AI Assisted Identity Verification
for Online Proctored Exams
How Artificial Intelligence is ensuring Test Integrity
As another semester ends, the COEs (Controller of Examination), HODs, and Chief Examiners are gearing up for online examinations. Like businesses have embraced a hybrid workplace, "Exams from Home" is the new normal for academia. As the pandemic was ebbing, educationalists predicted that Indian online education users would touch 9.6 million users by 2021 (from 1.6 million users in 2016). Today, at the country level, the US topped the standings with more than 17 million people enrolling in online learning, followed by India with 13.6 million. (WEF report 2022). Impact Report by online learning platform Coursera shows more than 20 million new learners registered for courses in 2021. The switch to remote working triggered a three-fold increase in new registrations, bringing the figure to 71 million in 2020 and 92 million in 2021. ($93 Billion). KPMG's study on Indian education states that reskilling and online certification will remain the largest segment for online learning.
A recent survey report by CISO Cybersecurity on 'Emerging Trends - Supplementary Secondary & Higher Education in India' states that the education sector is realising that it is imperative to re-think its education and examination methodology and embrace complete digital transformation. The key categories studied by CISO are primary, secondary, and higher education; test preparation, reskilling, and certification; and language and hobby-learning course providers. Agility demonstrated by the educational institutes to instantly pivot from classroom instruction mode to online learning indicates that hybrid learning models are here to stay. Online education channels are now mainstream and no longer confined to supplementary learning and hobby classes. LMS adoption is universal. The LMS enabled-educational institutes rapidly rolled out synchronous learning platforms that allow the faculty and students to stay more fully connected. Reskilling and online certification segment is the fastest-growing segment. Online education providers are partnering with corporates to roll out programs to provide micro-credits to learners in higher education to address skill gaps.
CISO Academy and EY partnered with Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies to build their Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity. The association aims to bring industry-focussed applied knowledge and workshops for Manav Rachna's programmes on Cybersecurity Skill Development and capacity building. DigiProctor's industry-leading digital examination technology will spearhead the transformation of education and examinations at Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies (MRIIRS, formerly MRIU). Certification will be from MRIIRS, as students should be able to use these credits with the university. The association shall have industry-focussed applied knowledge and workshops for Manav Rachna's programmes on Cybersecurity Skill Development with the certifications powered by the three partners. All examinations will be held using DigiProctor's remote assessment capabilities.
Exams from Home are here to Stay!
Agility demonstrated by the academia to instantly pivot from classroom instruction mode to online learning indicates that hybrid learning models are here to stay. After experiencing the success of digital educational models, teachers no longer wish to go back to the primitive ways of instruction and examinations. Online education channels are now mainstream and no longer confined to supplementary learning and hobby classes. However, moving examinations online has some key issues – impersonation and excessive use of cheating aids - that thwart the integrity of the test outcomes. Examination data, especially question papers of high-stake entrance examinations like JEE, and NEET, have been susceptible to hacking by students or cheating mafias.
AI Assisted Online ID Verification and Remote Proctoring
Emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence have been adopted by many online exam proctoring solutions to validate the test taker’s identity and to deter the use of unauthorized cheating aids during examinations. The Exam Office specifies requirement of Identity Verification and Proctoring to ensure the integrity of high-stake examinations.
Identity verification is carried out before students are allowed to take the test. It is aimed at stopping someone else (a proxy, a third party) to appear for the test on behalf of the legitimate student.
Online Proctoring is done to certify examination integrity by stopping students from receiving any unauthorized assistance for answering their questions either from other students taking the test or from outside sources. It also stops students from using disallowed resources (Internet, books, notes, cheat sheets etc.) to answer questions in the test.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BASED – IDENTITY VERIFICATION & REMOTE PROCTORING SYSTEM
DigiProctor’s Online Examination Management Service provides a fully digitalised capability for carrying out Identity
Verification during examinations. Online Identity verification is done in one of two modes:
Only-AI Verification mode
This mode is normally used when the number of students taking the test is very large, and number of proctors available to manually verify them is limited.
AI-assisted Manual Verification mode
This mode is typically used in high stake exams where the number of students taking the test is less, and enough proctors are available to manually verify them.
In both modes of identity verification, test takers being verified are asked to position their faces within a displayed rectangle on their computer screen and a photo clicked of their face using their computer’s camera. The students are then asked to similarly position their photo identity card within the displayed rectangle, and its image too is clicked. In the AI-assisted manual verification mode, the images are first sent to an AI face recognition engine, which automatically compares them and sends back a confidence level or percentage of match between the images. This aids and supplements remote proctors in their visual verification
Examination Head concerns about Online Identity Verification
Read MoreDIGIPROCTOR AI-ASSISTED REMOTE PROCTORING
DigiProctor’s Online Examination Management Service provides full-featured and comprehensive proctoring capability and is amongst the most secure platforms in the market.
Online Exam Management with Auto Proctoring
Only-AI Proctoring Exam Mode - This mode is normally used when the number of students taking the test is large, and number of proctors available to monitor them is limited.
In this mode, AI is used to automate the entire proctoring process, with no human intervention. The students’ camera and audio feed, along with their screen captures are sent to the AI-engine where the inputs are algorithmically evaluated to flag non-compliant behaviour. The Exam Office can specify that the non-compliant behaviour of students detected by the AI-engine be recorded for evidentiary purposes and/or trigger automated actions like pausing the student’s test, terminating it, or reducing the student’s Trust Score.
AI-Assisted Human Proctoring Exam Mode - In this mode, the students’ camera, and microphone feeds along with screen captures are sent to, and displayed on, the remote proctors computer dashboard for visual monitoring of any non-compliant behaviour. Simultaneously, students’ camera feeds are also sent to the AI-engine, where the inputs are algorithmically evaluated to detect non-compliant behaviour. In case the AI-engine detects any non-compliant behaviour, the information is displayed on the proctors’ dashboards. The additional information provided by the AI-engine supplements the visual monitoring by the proctors, thus making the proctoring process more effective.
Live (human) proctoring is augmented from the intelligence gained by using advanced Machine and Deep Learning algorithms. DigiProctor Advanced enables institution to create ‘intelligent virtual classrooms’ where students appear for their examinations. Virtual classrooms are continuously monitored by human proctors and artificial intelligence (AI).
Institutions assign these AI-powered virtual classrooms to the test takers appearing for the exams and allocate one or more human proctors. There can be multiple exams going on simultaneously in multiple virtual classrooms. Proctors can either monitor a single classroom or randomly enter different classrooms and take action against students demonstrating aberrant behaviour (which means test taker with low Trust Scores who have been alerted by AI for misconduct).
Only Human Proctoring Exam Mode - In this mode, proctors have to visually monitor students with no aid from the AI-engine. Therefore, this mode is typically used in high stake exams where the number of students taking the test is less, and there is sufficient number of proctors available to monitor them.
Trust Scores
DigiProctor provides trust scores as a mechanism to enforce exam integrity. Trust score is a good indicator of the test takers test result credibility.
DigiProctor provides trust scores as a mechanism to enforce exam integrity. Trust score is a good indicator of the test takers test result credibility.
Students start off their tests with a trust score of 100, which is progressively reduced with every non-compliant behaviour either automatically by AI-engine or manually by proctors. The Exam Office can specify disciplinary actions including terminating the student’s test when the score goes below a threshold.
What makes DigiProctor’s Proctoring Exams cheat-proof
Today’s test-takers are tech savvy. They know where to get, and how to use, freely available tools that facilitate cheating in exams. Gone are the days when test-takers worried about hiding themselves from the camera or talking in whispers. Today’s cheating tools can render the remote proctor totally blind to what the test-taker is doing.
Most competitors do on-the-surface proctoring. 100% of them can be fooled!
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Deep Proctoring
DigiProctor – THE undisputed performance leader!
Unlike conventional proctoring techniques used by competitors, in addition to monitoring camera/audio feed and screen captures, DigiProctor supplements it with “Deep Proctoring” to monitor events happening deep within the students’ operating systems, which are not visible to the remote proctors.
This is necessary, because students today are highly technology savvy and are using advanced tools to cheat. These tools run deep within the students’ machines at the operating system level. DigiProctor’s Deep Proctoring scans the students’ machines every 30 seconds to detect and kill these tools, and also all unauthorised applications, rogue browsers, virtual cameras, screen sharing software, virtual machines, instant messaging apps, HDMI & USB ports & KVM switches.
DigiProctor NextGen Lockdown Browser
Online exams lock the test-taker in an application so that students are unable to navigate outside the test taking console. Most of the online testing application are able to lock students in a secure test environment.
DigiProctor NextGen Lockdown Browser - In addition to Deep Proctoring, DigiProctor has an inbuilt NextGen Lockdown Browser, which comprehensively controls students from leaving or minimizing the test window. It disables keys for Copy/Paste/Print Screen, controls navigation keys and prevents students from browsing the Internet to search for answers.
DigiProctor’s NextGen Lockdown Browser differentiates itself from conventional lockdown browsers offered by competitors, because it can be configured to permit students to “securely and in a controlled manner” leave the test window to access applications in their computers (this is needed for tests that require students to use applications like Excel, SPSS etc for answering questions). When students are permitted to access applications on their devices, DigiProctor ensures they cannot go out to the Internet; plus, all what they do is screen recorded and the proctor can see what they are doing.
The NextGen Lockdown Browser also allows a secure and controlled capability for students to visit permitted URL/sites on the Internet (this may be needed for exams that require students to refer to case studies etc. from sites on the Internet). DigiProctor’s lockdown browser allows students to visit the Internet URLs/sites but locks them within the permitted site ensuring they cannot go to any other site from there except return back to the test window.
What is a Lockdown Browser?
Lockdown Browsers can prevent cheating by locking the test-takers within their test window. Locking test-takers prevents them from going out to the Internet during the exam to google for answers. The lockdown browser also prevents them from minimizing their browser, disables their copy-paste and printing keys, and stops them from accessing other applications on their computer.
At DigiProctor, we are continuously innovating our solution to meet every aspiration and ensure that Exams move online just as education has.