The current global pandemic and resultant restrictions on gatherings, has challenged educational institutions to rapidly transition from in person, to remotely delivered courses. Among the challenges this type of transition presents is how to preserve academic integrity in a remote, uncontrolled setting, particularly considering assessments. Respondus (2020) offers solutions for remote assessment proctoring. For our shared learning experience, our team\u00a0 selected video tutorials created by Respondus (2020) about two of their products; Respondus Monitor, and LockDown Browser. After viewing all of the available videos and conducting further research, we have gained an understanding of how this software works and some of the rationale driving institutions to adopt it. Each team member agreed that the products could be a user-friendly and straightforward proctoring solution for both institutions and students alike.<\/p>\n
Respondus Monitor and Lockdown Browser provide \u201ccost effective, scalable, and convenient solutions for protecting the integrity of online exams” (Respondus, 2016, 3:10). Essentially, Lockdown Browser works by preventing learners from accessing unauthorized content or resources during their exam, while the companion Monitor feature offers a means of authenticating a user’s identity via facial recognition and then monitoring their behaviors during an exam by use of a webcam (Respondus, 2020). Teclehaimanot, Hochberg, Franz, Xiao and You (n.d.) noted that in order for educators to prevent the issue of academic dishonesty, student identification and authentication is vital. Both Lockdown Browser, and Monitor are available to be used within many popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) (ex. Brightspace, Blackboard etc.), which renders these tools as accessible solutions which are easily integrated into existing LMS\u2019s. The Respondus company offers easy-to-understand arguments and pitches for how and why to use their software.<\/p>\n
Not all online assessments require protective software measures and programs, such as those provided by Respondus. Some even feel that businesses in this industry \u201care selling a narrative that students can\u2019t be trusted\u201d (Harwell, 2020, pp.9),\u00a0 however, summative assessments that require high academic standards and integrity are arguably definitive candidates for such programs. Particular summative assessments must take verification of student identity and technical issues, such as student hardware usage, software, and bandwidth into consideration (Benson & Brack, 2010). The tests given must be fair, meaning the test environment and restrictions associated must also demonstrate equality to all students taking the exam. This can be a challenge when students are not co-located in the same classroom. The Respondus Monitor program tutorial particularly sought to address the above issues of students taking an examination from different locations. The tutorial program did an exceptional job of visually and cogently describing how the specific monitoring software addresses potential issues of students taking an exam from greater distances; and to give the software credibility, the company was not haughty when describing the fact that students may require greater bandwidth, combined with an adequate internet connection, in order for the software to be trustworthy (Respondus, 2016).<\/p>\n
The clear and concise arguments for how-and-why a particular learning provider should use this software, combined with the user-friendly online tutorial environment to navigate the potential software, makes the overall potential of using these softwares a real contender within a plethora of potential learning environments.<\/p>\n
Benson, R., & Brack, C. (2010). Online assessment. Online learning assessment in higher education: A planning guide<\/i> (pp. 107-151). Whitney, UK: Chandos Publishing Oxford. Retrieved from https:\/\/ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca\/lib\/royalroads-ebooks\/reader.action?docID=1582338&ppg=128<\/p>\n
Harwell, D. (2020, April 01). Mass school closures in the wake of coronavirus are driving a new\u00a0wave of student surveillance. The Washington Post.<\/i> Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com<\/p>\n
Respondus. (2016). Respondus monitor: Protecting the integrity of online exams [Video File]. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?time_continue=197&v=hv2L8Q2NpO4&feature=emb_logo<\/p>\n
Respondus. (2020. April 16). Retrieved from https:\/\/www.respondus.com\/products\/monitor\/<\/p>\n
Teclehaimanot et al. (n.d.). Ensuring Academic Integrity in Online Courses: A Case Analysis <\/i>in Three Testing Environments<\/i>. Retrieved from https:\/\/members.aect.org\/pdf\/Proceedings\/proceedings17\/2017\/17_12.pdf<\/p>\n
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The current global pandemic and resultant restrictions on gatherings, has challenged educational institutions to rapidly transition from in person, to remotely delivered courses. Among the challenges this type of transition presents is how to preserve academic integrity in a remote, uncontrolled setting, particularly considering assessments. Respondus (2020) offers solutions for remote assessment proctoring. For our … Continue reading Team four\u2019s Initial Summary of a Learning Event and Approach to Critical Inquiry<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt526","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0113\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}