as SQL reporting, Tableau, etc.

“Honorlock was more than a tool to guard or block students from using inappropriate information. It was also a means to detect and determine many different ways that students approach the exams. Because of access to the wealth of data/information through Honorlock, I became better able to utilize it.”

 -Ryan P. Mears, Ph.D., Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Florida

LMS Integration

Your faculty are busy and need the ability to set up proctored online exams in your own LMS with just a few clicks. Most online proctoring services require additional software or third-party logins, making the setup a challenge for the instructor and the pre-test experience even more stressful for the student

How does it work?

Honorlock Integrates directly into your institution’s LMS with a very simple interface.

The instructor creates their online test in the LMS as they normally would, and then simply clicks “Enable” and the test is ready for online proctoring. It’s just as easy for the student; the student will already be in familiar territory when they attempt to start their proctored exam since they will go to their exam in the LMS and launch the online proctoring session from there. It typically takes less than 60 seconds for the student to complete the authentication process and start the online proctored exam.

Additionally, because Honorlock is embedded with the institution’s LMS, it natively acquires the branding of the LMS.

“It’s seamless, it’s quick, the equipment checks are faster than our previous solution. The entire experience is so much nicer.”

-Paula Rodriguez, Director of the University Testing Center, Colorado State University

Implementation & support

In addition to Honorlock’s unparalleled features and functionality, implementation is quick and support for faculty and students is on-going.

2-day implementation of online proctoring

The implementation process can happen in as little as 2 to 3 days. The training webinars can be recorded and distributed as needed for additional users, or for ongoing training purposes.

“All of the faculty were able to adapt within the two days; all were able to use it and review the tests. We did it quick!” 

– Christopher Harvey, Executive Director of Academic Technology, St. Petersburg College

Ongoing 24/7/365 Faculty and Student Support

From implementation and training to creating your exams, our US-based, trained support agents are available 24/7/365 via phone, live chat with a real person, and email. Support access is built into our platform in real-time. 

“Having access to customer support 24/7/365 is huge. Especially during times like this when students may be taking exams at any time of day. You want them to have access to someone who can troubleshoot with them.” 

 –Daphnee St. Val,Senior Instructional Designer, Broward College

Online exam proctoring is a fundamental and ongoing strategic advantage for your institution.

With over 300 of customers of all sizes, Honorlock is well-positioned as the future of online proctoring to maintain academic integrity for schools and enable life-changing success for students.

To learn more about how Honorlock can help your institution, sign up for a demo today!

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Tyler Stike

Tyler is Honorlock's Director of Content and a doctoral student at the University of Florida focused on educational technology.

Rapid Shift to Online Education Helps Universities Cope in Uncertain Times

Imagine what would have happened to colleges and universities in 2020 without the online education technology to allow teaching and learning to continue as it did. OK, stop! It was painful enough for those who had never used such technology before but imagine a complete shutdown of all higher education that a similar pandemic would have caused just 10 or 15 years ago. 

Click below to get information about quickly implementing online proctoring if your institution is moving to online learning related to COVID.

Set Up Proctoring in 2 Days

The good news for students who want to learn and teachers who want to teach is that most schools were able to respond. Some did it seamlessly, many did it heroically, and they all did it during an unprecedented crisis that hit hard in March 2020  and kept presenting new challenges throughout the year. People who had never before heard the words “online proctored exam” became creative test builders or savvy online test takers within a month. While the uncertain times continue into the winter, even as the first vaccines are being administered, let’s take a look at how today’s online education technology has helped institutions cope with remote schooling.

Old Hands at Online Education

Many schools have offered online courses toward degree programs for the past five, 10, or 20 years. Even schools known for their in-person undergraduate and graduate programs, such as Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Southern California have offered online courses. 

Students from all over the world could take courses in those universities’ distance learning programs, which allowed the schools to expand their mission and—sometimes over the objections of those who feared that academic standards would suffer—enter a lucrative market. Locally, meanwhile, online courses could help traditional students catch up if, for example, they had to take a semester off for personal or financial reasons.

Transition-Ready

Schools that already invested in their own systems were better placed to convert their courses to an online environment, even if the majority of their faculty had never taught online before. To be sure, instructors had to put in an immense amount of work to learn new software and, in many cases, reconceptualize their courses for an online environment. The psychological toll may take years to work itself out, and, while digital transformation can’t be considered a panacea for all that ails higher education, the success stories from this era will certainly contribute to an expanded sense of what’s possible, both now and in the future.

Video Classrooms and Conferencing

As noted, in some schools, the capability to run courses online has been developing for some time, and the support of companies that provide online test proctoring services has also been growing. The ability for instructors to see and hear 25 or more students on-screen at once has become widespread, even if it was only encountered for the first time during the COVID-19 crisis. Students can ask questions of teaching assistants in real-time chat boxes and smaller numbers can meet in online “breakout rooms” for focused discussions and group work.

Many schools without their own dedicated online classroom platforms were able to adapt their video conferencing services that were not originally set up with universities in mind. These services were able to help in a pinch and also allowed instructors and tech staffers to learn what works and what needed to improve with a given interface and student experience as they planned for the future.

How One School Quickly Integrated Online Proctored Exams

When it came time for course assessments, particularly high stakes midterm and final exams, companies such as Honorlock stepped into the breach to help schools maintain academic integrity even as an exponentially greater number of students took web proctored exams for the first time.

Like many schools, Broward College had to react fast. As one of the United States’ largest community colleges, Broward serves approximately 67,000 students, many of whom are the first in their families to pursue their formal education beyond high school. To fulfill their promise to these students in the face of the pandemic, Broward went full steam ahead to transition courses to a fully online environment. Naturally, they faced many of the same obstacles other schools did, as well as those unique to their community. They needed an online proctoring solution that would become a true resource, not an additional problem.

Data Privacy and Building Trust

Daphne St. Val, Senior Instructional Designer at Broward, noted that students were initially concerned about their privacy, but “little by little,” she said, they became comfortable: “When you install the [lightweight Chrome browser] extension, it’s not tapping into anything other than what you do during your screen sharing.”

Support for Faculty and Students

Many instructors and students struggled during the beginning of the pandemic due to the rushed learning curve associated with video-based courses and online test proctoring systems. In contrast, Honorlock users reported relief. “Having access to 24/7/365 support is huge, said St. Val. Especially during times like this when students may be taking exams at any time of day. You want them to have access to someone who can troubleshoot with them.”

Exclusive Online Proctoring Features You Can’t Get Anywhere Else

Three exclusive features that St. Val said particularly sets Honorlock apart from other online proctoring solutions are Live Pop-In™, Search and Destroy™, and Multi-Device Detection. In brief, our AI monitors each exam and only notifies our always-available human proctors when a possible violation of academic integrity (e.g., another voice in the room, a student getting up from the desk) has occurred. Meanwhile, our proprietary software searches the internet for unauthorized copies of the instructor’s test questions and issues copyright take-down orders from question-pool sites. We can also detect whether a student searches for test questions with a smartphone or tablet during the exam itself.

You can see more about Broward’s success story, and those of a range of other schools, here. 

Into the Future

As students take more and more classes online, we may look back on this pandemic nightmare as the beginning of a brighter future for instructors and students. A future that provides instructors and students with broader capabilities to teach and learn, offer classes, and remotely proctor exams to ensure student success.

Want to see Honorlock in action? Request a demo. 

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Tess Mitchell

Tess has 20+ years of experience heading up corporate marketing teams in healthcare and higher education. She is passionate about thinking differently to lead teams to discover new and innovative ways to drive positive outcomes.

Academic Integrity in the Online Era

At Honorlock, we pride ourselves on helping educational institutions preserve their academic integrity. Most of you, whether students, faculty, or administrators, will be aware of this phrase. Some of you will have thought deeply about academic integrity, while others may think of it only in passing. A few may have come into stark awareness of academic integrity only after being accused of violating it on an examination or a written assignment for a class. In part because of those circumstances, perhaps too much discussion of and emotion about academic integrity centers upon negative behaviors and instances when individuals fall short of the ideal.

In contrast, the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) exists to focus on and champion the positive values associated with our intrinsic drive to do good, not just do well. These fundamental values, honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage, each warrant a look when considering what remote proctoring solution a school administrator chooses, how faculty members create assessments for their students (and indeed how they produce their own research), and how students approach the pursuit of their degrees and their education. They also play an integral role in how Honorlock operates as a company.

Honesty

Honesty is not just the proverbial best policy, ICAI notes that it’s an “indispensable foundation of teaching, learning, research, and service, and a necessary prerequisite” for the five other fundamental values. Institutions need to be clear that dishonest behaviors in an academic community are unacceptable.

Honesty and honor are closely related. The temptation to take short cuts during one’s academic career can be overwhelming, and whether it’s due to stress or disconnection, or “nobody will know,” an extensive and recent ICAI academic integrity survey paints a troubling picture of the percentage of students who admit to betraying their honor at some time or another when completing an assignment.

What can remote proctoring software do in this environment? The answer is help schools limit the temptation, by providing effective deterrence for those who may be tempted to put short-term gains ahead of their own, and their institution’s academic integrity. 

Fairness

Humans have a compelling need to feel that they have been treated fairly. “Life” may not be fair, and, in a competitive economy, things may not always break our way, but we still demand that others deal fairly with us. Our educational communities can be fortified by “predictability, transparency, and clear, reasonable expectations,” as ICAI puts it.

Students want their grade evaluations to be impartial and accurate, and fairness in this sense is what builds trust between them and their instructors and institutions. Honest students need to feel confident that their peers are not gaining an unfair advantage by acting dishonestly. For courses with high stakes online midterms and final exams, Honorlock’s AI, backed up by live human proctors, performs a vital service in ensuring fairness for all.

Respect

“Respect in academic communities,” ICAI reminds us, “is reciprocal and requires showing respect for oneself as well as others.” For the individual, respect means “facing challenges with integrity.” For the group, making sure each member both shows and feels respect is everyone’s responsibility.

When students behave with integrity, they demonstrate respect to themselves, their peers, their families, their teachers, and their school. They also show respect to the alumni who have come before them and whose ranks they hope to proudly join having maintained their school’s good name.

Honorlock was founded by students, and we respect the commitment that everyone in the academic community makes for maintaining academic integrity with our 24/7/365 support. We appreciate our opportunity to contribute to an environment that fosters respect by ensuring that remotely proctored exams are conducted both conveniently and fairly. 

Responsibility

Here is the ICAI on responsibility:

Academic communities of integrity rest upon foundations of personal accountability coupled with the willingness of individuals and groups to lead by example, uphold mutually agreed-upon standards, and take action when they encounter wrongdoing.

Schools are taking on a wider responsibility for the education of the population by expanding their reach through distance learning, and part of that responsibility is ensuring the fairness of their remotely proctored assessments. Schools that successfully shoulder this responsibility engender credibility with the world at large. 

Courage

ICAI highlights courage last because it is less a value than a “quality or capacity” that allows us to act according to our values. Courage is “an element of character” that helps students hold themselves and each other to the highest standards. 

It takes courage to act with integrity when fear creeps in, or when stress derails us. But, in a way similar to intellectual capacity, ICAI concludes, “courage can only develop in environments where it is tested.” 

Protect Academic Integrity with Honorlock’s Remote Proctoring Software

Take courage as you make the most of your experience as a student, faculty member, or administrator. If you’d like to learn more about how Honorlock’s remote proctoring software can help preserve your institution’s values of maintaining academic integrity, request a demo. 

SCHEDULE A DEMO

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Alice Cifuentes

Alice has several years of marketing experience within healthcare and most recently in higher education focused on social media growth, tradeshow management, and communication. She is passionate about creatively navigating new challenges and discovering innovative ways to connect with educators.

What is video proctoring?

Article on video proctoring and how online exams are monitored using video proctoring software

Video proctoring uses a webcam to:

  • Verify student ID
  • Scan the testing room for other resources and people
  • Monitor and record students’ behavior and activity during a proctored exam

What is video proctoring?

Video proctoring uses a webcam to monitor and record students during a proctored exam, verify ID, and scan the room to make sure no other people or resources are present.

How are online exams monitored using video proctoring software?

Video is a commonly used portion of proctoring software but some companies use it differently. In some cases, the software is only recording the student so that a proctor can review the video at a later time. In other cases, video is monitored by AI and if it detects and potential cheating or issues, it alerts a live proctor in real-time to enter the exam session and assess the situation

Completing a room scan

Students will use their webcam to complete the room scan to demonstrate that no one else is in the room and that there are no other resources that aren’t permitted by the instructor, such as notes or textbooks.

Video proctoring verifies ID

After the room scan, the student will complete identity verification by taking a picture of themself and their photo ID with the webcam.

Did you know that ID verification is required by the federal government?

Student ID verification is required because it ensures that the person receiving credit for the course is that same person doing the work and earning the grade. Honorlock has a fast ID verification process so that students will spend the least possible amount of time on administrative tasks before being free to concentrate on the exam.

Who’s watching and when?

Many students have questions about how they’re being monitored by video during the proctored exam and rightfully so. It’s not uncommon for students to feel anxious if they know that they’re constantly being watched by a live proctor during the exam. It’s intrusive and distracting for the test taker to say the least.

Honorlock doesn’t like the idea of having a stranger stare at students through a camera when they’re taking exams, so we came up with a better way to proctor exams without increasing student anxiety. With Honorlock, the student’s webcam records them during your test, but no one is watching the exam in real-time.

Our AI software monitors the exam session and automatically notifies a live human proctor if it senses potential issues. The proctor can then assess the situation and enter the exam via chatbot to help get the student back on track. The proctor will later send any notes about the incident to the instructor. After the exam, one of our proctors may review the testing session to look for any potential violations, and we will send the recording to the instructor along with any notes made by our proctors.

Facial recognition

Facial recognition is typically used to authenticate users. It matches a human face by measuring facial features from a given image or video.

No. Honorlock uses facial detection. Honorlock only detects that there is a clear human face in the webcam.

  • We do not identify the face, store any of the facial elements, or match the face to a database
  • If no face is detected, or if multiple faces are detected, AI will flag the incident and a human proctor may intervene

Want to see Honorlock in action? Schedule a demo.

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Alice Cifuentes

Alice has several years of marketing experience within healthcare and most recently in higher education focused on social media growth, tradeshow management, and communication. She is passionate about creatively navigating new challenges and discovering innovative ways to connect with educators.

Virtual Proctoring: The Reality

When my niece, who lives in another state, was three, her mother and grandmother would share videos I sent with her, and we would enjoy a weekly call to recap. This virtual but authentic relationship was brought into sharp relief one day when the 3-year-old objected to another video viewing with, “I want to see Auntie IN THE REAL.” While it’s certainly the case that real hugs between family members are best—something we appreciate all the more during the era of social distancing—the academic world has been discovering that quality virtual proctoring for academic testing of examinations really is as good as the “real” thing.

Virtually Yours, for Real

The most effective virtual proctoring software replicates the security of having test-takers all in the same room, physically distanced as they have been for decades so as to prevent the old “glancing over someone’s shoulder” trick. Instead of having the proctor collect everyone’s mobile phones in a box at the front of the room, the best virtual proctoring systems also block online impropriety without the need to take physical or even virtual access of any student’s secondary devices. Now that’s real effectiveness.

That’s also what Honorlock’s exclusive Search and Destroy™ and Multi-device Detection functions supply. Ken Craver of 93-year-old Tyler Junior College in Texas found this out when the remote testing center at TJC closed and he needed to drive the transition to automatic proctoring. “Honorlock is going to try to keep a problem from happening rather than tell you about a problem after it happens,” he said.

The Wonders of Automatic Proctoring

Some virtual proctoring software records a student’s test and then takes days or weeks to review, sometimes the instructor isn’t notified about possible academic integrity violations until after grades are due! Other online proctoring services are more intrusive, with a live proctor watching the student’s online exam from a window on the screen, which can be unnerving and distracting. 

Honorlock’s Live Pop-In™ function eliminates the drawbacks of other remote proctoring solutions. After the student signs on and verifies their identity with their school ID, they are asked to perform a 360-degree web cam sweep of their testing area (if their instructor requires it). At that point, our live proctor can ask students to remove any extraneous or forbidden materials from the vicinity. Students who may have misunderstood the instructor’s directions thus benefit immediately. (We always recommend that students DO pay close attention to the directions because the last minute is not when you want to discover that the book you were counting on to have open is actually supposed to be closed and inaccessible when the online exam starts.)

Once the proctored exam begins, no live proctor will disturb the student unless our software detects potential misconduct. When that happens, a live remote proctor receives an automatic notification. The remote proctor can then intervene by pausing the student’s exam remotely and communicating by way of a chat box appearing on the screen. As Ken Craver noted above, sometimes a proctor can redirect a student before a violation of academic honesty takes place. This automatic and less intrusive system, combined with a virtual human touch in real time, brings true harmony to the online proctoring experience. 

Our New Virtual Proctoring Age

Many well-known colleges and universities have decided to go completely or partially online as a new academic year begins. Stories are already circulating about colleges and universities who have opened for residential students only to send them home again. In this precarious time, it remains difficult to find the certainty that humans crave, and even more difficult to deny ourselves the in-person contact (hugs with nieces!) so many of us count on for our social and intellectual well-being. Due to the technological advances of the twenty-first century, however, we are able to continue our intellectual and educational pursuits in ways that we couldn’t have done just a decade ago. Professors, some who had never made a video call in their lives, are finding that they can teach effectively online. Institutions, meanwhile, have realized that a wide range of virtual proctoring systems are available.

What Sets Honorlock’s Virtual Proctoring Apart

Honorlock virtual proctoring is proud to help students pursue their educational dreams by safeguarding the academic integrity of their schools. We do it with brilliant technology and a caring support team, available 24/7/365. Craver reports that this support empowers Tyler Junior College students: “They don’t have to make a reservation like the used to. Students just log in and take the test anytime within the time window provided by the faculty member. It just works!”

Thousands of instructors have faced LMS integration issues for their courses and exams both pre-and post-pandemic-onset. Online message boards are filled with the exasperation of those who want simply to be left alone to teach. This vexation can be compounded when faculty overcome the logistical challenges of learning to teach online, only to find that students can’t take their final exams properly. It works seamlessly with your LMS, alleviating faculty frustration and leaving them free to focus on what’s important.

Craver notes that the transition from TJC’s previous virtual proctoring system was most welcome to its faculty. In the past, they had to wait to receive an e-mail from the former system that noted any possible infractions. “Now they just go in and click on results,” he said.

Results Come from the Process

Most of us are caught up in a results-oriented world. It’s what you did, not how you did it, that is supposedly all that matters. Smart educators, however, know that focusing on the process of learning is greater than any specific “outcome,” and actually leads to a more rewarding payoff in the long run. Honorlock’s people and technology are dedicated to making your web proctoring processes as automatic as possible. You get the best results, to be sure. Even more significantly, your students will be free to learn what they need to live fulfilling and useful lives now and in the future.

Want to know more about the Honorlock process? Schedule a demo. 

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Tess Mitchell

Tess has 20+ years of experience heading up corporate marketing teams in healthcare and higher education. She is passionate about thinking differently to lead teams to discover new and innovative ways to drive positive outcomes.

WEBINAR: Best Practices for Proctoring Online Exams in STEM Curriculums

Deploying effective online exams for STEM curriculums can be a challenge! Over the past couple years, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has been working to improve the workflow for their Math students to complete high stakes online exams, while also submitting paper-based notes for faculty to evaluate how students arrived at their answers. In this academic webinar presentation Kate Beverage, Director of Technology for Teaching and Learning, and Lindsey Van Gieson, Instructional Technology Systems Manager, will discuss some pedagogical and technical STEM best practices they have developed, how WPI used them in conjunction with Honorlock’s remote proctoring software and address faculty and student academic integrity and privacy concerns. To learn more about Honorlock’s licensing agreement with NERCOMP, click here.

Download the Presentation

Web Proctoring Comes Into its Own

One of the big success stories of this tumultuous era of higher education during a global pandemic has been the way remote proctoring companies have been working overtime to help schools and faculty members make the necessary adjustments, often on the fly, to fulfill their vital mission with online education solutions. Honorlock’s distinctive success in this rapidly expanding field has recently been recognized by Inc. magazine, where we are listed at #236 in the top 5000 fastest-growing private companies.

We didn’t get there by suddenly appearing in January with the pandemic – we’ve been building our remote proctoring business since 2015. Let’s have a look at how remote proctoring is not just a remedy for a temporary illness, so to speak, but an elixir that is helping institutions and programs transform themselves for a healthier future.

The Nightmare of Sleeping Through an Exam

Plenty of today’s professors (and even a few deans) can tell stories of being up late studying hard for a final exam as undergraduates, head hitting the pillow soon after they had convinced themselves that they were as ready as they could possibly be for the next day’s exam, only to sleep through their alarm and wake up to the horror of having to race across campus with no breakfast or even coffee. Some of today’s residential students have had a similar experience, and if it hasn’t happened to you, it’s probably happened to one of your classmates. If the over-sleeper was lucky, they would just manage to get to the exam room on time, frazzled and hyperventilating. If they were unlucky, and many keep these sadder stories to themselves, they might have missed an exam completely, resulting in consequences as severe as academic suspension or even the loss of a scholarship.

Flexible Scheduling Ends the Nightmares

Today’s stories of online proctoring experiences gone wrong, in contrast, may be more along the lines of a student gets sick and misses a scheduled live online proctoring session. They may then have to pay a fine to reschedule, or worse, the new time they are offered falls after their instructor is required to submit their grades to the registrar. This type of nightmare can take weeks to resolve, and not a small measure of anxiety in the process.

No one need suffer like this anymore with Honorlock’s remote proctoring online education solutions. Our 24/7/365 support includes proctors who are always available, so students can take their exams on-demand, at precisely the hour when they feel most ready. 

Web Proctoring for International Students and Americans Abroad

The Institute of International Education reported in November 2019 that the number of international students in the United States in 2018-19 rose to its highest point in history, and exceeded one million students for the fourth consecutive year. Due in great part to the global health crisis, no similar new records are expected for 2020-21; in fact, a significant fall in numbers is expected. A portion of students will be coming from countries that are at risk and therefore may have difficulty obtaining visas, while another cohort will take a look at the numbers of COVID-19 cases in many U.S. states and decide that it’s simply safer to stay in their home nations. Either way, the disruption will be felt acutely by the students, their universities, and the local American economies to which they normally contribute billions of dollars each year.

However, the existence of remote proctoring and online education solutions will be a saving grace for many thousands of that million this year and in the future. The web proctoring of exams will allow schools and faculty to continue to teach and assess international students while abroad. Not just international students, either: thousands of Americans take courses via distance learning while they themselves are abroad, notably members of the military, dual-citizens, businesspersons on assignment, and volunteers.

Cost-Effective Web Proctoring for Universities

While many schools already had begun integrating web proctoring and online education solutions into their normal practices, even more needed to shift gears at speed when the pandemic hit, which put an unexpected demand on their budgets. Some schools may have encountered pricing challenges, as some web proctoring services charge per hour, which can result in a wide range of costs depending on the length of the exam. In this economic climate, you need cost-effective web proctoring. 

Systems that charge a flat rate per exam or per student give you transparency about your costs. A recent article in the South Florida Business Journal describes the satisfaction of the University of Florida’s Director of Distance Learning & Continuing Education Brian Marchman, who had already been working with Honorlock (as are two of the other 10 largest U.S. universities) before the pandemic hit:

“We had not planned in our budget for any way to pay for this, so we had to find the funds and not put it on the backs of students, and they were able to make it work for us,” UF’s Marchman said of the university’s agreement with Honorlock. “We were over a barrel, and they didn’t take advantage of that.”

Upholding Academic Integrity

Ultimately, the main reason that the best remote proctoring services exist is because they help institutions, their faculty, and their students all have greater confidence that the student who is taking the course is the one doing the work, and that every student doing the work is doing so with honor. To achieve this indispensable goal, you need an effective, user-friendly, and stress-reducing system. Some pretty cool technology such as Search and Destroy™ and Multi-device Detection does its part, too.

World-Class Support

Life is also easier when you have a strong support structure undergirding your web proctoring system, as Dr. Juliette Mersiowksy of Longwood University appreciates: 

“Honorlock is responsive to our needs and suggestions, which is a good indicator of the kind of company that listens. Honorlock’s support is fabulous! They are very customer service oriented, which is rare among instructional technology companies today.”

Interested in further details? Check out our blog entry on Why Honorlock is the Future of Remote Proctoring, or request a demo. 

Tess Mitchell

Tess has 20+ years of experience heading up corporate marketing teams in healthcare and higher education. She is passionate about thinking differently to lead teams to discover new and innovative ways to drive positive outcomes.

What Faculty and Administrators Want from their Online Proctoring Software

Too many of us locked down during the global pandemic, new restrictions and regulations seemed to present an almost insurmountable challenge. Despite this, educators and students across the world bravely took steps to continue their important work and complete the spring term, many with the assistance of an online proctoring service for the first time. In the wake of the initial crisis, the expanding staff at Honorlock has worked intently to prepare an increasing number of colleges and universities for their first exclusively online semester. If your school hasn’t used remote proctoring software before, now is an ideal time to discover why so many others have chosen Honorlock to help assess student learning while preserving the academic integrity of their degrees and programs.

Student Privacy

Students everywhere are outspokenly protective of their privacy. At the University of Maryland, administrators address these privacy concerns accordingly:

“We looked at many different product options and benchmarked them against a list of requirements. Honorlock was found to be one of the best solutions with respect to student privacy. We found it less invasive when compared to many other products. Honorlock proctors do not watch students all of the time, only when specific behaviors trigger alerts. Our purchase of Honorlock is for pop-in proctoring, which means proctors only appear when behaviors trigger the need.”

What type of behaviors, you ask? Getting up from the computer would be one, as would talking to someone else in the room. A student who simply prefers to read test questions aloud, however, would not run afoul of the system, though they might incur a pop-in from our certified live proctors, who offer the ultimate in student flexibility by being available 24/7/365. Proctors’ faces won’t suddenly appear on the student’s screen, but they do have the ability to pause the exam (with no time penalty) and inquire about the situation via our chat box. The object, and the effect, is to provide each student with the most convenient, most secure, and least stressful online proctoring experience.

Data Security

Going hand in hand with a commitment to respecting student privacy is the responsibility of institutions to ensure the security of their data. The College of William and Mary explains the following to its students:

The university selected Honorlock after a rigorous vetting process involving IT security specialists and the Studio for Teaching and Learning Innovation. The information security review included an assessment of the vendors’ information security controls across 15 distinct information security domains. Additionally, in the case of Honorlock, the university Registrar vetted the companies Student Privacy Statement, GDPR Privacy policy and FERPA statement.

Elsewhere, William and Mary indicates that they deemed Honorlock “to be the most effective tool due the program’s simplicity and security.” They do so in part because Honorlock is not a bulky browser or application that students must download and take time to learn; it is a Chrome browser extension that takes moments to install before the exam and seconds to uninstall after the exam.

Disclaimer: This webpage discusses Honorlock’s widely available services and software for teachers. In May 2021, Honorlock launched a feature in limited release at a few schools that works through an app students download onto their computers, in addition to a Chrome extension.

Scalability and Responsiveness

The simplicity appreciated above is also the heart of Honorlock’s scalability. Soon after Covid-19 hit, Austin Peay State University entered into a short-term partnership with Honorlock when their regular online proctoring vendor was unable to handle the increase in demand resulting from face-to-face courses abruptly forced to make the switch to an online environment for the second half of the spring semester. Honorlock’s success with APSU students and faculty was such that the contract has been extended through the fall.

Another school with a pressing situation was St. Petersburg College, which called upon Honorlock last fall to perform for their 30,000 students and more than 110 degree and certificate programs just two days before finals. The challenge faced was the failure of their previous provider to integrate with the college’s D2L LMS, but Honorlock’s team managed to solve the problem immediately so that the online exams went ahead with barely a hitch. SPC’s Executive Director of Academic Technology Christopher Harvey said, “All of the faculty were able to adapt within two days; all were able to use it and review the tests. We did it quick!”

Comprehensive Support

Honorlock support was additionally praised by SPC’s Online Course Testing Coordinator Lindsey Eaton for managing the remote proctoring of their high-stakes nursing assessments. (It’s not just the schools themselves, but patients everywhere that have an interest in the academic integrity of degrees earned by medical professionals!) “The platform worked really well for them,” Eaton said. “They have a couple of third-party exams, but they have managed to make it all work well.”

At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, administrators sought out a new proctoring
solution when the one they had been using did not provide the support the faculty needed to be successful in delivering online assessments. “The support team was not open to receiving feedback,” said WPI’s Director for Teaching and Learning Services Kate Beverage. Things changed for the better with Honorlock. WPI had the following requirements, all of which Honorlock satisfied:

  • Ability to proctor paper-based online exams
  • Ability for instructors to review proctored exam sessions
  • Ability for students to scan and submit notes for the exam
  • Good tech support and communication from the vendor
  • Platform agnostic (PC, Mac)

Beverage was impressed: “Honorlock’s support model is great! The live chat has been very helpful for us. The resources provided for faculty in terms of creating exams and proctoring options when enabling exams are excellent!”

A Complete Remote Proctoring Service

More and more colleges and universities will be migrating to online environments in Fall 2020 and beyond, and some will find that online programs best suit their constituencies as they move forward. When they do, Honorlock’s exclusive technology, savvy developers, and friendly customer support staff will be there to ensure that students can focus on their goals and schools can enable their students achieve those goals honestly and with due pride.

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Want to see Honorlock in action? Schedule a demo.

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Tess Mitchell

Tess has 20+ years of experience heading up corporate marketing teams in healthcare and higher education. She is passionate about thinking differently to lead teams to discover new and innovative ways to drive positive outcomes.