Students' sobbing triggered the eye-tracker software. (Image Credit: Glenn Carstens-Peters/Unsplash)
Should they really crackdown on cheating?
Lockdowns have forced schools to adapt to remote learning, a more challenging experience compared to in-class learning. In the COVID-19 era, digital tools have become increasingly popular in colleges and universities to prevent students from cheating during online exams.
During those mentally draining tests, software such as Pearson VUE and Honorlock track a test taker's eye movements and sobbing, according to a TikTok user. Josef Fruehwald, a University of Kentucky professor, said he wouldn't trust professors relying on tracking software. His video reached 2.3 million views and thousands of comments from frustrated students.
"One of my French exams got flagged for cheating because I was crying for the whole thing, and my French prof had to watch 45 min of me quietly sobbing," a user posted. "Since COVID, LSAT uses a proctoring system," another wrote. "I was yelled at for having a framed quote from my grandmother on the wall."
Even more unsettling, a proctor asked another student to change into "something more conservative" during the exam that took place in the student's home.
"It wasn't even just a detailed video. I simply said, "As a teacher, if one of my colleagues tells me that he forced his student to use one of these programs, I will never look at it the same way again." And it seems to have broken the dam of all this traumatic surveillance," Fruehwald said in a Twitter thread he posted, where more users posted more allegations.
"My husband has two classes left for his BFA, and one of them is a math class that requires an assessment test before enrolling," wrote one person. "He should have graduated two years ago, but he couldn't take the friggin math class because THE SOUND OF HIS LAPTOP'S FAN SET OFF THE PROCTOR SOFTWARE."
The pandemic has certainly affected society as a whole, with the education sector becoming even more challenging. It's easy to see why this is taking a huge hit with teachers quitting their jobs and stressful tests causing students to sob into eye-tracking software.
I knew a lot of people cheated on exams. Perhaps like law and medical fields, engineers need a bar exam. Cheat their way through college, but they still have to pass a certification test. Thoughts?
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