We briefly explained the main differences between an on-campus and a fully online proctoring system like Examus in our previous article. Examus provides different kinds of proctoring – with cyber-proctor only, record of students behavior followed with proctor’s review of video and a purely live proctoring. Most of the time Examus is used with the live proctoring model, where students can pass the exam wherever they want and are monitored by Examus employees online, like it is done at Openedu.ru. Below is the list of the main features of this system:
- Live streaming. Examus captures the student’s screen and streams the webcam video of the student during the test.
- Student identification. Facial recognition, followed by human verification with an official ID helps identify the student with 98% probability and additional identification systems will be implemented with time.
- Suspicious activity alerts. Student’s behavior during the exam is monitored and the system alerts the proctor of any suspicious activity (swapping screens, external voice or audio, changed gaze direction). A proctor can communicate with the student to clarify the reason of such activity, issue a warning, add a comment to the record or end the exam.
- Session analysis. All session video files are stored along with proctor’s comments and available for detailed analysis by the course staff later.
- Versatile customization. Examus can be configured with different degrees of strictness, allowing adjusting the system to each course.
Each Examus session checking costs some money per hour. This makes it more costly as compared to On-Campus proctoring, which is basically free for a campus after initial investment. However, there are several reasons for choosing this proctoring model:
- Geographic diversity of students’ locations. When learners from all over the world study on your course, organizing on-campus exam would be nearly impossible.
- Fast service delivery. Examus employees are skilled at proctoring and ready to assist course authors and staff at once, at least until you train your own proctors.
- Short training curve. When it’s time to train your own proctors – it does not take long or cost much, as the system is easy to comprehend and utilize.
We think these reasons make Examus proctoring service a great alternative to the Open edX default tools.
Raccoon Gang developed a module for seamless integration and easy setup of Examus proctoring into Dogwood, Eucalyptus, and Ficus releases of the Open edX platform. It is undergoing thorough testing and should become available in one of the next Open edX releases. Keep in touch to stay informed!
