Online Virtual Proctoring at Seneca | The Teaching & Learning Centre | Seneca Polytechnic

Respondus LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor are remote proctoring applications for online testing. Together, they lock down the testing environment for online testing and use the student’s webcam to record and analyze the student while they are taking the test to deter cheating. They use artificial intelligence to analyze the recordings – facial detection, motion, and lighting, as well as keyboard activity, mouse movements, and hardware changes are flagged and any suspicious activity is then reported to the instructor.

Seneca actively discourages the use of proctoring solutions for the following reasons:

• They do not meet accessibility needs.
• Students have privacy concerns over the information collected.
• Students will experience higher anxiety and stress which will impact their success on the assessment/exam.
• The faculty time and resources required to implement and deploy the assessments/exams.
• Equitable practices are not possible (for example, not all students have a webcam, stable internet connection, a private room where they will not be interrupted, etc.).
• Lack of technology assistance for students during the assessment/exam.
• This approach is not compatible with our current educational focus in the academic integrity policy.

For more information, see Online Virtual Proctoring at Seneca (PDF).

The reasons why Seneca discourages the use of proctoring solutions are explained in this article from the December 2020 issue of the Academic Newsletter: Let Slip the Dogs of War: The current e-proctoring dilemma.

For information on designing your assessments to promote academic integrity, see Promoting Academic Integrity Online.