Western University announced on May 14 that it will be changing its online proctoring tool from Proctortrack to Proctorio. The university said the “privacy and security needs” of students were a main reason for the switch.
The transition to the new proctoring software will take place over the summer, in time for the new school year if classes are still online.
As universities shifted to virtual learning for the 2020-21 academic year, tools such as Proctortrack were adopted by schools across Canada as a way for teachers to prevent cheating on tests.
According to its website, Proctortrack monitors students by accessing their computer’s screen, camera, microphone and other connected devices, and tracks eye movements and keystrokes. Students must provide face, ID and knuckle scans for identification before taking an exam. The information is temporarily stored on the company’s servers.
Proctorio works in a similar way to Proctortrack, but does not track eye movement or use facial recognition. According to its website, students only need to scan their IDs before taking a test.
In October 2020, Verificient Technologies, the company that runs Proctortrack, was hacked. Although Verificient said no student information was leaked, the event created security concerns among students.
Worried about their privacy, Western students demanded the university stop using the software through a petition with over 10,000 signatures by the end of October.
Kali Harris, a third-year biology and chemistry student at Western, said she faced technical issues while using Proctortrack such as exam questions showing up blank, or being locked out of the system and having to reschedule her midterm for another day.
“I think a lot of kids dreaded [Proctortrack] because of how many issues have come with it,” Harris said. “I think it only went smoothly once for me.”
Matthew Simpson, another third-year biology and chemistry student at Western, said he did not experience issues with Proctortrack while taking his test. However, Simpson said he ran into technical issues after he completed his work.
“The screen was frozen, so I had to call IT,” Simpson said. “I was worried about being told I was cheating while I was on the phone trying to end my session.”
In the announcement, Western said it will be switching to Proctorio after a “rigorous selection process” from a committee made up of students, faculty and staff. The university said it will keep Proctortrack as a secondary option if any problems with Proctorio occur until the end of the summer.
After the issues she faced with Proctortrack, Harris said she was happy about the announcement.
“I’m still a little hesitant because I don’t really know what the other system is … but I’m hoping it goes better than Proctortrack did,” Harris said.
Simpson and Harris said sometimes they had the option to take their tests without a proctor, but with certain restrictions.
“For some classes, you could either use the proctoring service and be able to freely move back and forth through the questions, or you could take the test without proctoring but you couldn’t go back once you moved on,” Simpson said.
Other courses involved live proctoring through a Zoom session, a method that both students said they preferred.
“We went into breakout rooms and our TAs would monitor us,” Harris said. “They were always really nice and stuff like that went a lot smoother.”
Not all courses were proctored equally—some students in other programs never had to use the service, although they said they wanted to for the sake of accountability and as a motivator to work.
“I wish some of my exams were proctored just to encourage me to study a bit more,” said Hannah Simard, a third-year health science student at Western.
Simard said that online school has affected her motivation to study.
“When I think back on the year, it’s harder for me to remember what I learned, just because I didn’t have to recall information because I had it all there in my notes,” Simard said.
As COVID-19 vaccinations pick up speed across Canada and universities anticipate in-person learning in the fall, Western officials added in their statement that a need for proctoring tools should decrease.
Featured photo from Screengrab.
