Another weird ProctorU issue

[Mab81]

I actually decided to stop doing any further courses through Straighterline just so i NEVER have to use ProctorU again. That was the entire reason. I have had some really bad proctor experiences!! Not to mention I have had to wait over 45 mins just to start the exam - between wait time for a proctor, then the proctor ignoring me for 10 mins at a time while helping other people, then forgetting what they asked me and having to start over with all the pre-test checks... UGGHHHhhhhhhhh.

[sanantone]

There's usually a reason for everything. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told their proctor that their phone was in the other room, and it turned out that their phone was in their lap or somewhere else out of camera view while they were looking up answers. ProctorU is the most used online proctoring service by colleges and businesses. They have to maintain a reputation of preventing cheating, or they'll lose contracts. A handful of Straighterline customers quitting because they can't handle a small inconvenience is nothing compared to the hundreds of schools that require their students to use them. 

Seriously, these are first world problems. It takes a couple of seconds to put your phone completely on silent with vibrate off. There are people who have to bike/walk/drive to class five days a week and turn their phones off or completely silence them. You're already testing in your pajamas. God forbid you have to walk a few feet to grab your $700 smartphone.

[dfrecore]

There's usually a reason for everything. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told their proctor that their phone was in the other room, and it turned out that their phone was in their lap or somewhere else out of camera view while they were looking up answers. ProctorU is the most used online proctoring service by colleges and businesses. They have to maintain a reputation of preventing cheating, or they'll lose contracts. A handful of Straighterline customers quitting because they can't handle a small inconvenience is nothing compared to the hundreds of schools that require their students to use them. 

Seriously, these are first world problems. It takes a couple of seconds to put your phone completely on silent with vibrate off. There are people who have to bike/walk/drive to class five days a week and turn their phones off or completely silence them. You're already testing in your pajamas. God forbid you have to walk a few feet to grab your $700 smartphone.

Actually, MOST of the problems we have here are first world problems.  That doesn't mean they aren't valid to us first-worlders.  We get to complain if we want to.  We get to decide we don't like a course provider, or a school, or whoever else.  We can complain to our schools enough that we might be able to get ProctorU to get dropped as a proctor service because of their terrible customer service - it's possible.

I'm sure you have first world problems too, but no one here is telling you that you can't complain about them if you want to.

[sanantone]

There's usually a reason for everything. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told their proctor that their phone was in the other room, and it turned out that their phone was in their lap or somewhere else out of camera view while they were looking up answers. ProctorU is the most used online proctoring service by colleges and businesses. They have to maintain a reputation of preventing cheating, or they'll lose contracts. A handful of Straighterline customers quitting because they can't handle a small inconvenience is nothing compared to the hundreds of schools that require their students to use them. 

Seriously, these are first world problems. It takes a couple of seconds to put your phone completely on silent with vibrate off. There are people who have to bike/walk/drive to class five days a week and turn their phones off or completely silence them. You're already testing in your pajamas. God forbid you have to walk a few feet to grab your $700 smartphone.

Actually, MOST of the problems we have here are first world problems.  That doesn't mean they aren't valid to us first-worlders.  We get to complain if we want to.  We get to decide we don't like a course provider, or a school, or whoever else.  We can complain to our schools enough that we might be able to get ProctorU to get dropped as a proctor service because of their terrible customer service - it's possible.

I'm sure you have first world problems too, but no one here is telling you that you can't complain about them if you want to.

I didn't tell anyone they couldn't complain. I'm complaining about the complainers just like you did in the thread with someone complaining about Study.com's free trial. Yes, we all have first world problems; some are bigger than others. If ProctorU makes you late for an appointment because they have no available representatives, then that's a bigger problem than having to grab your cell phone. If you make yourself late because you want to waste time arguing over something so small, then that's your fault.

[Mab81]

I am sure it's possible for someone to try to cheat with their phone while telling the proctor that they don't have one, or that it's in the other room. 

But what happens when someone really doesn't have one? What are people supposed to do, go purchase a prepaid phone just so they can take a proctored exam?

It's a dumb rule. If the only way proctors at ProctorU can prevent students from cheating is by seeing a phone (who's to say they don't have another one in their lap to cheat with, too?) then maybe ProctorU isn't such a good service after all.

I already can tell they are trying to 'watch' several students at once anyway. I would think it would be harder to cheat on RPNow, when a proctor is reviewing after the fact and can pause/rewind to inspect suspicious movements etc.

Online education is still in its infancy and I hope that as things progress, the methods used will also improve.

[cookderosa]

It's easy enough to figure this out, and I LITERALLY don't own a cell phone and I've never taken a proctored exam with ProctorU- so if *I* can figure it out, smart people trying to figure it out will for sure!
I've watched people "ask Siri" questions and she replies- so why can't someone tape their cell phone to their monitor by the camera and read their questions out loud to themselves as they take their test? With the volume on the phone turned off, you could still initiate a search for the answer.

[Mab81]

It's easy enough to figure this out, and I LITERALLY don't own a cell phone and I've never taken a proctored exam with ProctorU- so if *I* can figure it out, smart people trying to figure it out will for sure!
I've watched people "ask Siri" questions and she replies- so why can't someone tape their cell phone to their monitor by the camera and read their questions out loud to themselves as they take their test?  With the volume on the phone turned off, you could still initiate a search for the answer.

I have had proctors tell me I can't speak aloud during the test at all. But then I have had so many different rules from different proctors. Hardly ever the same requirements more than a couple times. I had one that did not even ask me to hold up a mirror (or phone) to see my laptop screen, so i could have had notes taped to the keyboard area. It all depends on what proctor you get that day. People who want to cheat will probably get away with it sometimes and be thwarted on others!

[Merlin]

It's easy enough to figure this out, and I LITERALLY don't own a cell phone and I've never taken a proctored exam with ProctorU- so if *I* can figure it out, smart people trying to figure it out will for sure!
I've watched people "ask Siri" questions and she replies- so why can't someone tape their cell phone to their monitor by the camera and read their questions out loud to themselves as they take their test?  With the volume on the phone turned off, you could still initiate a search for the answer.

I have had proctors tell me I can't speak aloud during the test at all. But then I have had so many different rules from different proctors. Hardly ever the same requirements more than a couple times. I had one that did not even ask me to hold up a mirror (or phone) to see my laptop screen, so i could have had notes taped to the keyboard area. It all depends on what proctor you get that day. People who want to cheat will probably get away with it sometimes and be thwarted on others!

Speaking out loud is not allowed by almost every proctoring system. This can be a problem for me since I tend to "think out loud", particularly when I'm walking through a question that is worded oddly. I've warned proctors that I sometimes do this without realizing it and they usually warn me to try to subvocalize since talking can invalidate the test.

I assume the issue is that you could theoretically have someone listening in who is relaying answers to you somehow... maybe an earpiece mic or something?

[davewill]

...
I assume the issue is that you could theoretically have someone listening in who is relaying answers to you somehow... maybe an earpiece mic or something?

Wouldn't have to be that high tech. They could simply enter the room after you sweep the camera around, then Google anything you say and hold up the screen behind the camera. If you were determined to cheat, it wouldn't be that hard to figure a way to beat the proctor.

[Mab81]

You'd have to be pretty dedicated to cheating to bother doing any of this stuff. Honestly it's easier to just do the class. Lol.