On Un-Proctoring Exams, Unleashing Learning

In the current sudden expansion of online learning due ot COVID-19, many institutions are increasing spending on proctoring services for classes; some, for the first time.  The proctoring platforms are jumping at the chance to increase their sales, and are offering special discounts to new users.  

Proctored exams, it seems, are the ultimate way to prevent online cheating. Using a proctored exam system, students cannot navigate beyond their test to the Internet itself, and in many cases are actually watched - monitored by video feeds - to ensure that they do not look down to check notes or their phones, speak to another person, or - heaven forbid - take a bathroom break. In many cases they must pass through an airport security-like check-in; showing their ID cards, stating their name, and making sure their faces can be seen clearly.  Any student who is “flagged” is reported to the teacher, who can then - with complete and utter confidence - give the student a 0 on the exam.

Photo by Surface on Unsplash

This assumes that the students will be working on computers with built-in webcams or that one is purchased for exam use; some faculty require that students purchase a second webcam, to show their hands as well as their faces during an exam. Beyond the equipment purchases,  proctoring makes more unrealistic assumptions; it assumes that all students have a desk and chair in a quiet room where they can take the exam for 1-2 hours, uninterrupted.  No kids asking questions, no work calling to say you are needed. It assumes students are native speakers with academic backgrounds, and will never have to look up a word or phrase. And last but not least: It assumes that students are trying to cheat.  

Here's a tweet by an Instructional Designer Dale Coleman at Tacoma Community College (used with permission):

Accessibility score: Perfect Click to improve

The spy-like visuals of this experience are not only nerve-racking, but fly in the face of the culture of online learning,  where students and teachers not infrequently do their work from the comfort of their beds, back porches, or living room couches, laptops on laps or cellphones in hands. In my own experience as both an online student and teacher, working online means working in pajamas, working in the car, working while eating, and working while others are holding conversations in the same room. One of the main differences between the online experience and the face-to-face experience is the independent study opportunities they provide; we can interact on our own time, in our own way. 

Proctoring takes everyone's focus away from course content and puts it on a very big billboard-like message that says: Trust not Found here. Proceed with Caution.  It causes student discomfort even before it happens; taking a quiz is made into daunting experiences akin to airport security checks; Do I have my passport? Do I have my ticket? Where's my driver's license? Many of our students have stressful experiences in refugee camps and visa offices that still reverberate in their minds. Often this process results in - at the very least - a section in the course devoted to how to take an exam (which could have been used for actual course content); students spending time and often scant resources buying onetime use equipment and preparing to take exams (which could have been used for studying); and multiple, repeated tech issues and help desk requests that must be resolved by support offices (which have many other issues to take care of).  Proctoring - besides the actual high cost of the service - costs in many other ways as well. 

Un-proctoring exams can mean unleashing learning;  supporting lifelong learning involves skillfully utilizing our many free online tech tools, the Internet itself, and our own creativity and knowledge to enhance learning. The Learning Management systems already provide a secure login, and offer a wide array of assessment types that go beyond the proctored environment, from practice quizzes to video projects and everything in between. Combine these options with teaching strategies that chunk material and a UDL mindset that finds ways for students to show what they have learned by creating assessments that build learning, this is exactly the time that the costly add-on of proctored exams should be falling out of fashion, shifting the institutional funds instead towards better empowering faculty to teach online with the resources and professional development  they need to promote academic integrity and trust.  

The PedaGOgy of Pokémon GO

Part I

     I had never played an online game in my life when I opened Pokémon GO while walking with a friend who was playing.  This first experience was compelling enough for me to write a blog post, 10 Days of Pokémon GO.

My friends Stephanie, Tim and my husband John

     In the year and a half since that time, I picked it up again as a social activity and play with a small group of friends, and it has become a regular activity in my weekend life.  As an educator, with a special interest in online education, this game has reinforced my ideas about student engagement and opened my eyes in surprise and delight to some new ones.  It is an artful, amazing game that allows players to interact in their own ways, continue learning, and stay engaged long-term with constant challenges and rewards.  And yes - it makes me walk more and meet new people in the process.  Here are some of the great pedaGOgy strategies I have enjoyed: 

Personalized Learning 

     Each day, you are given the opportunity to complete research tasks that you receive by spinning stops. These are tasks you can either fulfill, or - if you don't like them - delete. There are a total of three you can work on at one time. If you delete one, you simply find another to replace it. This allows you to help to structure your own experience, and directly ties into adult learning styles, because we like to help control our learning experiences.  It also allows for different learning styles; some people love the raids, and tend to focus on research tasks that ask you to battle in a raid; others love the journey of capturing different types of Pokémon, and will work on those tasks.  Any one person will be moving forward in the game by picking and choosing their pathway. And the tasks for any given stop change daily, making each day a new adventure. 

Competency-based Learning 

     At the core, you are capturing Pokémon  of various sizes, forms, and skills with balls. You are given multiple chances to catch them; if you miss the first time, try again. You can use different berries to help entice them to hold still for you; you gather those berries by spinning stops as you move around.  If you absolutely can't get one, you can choose to escape and try another one.  There are always more Pokémon to capture, so no matter how few or many you end up catching, you can always try again. Each time you catch one, it is tallied; if you miss one, you move on. You receive metals for catching them, and you can work at your own pace. 

Scaffolded Learning Opportunities

     Pokémon GO helps you to become a better player by reinforcing information as you play with low-stakes activities such as powering up Pokémon and offering medals for capturing certain numbers and types with badge-like rewards that suddenly appear on your screen. It is like suddenly learning you got extra points on an assignment, boosting your confidence.  Pokémon reminds you of how to play the game in this way, and helps you advance in subtle ways.  With this support you can move forward gracefully. My research tasks remind me that I need to use my berries.  Slowly, by advancing from level to level, I gain an understanding of the various components of the game.  Pokémon GO starts with lower levels that are short and easy to move through, while the higher levels take much longer (ie more points) to complete. In that way, beginning players are rewarded easily as they learn the basics, while more advanced players are given bigger challenges to move forward, but no one is given something they can't handle at their level. Excellence in teaching!

Group Work and Building Community

My box becomes full and I have to decide which Pokémon to power up, send off to Professor Willow to clear space in my box, or trade with someone.  These decisions are part of the everyday tasks in the game, and there are as many approaches to them as there are players.  Learning from others on how they approach the game is part of the game itself.  And as you reach higher levels and start to raid, you naturally meet other players, as some raids take at least 10 people in order to win. Even those quieter among us share information and help each other; I have been in more than one raid where we all backed right before it started to allow someone time to reconnect their phone, or arrive late. There is as much a culture of respect as there is one of competition that is cultivated by the game. It allows for both introverts and extroverts in the learning community. 

Next: Professor Willow, Shinies, and Luck