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+--- Thread: Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested (/Thread-Proctor-U-Question-and-Feedback-Requested)
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - marianne202 - 02-20-2012
Ok, so for the first time in 3 years of taking online classes I was just informed that I will need to have my mid-term and final proctored through Proctor U. But this is just for one class as my other classes don't require it. I wasn't informed of this prior to registering for the class. I don't have a webcam and now I find out I have to give Proctor U access to my computer. I don't like that idea at all! I do all my financial transactions and work business on my computer and I have multiple firewalls, intrusion protections software and hardware to protect my computer from outside access, why would I want to allow people I don't know to have access? Why do they need access to my computer? I can consent to buying a webcam and allowing them to watch me, but accessing control of my computer is not something I'm willing to do. Has anyone had any experience with Proctor U? Does anyone know if they will just do the video portion without accessing my computer? If I do the webcam portion can I get rid of the box showing my picture and their proctor looking at me? I have no desire to take an exam with someone watching me in the corner of my screen that would be very distracting to say the least. I have emailed the instructor to see if I have any other options, but in the meantime I thought I would see if anyone here has any advice.
Thanks!
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - IrishJohn - 02-20-2012
I've never used this myself but I wonder if you could take CLEP or DSST this way? It would probably have to be done through one of the schools on their list but I have no idea how. It would be an interesting option to have!
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - fordp86 - 02-20-2012
Marianne,
My name is Ford Henley and I work for ProctorU. I understand your security-related concerns and here are a few details about how ProctorU works. We use screen sharing technology that allows us to see what is visible on your monitor. We use this software to help troubleshoot technical problems, unlock the exam password, and ensure the academic integrity of the exam. We have no interest in accessing your personal files and you will be able to see the same things that the proctor can see. Hundreds of people use ProctorU every day and most people are satisfied with our level of service. We want you to be satisfied with your proctoring session and it is in our best interest to minimize any inconveniences for our students and test takers. Your webcam and the proctor's webcam will be on a separate web page that you can minimize while you take your exam. Your proctor will still be able to see you without having the window up. Unfortunately, we cannot do only video monitoring because we need to be able to unlock your exam.
I hope this helped answer your concerns.
If you have any more questions please contact me directly at:
205-289-1383 or email me at [email protected]
Have a great day,
Ford
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - cookderosa - 02-20-2012
fordp86 Wrote:Marianne,
My name is Ford Henley and I work for ProctorU. I understand your security-related concerns and here are a few details about how ProctorU works. We use screen sharing technology that allows us to see what is visible on your monitor. We use this software to help troubleshoot technical problems, unlock the exam password, and ensure the academic integrity of the exam. We have no interest in accessing your personal files and you will be able to see the same things that the proctor can see. Hundreds of people use ProctorU every day and most people are satisfied with our level of service. We want you to be satisfied with your proctoring session and it is in our best interest to minimize any inconveniences for our students and test takers. Your webcam and the proctor's webcam will be on a separate web page that you can minimize while you take your exam. Your proctor will still be able to see you without having the window up. Unfortunately, we cannot do only video monitoring because we need to be able to unlock your exam.
I hope this helped answer your concerns.
If you have any more questions please contact me directly at:
205-289-1383 or email me at [email protected]
Have a great day,
Ford
Hummmm.....
Marianne, I wonder if you can take your exam at your local library's computer? Would there any reason that it would "have to" be "yours?"
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - IrishJohn - 02-20-2012
fordp86 Wrote:Marianne,
My name is Ford Henley and I work for ProctorU. I understand your security-related concerns and here are a few details about how ProctorU works. We use screen sharing technology that allows us to see what is visible on your monitor. We use this software to help troubleshoot technical problems, unlock the exam password, and ensure the academic integrity of the exam. We have no interest in accessing your personal files and you will be able to see the same things that the proctor can see. Hundreds of people use ProctorU every day and most people are satisfied with our level of service. We want you to be satisfied with your proctoring session and it is in our best interest to minimize any inconveniences for our students and test takers. Your webcam and the proctor's webcam will be on a separate web page that you can minimize while you take your exam. Your proctor will still be able to see you without having the window up. Unfortunately, we cannot do only video monitoring because we need to be able to unlock your exam.
I hope this helped answer your concerns.
If you have any more questions please contact me directly at:
205-289-1383 or email me at [email protected]
Have a great day,
Ford
Is it possible to take CLEP or DSST exams through ProctorU directly or through one of your partners? Thanks.
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - BGSU_Alum_86 - 02-20-2012
Obviously ProctorU cannot deliver CLEP or DSST exams this way! Both of these testing programs require that training be done, certification completed, before access is granted to testing centers. Testers must have proper IDs for security purposes and there would be no way to confirm this by the method described by ProctorU. No notes or other assistance is allowed, so again, how would the method described by ProctorU guarantee this?
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - jt003806 - 02-20-2012
fordp86 Wrote:Marianne,These people changed my display settings w/out my consent. After connecting I was informed that my system was slow & that my AUDIO feed was not working. After they opened my task manager (w/out asking), I noticed that 8-10 sessions of Chrome were running. Rather than address this issue, they continued to attempt to change my windows 7 DISPLAY settings. I declined three times, yet they continued to make the same request. The 4th time I was distracted & they changed them, even after seeing me repeatedly decline.
My name is Ford Henley and I work for ProctorU. I understand your security-related concerns and here are a few details about how ProctorU works. We use screen sharing technology that allows us to see what is visible on your monitor. We use this software to help troubleshoot technical problems, unlock the exam password, and ensure the academic integrity of the exam. We have no interest in accessing your personal files and you will be able to see the same things that the proctor can see. Hundreds of people use ProctorU every day and most people are satisfied with our level of service. We want you to be satisfied with your proctoring session and it is in our best interest to minimize any inconveniences for our students and test takers. Your webcam and the proctor's webcam will be on a separate web page that you can minimize while you take your exam. Your proctor will still be able to see you without having the window up. Unfortunately, we cannot do only video monitoring because we need to be able to unlock your exam.
I hope this helped answer your concerns.
If you have any more questions please contact me directly at:
205-289-1383 or email me at [email protected]
Have a great day,
Ford
At the end of the exam I was asked to rate the service. I chose to "have someone contact me"- nobody did. I will never use this service again.
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - IrishJohn - 02-20-2012
BGSU_Alum_86 Wrote:Obviously ProctorU cannot deliver CLEP or DSST exams this way! Both of these testing programs require that training be done, certification completed, before access is granted to testing centers. Testers must have proper IDs for security purposes and there would be no way to confirm this by the method described by ProctorU. No notes or other assistance is allowed, so again, how would the method described by ProctorU guarantee this?
You're probably right but check out the promotional video for ProctorU as well as the list of colleges that use it (including my local CC!). If they can rely upon this service I don't see why CLEP or DSST cannot.
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - marianne202 - 02-20-2012
This is my concern exactly! Notice they don't even have a toll-free number which is a red flag for me and indicates customer service isn't a priority. I emailed them twice and haven't heard a thing, so I'm not surprised you didn't get a response. I also looked at their partner schools and most of them are the for-profit schools. I'm a college instructor and I have taught DL classes for 10 years and I have completed 3 degrees via testing out and DL methods without ever having to use this type of service. Give me Pearson Vue or Prometric anytime. I can't use my library because they require a webcam and microphone and my library doesn't have these available and won't allow them, obviously , no talking at the library. Since I not only have my personal and family financial info on my computer I also have access to programs with my students personal data including SS# and per FERPA regulations I must protect that info. I talked to my school's IT dept and two network and computer security instructors and none of them have indicated any viable reason for Proctor U to need to access my computer. I have taken plenty of exams via Blackboard and am quite capable of entering an access code or password into BB and opening the exam myself. To top it all off it turns out the exam is only 20 questions! Truly this is serious overkill and unnecessary for 20 questions. They also give 2 hours for the exam which indicates to me that Proctor U must gobble up a lot of time because it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to do a 20 question exam. I have asked my school for permission to use a local proctor. I live in a small rural town and we don't have internet cafes since most people don't even have internet access around here. I'm not sure what I will do if my school won't allow me to use a local proctor.
Proctor U Question and Feedback Requested - beargins - 02-20-2012
marianne202 Wrote:This is my concern exactly! Notice they don't even have a toll-free number which is a red flag for me and indicates customer service isn't a priority. I emailed them twice and haven't heard a thing, so I'm not surprised you didn't get a response. I also looked at their partner schools and most of them are the for-profit schools. I'm a college instructor and I have taught DL classes for 10 years and I have completed 3 degrees via testing out and DL methods without ever having to use this type of service. Give me Pearson Vue or Prometric anytime. I can't use my library because they require a webcam and microphone and my library doesn't have these available and won't allow them, obviously , no talking at the library. Since I not only have my personal and family financial info on my computer I also have access to programs with my students personal data including SS# and per FERPA regulations I must protect that info. I talked to my school's IT dept and two network and computer security instructors and none of them have indicated any viable reason for Proctor U to need to access my computer. I have taken plenty of exams via Blackboard and am quite capable of entering an access code or password into BB and opening the exam myself. To top it all off it turns out the exam is only 20 questions! Truly this is serious overkill and unnecessary for 20 questions. They also give 2 hours for the exam which indicates to me that Proctor U must gobble up a lot of time because it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to do a 20 question exam. I have asked my school for permission to use a local proctor. I live in a small rural town and we don't have internet cafes since most people don't even have internet access around here. I'm not sure what I will do if my school won't allow me to use a local proctor.
I just took an exam with proctoru about an hour ago. I usually run a dual boot with a throwaway windows partition, so I booted into that one for the tests. I'd personally prefer to run it through a virtual machine next time but I'm not sure how they would feel about that. my network is relatively small so its easy to monitor traffic exiting the firewall. I suppose for you business owners its a different story and hopefully TESC will take this into consideration. I was under the impression that TESC was planning for a full migration to online proctoring eventually.