A group of Democratic senators, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, called on three online proctoring companies to respond to equity and privacy concerns raised by students last month, setting a deadline of Dec. 17. The companies – ExamSoft, Proctorio and ProctorU – sent letters back to the senators detailing how their services work, with ExamSoft and ProctorU responding on Dec. 17 followed by Proctorio on Jan. 7.
The senators’ inquiry stemmed from reports that, in some cases, facial recognition software failed to identify students of color and students who wear religious garb, like a hijab. Students with disabilities also said online proctoring technology flagged their involuntary movements, like muscle spasms, as possible signs of cheating.
The exchange between senators and companies shines a spotlight on an industry that’s boomed since the COVID-19 pandemic shifted courses online, raising questions about the benefits and ethical challenges of using technology to monitor test-takers remotely.
People, ideally with bias training, should be the ones making decisions about test-takers “at the end of the day,” to counterbalance potential biases in the software, said Dr. Shayan Doroudi, an assistant professor of education at the University of California Irvine, who studies equity and education technology.
He called this a “socio-technical system.”
The three companies all meld technology and human decision-makers in different ways.
ExamSoft’s online proctoring service ExamMonitor, an optional feature within its test-taking application Examplify, records students’ test-taking sessions. By using ExamMonitor, institutions choose to use facial recognition technology that identifies the student and artificial intelligence that flags any behaviors that could look like cheating to review after the fact. Even if the facial recognition fails, however, the student can take the exam and a person can verify the student’s identity afterward.
