Study.com Proctor Questions

[kevinmane]

People keep saying Study.com doesn't do LIVE proctoring. What does that mean? Does that mean you don't need a camera? Cause that'd be great since I don't have a fancy computer that has one lol

[Ideas]

There isn't someone on the other end live. You still need a camera / microphone because you are recorded the whole time, and have to show your room, so a person can review it afterwards.

[jsh1138]

you record yourself doing it on the webcam. its very straight forward, but you do need a cam

[allvia]

you record yourself doing it on the webcam. its very straight forward, but you do need a cam

One capable of recording sound as well as video - which is standard on most external webcams, but not all.

[Merlin]

People keep saying Study.com doesn't do LIVE proctoring. What does that mean? Does that mean you don't need a camera? Cause that'd be great since I don't have a fancy computer that has one lol

If you want to take online courses for college credit you'll need a webcam eventually, since most providers require proctoring of some kind to meet academic requirements. There are some that don't, but it seems likely that they will eventually add proctoring as well or lose their credit recommendation.

In any case, as others have stated, the difference between proctor types is really just whether the proctor is "live" and connected to your PC directly and watching you take the test in real-time, or if the software is just recording you and what your computer is showing and someone will watch it back later to verify your academic integrity. I prefer the latter for the time convenience, but it does mean it can take a week or more before you get your official test results.

As for picking up a webcam, most laptops have one built-in, but they tend to suck in quality. Alternatively, you can pick up a decent webcam online for $20 or less, or a very nice webcam for $50-$60. You don't need a nice webcam, but the nicer it is the better the image quality. If you do your testing at night, a webcam with good low-light resolution might be a good investment to avoid proctor issues.

I'm thinking of getting a new webcam myself since the webcam on my laptop is old, low resolution, and doesn't do low-light very well. Plus the webcam would be easier to pan around the room, so I wouldn't have to disconnect my laptop and physically swivel it around to do the 360 degree view.

[dfrecore]

If you don't want to use a proctor on your computer, you'd be limited to Shmoop, TEEX (until the end of this month), the free ethics course, and the free Sophia courses. After that, you could still do CLEP, DSST and UExcel's - all of them require going to a testing center where there are in-person proctors instead.

I'd get an external webcam.

[High_Order1]

People keep saying Study.com doesn't do LIVE proctoring. What does that mean? Does that mean you don't need a camera? Cause that'd be great since I don't have a fancy computer that has one lol

There are cheap webcams in most thrift stores (Goodwill, rescue mission, etc etc) in America. Doesn't have to be high def, either

[mansion7]

I recently have taken several Study.com classes. The proctoring was really easy. I just sat on the floor in an empty room and did it, using a laptop that I just bought for $200 from Walmart. The technical requirements are really low and the camera doesn't have to be that good.

[rlw74]

Merlin you said "it can take a week or more before you get your official test results." Do you mean for ACE certification? Because all test results show up immediately on study.com. You can definitely tell if you passed or not, even if the dashboard doesn't update immediately. And ACE certification can take a while for most providers anyway, even if you live proctor. I personally liked that I didn't have to schedule with recorded proctor sessions. As soon as I'm ready to take the test and have the free time, I like to test, even if it's 2:00 a.m.

Definitely look into a webcam, as it opens up so many more options.

[Merlin]

Merlin you said "it can take a week or more before you get your official test results." Do you mean for ACE certification? Because all test results show up immediately on study.com. You can definitely tell if you passed or not, even if the dashboard doesn't update immediately. And ACE certification can take a while for most providers anyway, even if you live proctor. I personally liked that I didn't have to schedule with recorded proctor sessions. As soon as I'm ready to take the test and have the free time, I like to test, even if it's 2:00 a.m.

Definitely look into a webcam, as it opens up so many more options.

It is true that you get your final exam results at the end of the test, but those results are not official until the proctoring session has been reviewed (which seems to take about a week in my experience) and the results have been confirmed. Until that happens, the dashboard shows "Pending" for your official score and you are unable to transcript the course.

As for ACE, I've found that most places seem to respond to ACE pretty fast, so it rarely takes more than 1-2 business days unless there is a hold (such as for Study.com when awaiting proctoring confirmation).

But yeah, I definitely appreciate the ability to take tests and such on my own schedule. I do most of my studying and testing after 11 pm, so I prefer not needing to schedule a proctor session 3 days in advance or deal with someone else's schedule or delays.