The Ordeal of Proctored Online Exams!

By Vaidyanathan Ravichandran

I am not sure how many of you had to undergo online exams as part of your academic pursuits over the

last two pandemic-impacted years.

I can certainly empathize with your woes.

I took- or rather had to undergo the ordeal of- proctored online exams this time around last year! A guy

at the cusp of 60 and his travails of proctored online exams! The least of the suspects, as in an Agatha

Christie work.

These were the Fellowship Level exams of the Insurance Institute of India.

Having got stuck with the last four papers when Covid arrived unannounced 2 years back, the offline

exams at the overseas center in Muscat were cancelled for 2 sittings in a row, online exams were

promised but did not materialize and my interest and intensity for the exams were fading by the day.

So, when the Institute announced proctored online exams for July 2021, I decided to go for them but

with more trepidation than enthusiasm!

My fears stemmed from the rigors outlined for the exams- a mandatory mock test a week ahead of the

exams, both the mock test and the exams to be taken under "simulated environs" that were so stringent

that I was under the scanner of an "ever vigilant" proctor for the entire duration of the online exams.

What this meant was that once I logged in and offered access of my webcam and mic to the proctor and

his AI paraphernalia and started the exam, I had to sit rock steady for 2 hours, except for batting an

eyelid!

If I moved my head an inch, my laptop screen flashed a message " ensure your face is visible in the

camera".

More than being a big distraction, the worry was that in case of continuous breach of the protocol, my

exam screen would be disabled and I would be debarred, as forewarned by them.

So, after some nervous moments on the first day, I practiced to hold my head as steady as Sachin

Tendulkar would when he faced the quickies. When the screen still flashed, I would weave and sway my

head to come in line with the webcam trajectory, just as Sachin would weave and sway from the

menacing bouncers.

As the questions were getting tougher, I could not but help reach out to the bottle of water by my side-

the only object that was permitted in the vicinity and span of the webcam- and bingo- the AI driven

chatbot warned me of suspicious hand movements! I took a quick gulp and…and "raised my hands" for

the chatbot to see and let me through! I had to restrain even my customary frown at a tough question

fearing a tick-off from the chatbot.

The chatbot literally kept a roving eye on me- shifty eyes, hand on my chin- this is a must for me to allow

my adrenaline flow- were all swiftly reprimanded.

As I got into the last 15 minutes of one of the exams and took a long pause weighing the options for a

question, the chatbot sprang to life, probing me..."Why are you quiet...your time is running out..."

This despite already having a countdown timer at the top of my screen that was creating butterflies in

my stomach each time I looked at it.

It was, indeed, an unprecedented and stressful experience. I nearly forgot the most stressful part of the

exams...the results were flashed on the screen just after I hit the End and Submit buttons, unlike offline

exams where the moment of truth arrived a month later.

The saving grace was...I cleared all four papers I sat for- yes, "sat" for as never ever before!

Yes, Covid was a catalyst for proctored online exams, but they are here to stay.

Beyond just my exams, I tried to learn more about them.

Student reactions range from not cool, creepy, anxiety inducing, uncomfortable, intrusive, invasive, etc.!

The upright students find the underlying principle of "trust is not given, it must be earned", quite

revolting. "Why all the fuss?”, they ask.

Proctors insist these are needed to uphold the integrity of the exam process. It's like a digital arms race,

they say. When tricksters find new ways to cheat, we have to find new ways to stop them.

I read somewhere that India is home to thousands of proctors as the US universities have increasingly

outsourced the proctoring service.

So, we seem to have a huge growing potential for counseling the proctors on one hand and the students

on the other to bridge the gap from both sides and equip each side to handle expectations better.

By Vaidyanathan Ravichandran