Online Proctoring’s Impact on Students and Student Privacy

Abstract

Online proctoring software (OPS) claims to fortify education by attempting to provide a controlled virtual testing environment, ideally reducing the amount of cheating on online assessments; however, scholars, students, and education technology specialists have raised significant concerns about student privacy and algorithmic discrimination in OPS. This study analyzed survey data from 86 Purdue undergraduate students regarding their sentiment and experience using OPS. After providing informed consent, demographic information, and OPS usage, students indicated via 5-point Likert scale to what extent they agreed or disagreed with statements gauging perceptions of identification accuracy, data privacy, knowledge about student data rights, and academic integrity. Participants also could share additional reflections via two free-response questions.