Camera To Monitor At Home Test Takers

from the catching-cheaters dept

One of the issues with distance learning is that it's difficult to give traditional style tests, because you can't tell if it's really the person in question taking the exam, and that they're not cheating in other ways. So, some distance learning programs actually require students to come into a testing center for final exams. However, a school in Australia, is now going to use a special camera that the student needs to place on their monitor that will snap regular pictures of the student as they take their test - and will record any noise to make sure they're not talking to anyone else. Finally, to keep the student from peaking at other material, it will monitor what they do on their computer as well, to make sure they're not opening up other documents or sending email. I'm sure the system isn't foolproof, but it sounds interesting. Of course, I've always thought that closed-book exams are often overrated compared to a good open book exam that forces you to take the information and actually do something useful with it. However, sometimes closed-book exams make sense, and this should make it easier to offer them online.