{"id":112666,"date":"2020-04-20T14:10:29","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T12:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=112666"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:54","slug":"filmed-online-exams-the-footage-will-be-kept-for-six-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/04\/20\/filmed-online-exams-the-footage-will-be-kept-for-six-weeks\/","title":{"rendered":"Filmed online exams: ‘The footage will be kept for six weeks’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking an exam on your laptop, from the comfort of your own home, while drinking a nice cup of tea, may sound like a pretty chill thing to do. But can you still enjoy it when you know that everything you do is being recorded, and your entire room, everything on your desk and all the movements of your eyes are being analysed? Erasmus University College had been experimenting with online proctoring on a small scale prior to the coronavirus crisis. The crisis sped up the introduction of the method.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not quite like a normal exam,\u201d says EUC-student Linde, who recently sat an online exam for a subject entitled Impact Evaluation. However, she didn\u2019t necessarily mind the experience. In the weekend before the exam, she was requested to install a Chrome extension. \u201cBy doing so you consent to your monitor being shared with the proctoring company for the duration of the exam so that they can check whether you\u2019re cheating.\u201d Just before the exam, Linde was told to go to the toilet, as she wouldn\u2019t be allowed to do so during the course of the three-hour examination. \u201cWhen the exam began, I had to show my ID to the camera,\u201d Linde explains. \u201cAnd I had to make sure they could take a good look at me. Then I had to show them what tools I was going to use during the exam. In my case, it was a few pens, a calculator and a brief summary that we were allowed to use. The only thing that appeared on screen was my face, so they couldn\u2019t see what else was on my desk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kind of chill<\/h2>\n\t
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\n\t\t\u2018I did often stare out the window while thinking. I heard later that that may be considered possible cheating\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cIt was kind of chill, actually,\u201d Linde goes on to say. \u201cI\u2019d prepared a salad and had got myself a drink. My roommates weren\u2019t at home, so the house was quiet and I was able to contemplate my answers out loud. At first I made sure I wasn\u2019t doing anything weird. But it\u2019s not like Skype, where you can see yourself on screen all the time, so after a while I forgot I was being recorded. Another thing that helped was knowing that you aren\u2019t being watched in real time. All they do is register abnormal behaviour. By the way, I did often stare out the window while thinking. I heard later that that may be considered possible cheating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather far-reaching method<\/h2>

\u2018Proctoring\u2019 means \u2018monitoring\u2019. Online proctoring is an aspect of online exams, i.e., exams taken by students on their own laptops or desktop computers. In order to make sure the students aren\u2019t consulting books or websites or cheating in any other way, their computers are taken over by the proctoring company for the duration of the exam, under the responsibility of Erasmus University. \u201cIn other words, EUR keeps an eye on what happens on students\u2019 laptops and hears every sound in the room,\u201d says Jeroen Jansz, the Director of EUR\u2019s Community for Learning and Innovation (CLI). On behalf of EUR, the CLI looked into various online proctoring options, which resulted in EUR concluding a contract with a Dutch company called ProctorExam. This company will monitor the exams administered by those faculties that are interested in online exams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a rather far-reaching method that raises all sorts of questions about privacy,\u201d Jansz admits. Students are required to place their mobile phones behind them. Prior to the start of the exam, the phone will scan the room. Since the phone will go on scanning the room during the exam, any changes to the room will be noticed at once. If someone enters the room, or if the student tries to stick post-it notes to his monitor, the software will know.<\/p>\n

Significant breach of privacy<\/h2>

\u201cYes, that constitutes a significant breach of privacy,\u201d Jansz admits. \u201cBut it\u2019s the only way to maximise reliability.\u201d The proctoring company has put firm rules in place. \u201cIn close consultation with ourselves, obviously,\u201d Jansz goes on to say. \u201cFor instance, the contract stipulates that the footage, as well as the students\u2019 answers, are stored on a secure server located in Europe by means of a secure connection. They will be retained there for six weeks, to allow us to investigate matters if a student is suspected of cheating.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Yes, that constitutes a significant breach of privacy, but it\u2019s the only way to maximise reliability.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Disturbances to the room or other suspicions of cheating show up on screen at once. If that happens, the proctoring company will flag the student in question, after which the examiners can watch the footage at once and determine what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, technology may fail, too. \u201cStudents are expected to have their stuff in order,\u201d says Jansz. \u201cWhich is tested prior to the exam. If there\u2019s an outage on the student\u2019s end \u2013 for instance, if the Wi-Fi is turned off in the house \u2013 the student will be held accountable. If there is a general internet disruption, the exam must be administered again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alternative assignment<\/h2>

EUR is not the only Dutch university to use online proctoring. Amsterdam VU University, the Delft and Eindhoven Universities of Technology, Leiden University and Wageningen University & Research have all begun recording online exams, as well. In order to answer students\u2019 questions about how the coronavirus-related measures are affecting their studies, the National Student Union (LSVb) has created a special e-mail address where students can direct their questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany students are concerned about their privacy,\u201d says LSVb\u2019s Roos van Leeuwen. \u201cIt\u2019s a new method. They are insecure. They\u2019re wondering how it all works and where the data are stored. But they also wonder if they can refuse to sit an exam that involves online proctoring, or whether they\u2019ll fail the course if they do. And they\u2019re worried about what exactly is being recorded in their homes. If that\u2019s something you\u2019re concerned about, we advise you to make sure that you have no photos, religious symbols or other personally identifiable things on the wall. Also, students should be able to refuse to sit exams like this at all times, in which case they must be presented with an alternative way to take their exams. I\u2019m not sure all students are aware of that, though, and how many universities are able to make such arrangements at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

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