ExamSoft and Cheating: what it detects and how to bypass

Any deliberate form of academic wrongdoing that makes one student to have advantage over the other in exams is cheating. Because of a recent upsurge in online system of exam administration, exam malpractices have been soaring at an alarming rate.

In most learning institutions, cheating is a vice that cannot be tolerated because it undermines the credibility of the exams and the entire institution. 

Students cheat in exams for a lot of reasons such as pressure from parents to get good grades, the convenience of doing the act and lack of preparedness among others. 

Truth be told; exam cheating in an online class is far much easier than in the traditional physical system. However, technology has come in handy with the introduction of reliable cheating detection software such as ExamSoft.

Not only does it help to make the exam process easier for exam-takers and educators, it also eliminates any chance of academic dishonest among students.

What is ExamSoft?

ExamSoft is a leading firm that develops exam data and learning assessment software solutions. With it, you can create exams and administer to students.

Other notable functions you can execute with ExamSoft include grading exams and building customized reports. While ExamSoft has specifically been developed for school administrators, faculty and staff, the company did not forget learners. For this reason, they came up with good testing software called Examplify.

Examplify has been designed for students and any other person taking exams. This is how Examplify works.

No matter the assessment that an institution has in hand, Examplify can give a steady and safe environment for exam takers.

It comes with a wide variety of in-exams tools such as item flagging, question highlighting and alarms. For both the student and the educators, the process of exam navigation has been simplified to a great extent.

On top of that, the software does not need internet connection in order to operate. This enhances the safety of student’s private information during the assessment period.

Other than these two applications, the company has made huge strides in offering other related solutions such as curriculum mapping, formative assessments and examination identity management. These platforms are not only good for learning institutions but also bars, medical, businesses, nursing among other sectors.

Can ExamSoft Detect Cheating?

Remote test taking was already a growing technology by 2020 despite the major drawbacks faced such as exam cheating. However, with the insurgent of Covid-19 and consequent closure of schools, remote test taking became the order of the day.

Students and teachers now depend on remote education platforms such a ExamSoft to ensure that learning is not interrupted.

Exams can now be overseen remotely without the fear of students cheating.

Here are helpful tips to avoid being flagged during the assessment:

• To minimize the risk of being flagged, use one webcam on your laptop, whether it is external on internal.
• Avoid unnecessary movements when the exams are in progress. Ensure you visit the bathroom before the test begins to avoid interruptions.
• Remove headphones from the laptop.
• Materials such as sticky notes, textbooks and scratch papers should not be seen around your workplace. Be sure to switch off your phone.
• Make sure the volume on the gadget you are using is up.
• Avoid interacting with other people lest it is flagged as external assistance.
• Ensure that your whole face is in view of the webcam.

How ExamSoft Prevent Cheating

ExamSoft is used to detect cheating because of its remarkable features such as video surveillance, facial recognition and eye-tracking. Even though there have been protests from students about privacy invasion, the use of this platform has grown in lips and bounds.

The ability of the platform to remotely access a student’s computer is a solid reason to use it in preventing academic dishonesty. A student taking exams remotely cannot open new tabs or copy paste content from another source.

Another way of detecting cheating in exams is by tracking the mouse clicks and keystrokes performed by the exam taker. ExamSoft has put conceivable measures in place to prevent any privacy intrusion and exploitation of a student’s information by third parties.  

This guarantees no misuse of your information and at the same time safeguarding the credibility of remote tests.

Statistics have revealed that over 33 countries and close to 2000 programs are now served by ExamSoft. The information of both the exam-maker and the exam-taker is safe.

Curbing the cheating menace has further been enhanced by the artificial facial recognition technology that is precise in analyzing images of students no matter their skin color.

Institutions that have already embraced the use of ExamSoft have reported a significant drop in academic misconduct practices such as cheating.

When the software detects any suspicious activity, it flags it for the school administrator to review and confirm if the action was a cheating malpractice. The ExamSoft application can see the student but he or she cannot see the administrator.

ExamMonitor

ExamSoft uses the ExamMonitor to detect cheating. Through the artificial intelligence technology, it reviews the video and audio files from the exam location. The purpose of the technology is to trace unusual behaviors and flag them.

There is also a human proctor who reviews the same recordings and analyzes the detected strange behavior in a more human way.

All the evidence is them presented to the administrator for a more in-depth review.  

The administrator is a member of the learning institution who takes a deep look into the detected anomalies to verify if there was cheating.

It is important to know that ExamSoft does not influence the decision taken by the administrator.

It is the duty of the administrator to get in touch with the exam-taker for further clarification.

Can Examsoft Detect Phone?

The software comes with artificial intelligence technology that enables it to recognize different faces.  It can also detect the exam-taker’s eye movement patterns. As such, ExamSoft can know if the student focuses on the screen or on other external objects such as phones or books.  

This remote proctoring software has completely minimized academic dishonesty cases among students. It can detect gadgets such as phones, laptops and tablets during the exam period.

The moment a student attempts to go into test bank information using a phone, a signal is sent to the administrator. The integrity of the exam is preserved by this proctoring feature that detects any nearby electronic devices.

Can Examsoft Record you?

ExamSoft can record both your audio and video voices.

When you are taking an assessment test or any form of exam, the software records you and the results are conveyed to the administrator for reviewing.

The recording is done through screen capture or webcam.

If there is any academic breach of rules, the affected exam-taker is summoned to clarify his or her voice.

ExamSoft retains the recordings, videos, photos and all the bio-metric information for a period of one year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can ExamSoft detect copy pasting?

The use of formatting tools is detected by this proctoring software. The software can detect any action of cutting, copying or pasting.

Does ExamSoft tell you when it is recording?

When the exam period is on, the software will start making the audio and video recordings in a continuous manner. However the student will not be able to know when the action starts.

Does Examplify record you without permission?

The software does to notify the student before recording audio and video. Video and Audio recording starts automatically when the assessment begins.