State-of-the-Art of Commercial Proctoring Systems and Their Use in Academic Online Exams

Abstract

Online proctoring generally refers to the practice of proctors monitoring an exam over the internet, usually through a webcam. This technology has gained relevance during the current COVID-19 pandemic, given that the social distance owing to health reasons has consequently led to the switching of all learning and assessment activities to online platforms. This paper summarises the available state-of-the-art of commercial proctoring systems by identifying the main features, describing them, and analysing the way in which different proctoring programs are grouped on the basis of the services they offer. Furthermore, the paper reports on two case studies concerning online exams taken with both automated and human proctoring approaches. The outcomes from state-of-the-art approaches and the experience gained by the two case studies are then summarised in the conclusion, where the need for an organisational effort in loading photographs that can be used to easily recognise student faces, and using an automated online proctoring program to support manual proctoring have been suggested.