How to proctor exams on an LMS

The global Learning Management System (LMS) market is projected to grow from USD13.38billion in 2021 to USD44.49billion in 2028. From its not-so-spectacular beginnings and speculations of it turning out to be a damp squib, the LMS’s journey of becoming a staple for educational institutions worldwide is a remarkable development. One may argue that its meteoric ascend is intertwined with its deployment for learning and examinations in the virtual setting amid the plague years, where educators have been largely bereft of any other means to ensure continuity. However, I do believe that it is not so simple. We must equally credit the LMS providers who have proactively evolved to meet user demands and support learners’ needs. For instance, in the previous years, LMSs had limited features and functions. They lacked analytical abilities; the UI was far from being user-friendly, and they definitely could not host safe exams. However, today LMSs are synonymous with education, offering end-to-end solutions replete with unique features and functionalities.

LMSs’ ability to allow for proctoring within them is a quality that makes them a preferred choice for faculty members and educators. The advent of proctoring within an LMS has created genuine possibilities for educationists seeking to manage all settings and information in one place. Once the proctoring-specific API layer is built on top of the client’s LMS via LTI or deep integration, it becomes a Chrome extension. Faculty can set up exam profiles with a button’s click and enable a layer of human or AI-assisted remote proctoring for any LMS exam.

However, we don’t wish to swarm you with gobbledygook. Instead, let us approach this concept with simpler and easy-to-understand details.

Proctoring within an LMS means that educators can initiate cheat-proof exams without leaving their LMS environments. LMSs such as Moodle, Infrastructure, Brightspace and Blackboard now allow faculty members to monitor students and course participants from within. A prerequisite to LMS proctoring is that students must enable proctoring on their devices by accepting screen, video and audio sharing.

LMSs can now proctor anything, from a small in-class quiz, a mid-sized semester exam, to a large-scale and high-stakes final exam. Students and faculty members must only download a Chrome extension and follow the usual steps for initiating an exam in an LMS to set up proctoring. It is an easy and seamless click-of-a-button setup.

There is no need for technical training or learning any new and often confusing-to-remember platform/software.

If the exam admin wishes to view the candidate count and the test-takers’ proctoring reports within a course for multiple assessments, they can directly do so from the LMS. They can even track the number of test-takers taking an assessment. Besides, the dashboard gives them complete control over the exam.

Some LMS proctoring sessions also feature a live chat-box, which enables interaction and communication with the test-takers- for instance, warning a student who is indulging in suspicious activities or helping assuage test-takers’ concerns.

Additionally, exam admins can set different proctoring settings for various exams/tests/quizzes, namely:

Live proctoring:

It is like actual classroom invigilation, except that a proctor monitors multiple test-takers remotely, using a real-time audio and video feed​.

Recorded proctoring:

In this, test-givers record the test-takers’ screen and audio-video feed throughout the assessment, and proctors view the recording for any suspicious activity at their convenience.

Auto-advanced proctoring:

Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) predicts, flags and registers the minutest of discrepancies to prevent cheating during online tests. It is undertaken without any human intervention.​

Auto-advanced proctoring is also of three types. It includes:

Meanwhile, the user experience remains the same in initiating proctoring for their exams. Just as the test-takers click on the ‘Start Quiz’ button on the LMS, a pop-up notifying proctoring initiation occurs. Once the test-takers click on the ‘Continue’ button, they are directed to the proctoring diagnostic page, given the desired permissions, thereby completing the authorization process.

The test-takers click on the ‘Begin Exam’ button after authorization and approval, following which the assessment commences, and the exam’s password is auto-filled.

Instant and genuine reports are generated after completing the assessment, featuring meaningful metrics within the exam admins’ LMS. A time-stamped activity log, question-wise, section-wise analytics, auto-graded and system-generated comprehensive reports offer well-rounded insights into the test-takers’ performance and attempts. Examiners also gain access to the most relevant scores of the test-takers’ integrity. Besides, the auto-generated reports quickly highlight insights from the AI flags and the test-finish status, offering a clear picture of the necessary course of action.

A spirited debate rages around how this ongoing COVID-19-induced disruption will impact and shape the assessment ecosystem. Add to that, educators’ real and perceived concerns toward online examinations. Yet, amid the din, the question is: how prepared are you to tide over future interruptions? Will you be able to future-proof your assessments? The answer to this question lies in your ability to embrace technology and use it to streamline your examination drives.