Student Surveillance Vendor Proctorio Files SLAPP Lawsuit to Silence a Critic
My institution is using software called honorlock. It is a MESS. your laptop&#x2F;device doesnt&#x27; have a webcam? you cant&#x27; take a test. Do the computers in computer labs have cameras? No. Need to take a test right after an in person class? your SOL because you will get flagged for having a mask on if you take the test in a public space...so you have to go back to your room. Have a roommate who needs to be in the same space while you take a test? Flags all over the place. Wear a facial or head covering? Flags all over the place....and then we have a serious issue.<p>Add in that faculty have lazily started to just use the flags as &#x27;you cheated&#x27; without reviewing them meaningfully. I tried it once, one student, for no discernable reason, generated over 200 flags.<p>These software are useless, not because they don&#x27;t have their place but because they people implementing them are trying to solve their own fear rather than a meaningful problem in a meaningful way. Tests are minimally useful as an educational assessment to begin with. Some, like licensing exams, sure fine I&#x27;ll give you some grace there. But if you are going to use the tool...you need to make at least a minimal effort to use the tool well. If you don&#x27;t you make the tool useless. That lack of give a damn by users is driving a lack of give a damn by vendors.