Online Proctoring Tools Don't Actually Stop AI Cheating
Online instructors are struggling with maintaining academic integrity and observing declining student performance in online courses. They express concerns about AI usage, cheating, rising exam scores potentially due to AI, and a perceived lack of student effort and critical thinking. The shift to online learning presents significant challenges to assessment and student engagement.
SOURCES (60)
“Okay so i am a first year undergrad student and i been using ChatGPT to help me study basically tutor me. I’ve used it since this summer for stats and I ended up getting 90% on the final and passed the class with 99.38% fast…”
“Is anybody else experiencing this? I teach online asynch. This semester I’ve had an inordinate amount of students who don’t understand how to perform basic things on the learning platform or follow simple directions. I get frequent emails asking things like how to participate in the discussion board, how to reply to threads, and what to even write about (despite detailed instructions on all of these things being available). Oh and forget about submitting the correct file type; nobody seems to un”
“Based on your responses, it doesn't seem like you've ever taught high school chemistry in the US. It's inconceivable that a high school student would've come up with "butene" on their own. It's the beginning of October. School has only been in session for 1-2 months depending on where you're located in the US. At this point, students are barely learning about the difference between ionic and covalent compounds. Part of the chemical compound unit would be basic n”
“Monitor them and make sure they aren’t cheating. Whether that’s sitting in front of the class watching them, walking around the room, what have you.”
“I make them face away from me during test because they otherwise try to 1. sneak their phone out and hide it behind their Chromebook screen or 2. Turn on split screen and try to use the accessibility snipper to ai the test. I then try to work while watching their screen on our monitoring software. The slick ones used to try to copy/paste the question into Google then quickly close their Google tab before the monitoring software updated. To combat that, I made each question an image so they can’t”
“This is the section i'm writing in: Sometimes a student’s application and achievements may be impacted by challenges or other circumstances. This could involve: Access to a safe and quiet study space Access to reliable technology and internet Community disruption (violence, protests, teacher strikes, etc.) Discrimination Family disruptions (divorce, incarceration, job loss, health, loss of a family member, addiction, etc.) Family or other obligations (caregiving, financial support, etc.) Hou”
“I'm teaching an advanced writing course this term, and to curb AI use, I'm requiring most high-stakes assignments to be done in class. Often the instructions are complex, so I have gone ahead and posted them on the LMS (Brightspace) but I have them open at the start of class time and close at the end. On at least two occasions, students have submitted in a weird way and I realized they were not actually present (I don't take attendance, but now I think perhaps I should, at least on t”
“My online students need to use a combination of Canvas, Honorlock, and Connect to complete exams. Honorlock and Canvas don't get along so it takes a but of work on my end and the student's end to get it to work. They had their first exam this past week, opened on Monday midnight, closed Weds 11:59p. Only FOUR out of 25 figured out what to do. I told them its not a problem I can fix. I gave them the number for Honorlock tech support and the name of the person to speak to. I also said our”
“In an online class I teach (I know... I know) I assign weekly homework problems. Students must answer by hand and show their work, then scan the document to submit it to the LMS. One student completed the first assignment by hand, then used AI to generate the next two. The writing was close to the student's own handwriting that I didn't catch it at first. There was something about the third one he turned in that caught my eye. It looked like he trained the AI on his own handwriting. It w”
“Summary Test creation currently ships two hardcoded modes, math (STEM) and coding. Students studying anything else get the generic prose path. Let users define and save their own modes, so someone learning Spanish, physics, chemistry, or music theory can shape how questions get generated and graded for their subject instead of taking whatever the default prompt produces. Not grilled yet. Logging the idea and the architectural constraints found while looking at how modes work today, so the design”
“I did tons of electronic learning as far back as the 80s and 90s, and still do.It’s algorithmic social media. There’s loads of both direct causal and indirect evidence that algorithmic attention hacking has made everything worse: mental health, learning, socialization, motivation, productivity.Short form content makes it even worse. It’s an endless barrage of short pointless tidbits with no connection, no plot, no larger theme, and often little to no content in the actual shorts. It makes trash”
“My major is accounting and I currently have cit class. I’ve been putting 4-8hrs 2-3days on studying for quizzes and exam. Is it worth it or should I just use shortcut for this course? submitted by /u/Queasy_Eye_5835 [link] [comments]”
“No it's not but it's an important skill regardless. Cheating your way through school doesn't help you with that skill.”
“but to score against what? I am trying to clean the data, organise it but to score them what should be the the data that i match it with? I think council registrars would work as a source of proof”
“My husband works for ETs and did the online proctoring for praxis. You can’t have anything out. You had to close all doors and walk the camera around the room. You probably won’t be able to test in there. Do you have another room you can go in?”
“No library. It’s an online test. What’s your definition of calculator home boy”
“A written in-person test is the only way to make sure people aren't cheating. If you're doing that, why not just screen by grades and degree? Their 2 hour test isn't going to measure what a CS degree measures.”
“3 years ago, our Assistant Dean (at the time, since retired) had us enact a policy of giving quizzes at the very start of class. The idea was to force students to prepare for lecture and actually look at the material. It also let's me guide the lecture because we review the questions immediately after the quiz. We use an exam software that allows us to see immediate results. I can see where students were weak and then I can hit that area of content a little heavier. The questions are all bas”
“This is my very first semester teaching at a community college. It's virtual and asynchronous. We had our first written assignment where they were to download the Word file, type in their answers under the prompts, and reupload the file. By no means is it a difficult assignment, but it does require some time and critical thinking to complete. Well, I just received my first submission and 100% without a doubt, the student used ChatGPT. How can I tell? Besides the glaringly obvious and incorre”
“One of my professors did! And he hated any tech in his classes basically which was kinda nice”
“I’m an adjunct teaching a world language. Our department has recently switched from in-person oral exams to having the students use a third-party company to do zoom calls with a native speaker coach. The qualifications for the coaches are to be a native speaker of the language and to be 18 or older. The coaches grade them on: preparation, participation, and punctuality. The score is out of 10 points. The department has the 3 calls worth 15% of the students’ grades. It’s the first day and it’s no”
“Multiple students have emailed me because an assignment is due, and the instructions clearly say “must be submitted as a PDF file”, and I have the assignment restricted to only accept PDF files. I can open and mark up/annotate a PDF in our learning management system, yet every other file type I have to download. I don’t want to. They can’t understand why the system won’t take their Word or Pages file. I posted an announcement essentially saying to please read the submission instructions, and if”
“Our first major essay assignment is due on Friday in my online freshman composition course. My face-to-face classes complete their essays on paper in class, but sadly my online section will be using Honorlock due to the cesspool of AI slop online has become. Two online students have already emailed me that they “didn’t realize” they couldn’t start the Honorlock session, log out, and then log back in again later. One student “just wanted to check the microphone and camera settings,” and the other”
“I 100% agree with you on your premise. That's why I say those things need to change. I am not four more regulation, but I fear it will become a discussion at some point, especially now with AI and the headlines every day. These systems that are still running on Cobal, Cisco switches from the early 2000s, software that runs on dependencies that some kid wrote when he was 16, and has long forgotten about. These things will come to an end, either through them being destroyed by their own incomp”
“So in my hybrid first semester Calculus course, I give in person tests and about half of the quizzes are in person while the other half is done at home. I gave a limit problem on the quiz. There is a straight forward method of approach, akin to what was done in my videos and what is done in the textbook. But about half the class used two trigonometric identities that are scarcely used in the form given. While the identities are valid, it's an out of nowhere approach. In my 36 years of teachi”
“So frustrating I did it all, all lectures, notes, tons of mcq, classroom zooms, formulas. Every exam i get is so different. Last exam i hammered sampling questions tbs and formals didn’t get a single question. Can’t win. Can’t get out of the 50% range. submitted by /u/FewBrain9601 [link] [comments]”
“Mine has implemented new surveillance software into the lms to watch missed assignments. That is, if students don’t turn in assignments, and the university runs its periodic check and finds students not turning in work, the university will step in to “support students.” I mean, that’s my job. Right? Just give me a way to alert student support services. That’s something that doesn’t exist and I could get onboard with. I don’t need your hand-holding. What’s next, fully-automating my courses and ma”
“Saving this in case if it does work for online exams , would the setup bypass any restrictions from lockdown browser?”
“I have all my students do a syllabus quiz before they can access any online CANVAS assignments. A big part of that is what constitutes cheating and incurs academic integrity violations. They had a quiz due Friday night. Fully 2/3 of the class completed it in 5 minutes or less. A 30 question quiz. This won’t be fun. submitted by /u/Professional_Dr_77 [link] [comments]”
“I'm a college student, and every exam season I hit the same wall: generic practice questions online never look like what my lecturer actually asks. NotebookLM and ChatGPT are great for summarising notes, but neither will write me a paper in my course's style, mark it against a mark scheme, or remember what I keep getting wrong. So I built Quirepage. How it works: Upload lecture notes, slides and past papers (PDF, DOCX, PPTX or photos). It maps the topics and pulls out the real exam quest”
“Has anyone had this happen to them? I took all the steps, made sure I did the tutorials. I was inside the waiting room waiting for my proctor when it glitched and would not let me back into the online browser to even start the exam. I documented all technical issues with PSI. Called to reschedule with NASM and they charged me 50$ to reschedule. I tried to escalate, provided them with all the technical details, but could not avoid the 50$ reschedule fee to reschedule the exam again. Ridiculous. I”
“That split makes sense. The whole-paper pass gives students a fast result, while the question-level analysis is where the deeper value probably sits. I would watch whether students voluntarily open that deeper explanation and then perform better on the next question testing the same concept. Are you tracking either of those behaviors yet?”
“Teaching a course that (unfortunately) involves lots of reading and reflection type assignments. Added hidden text to an assignment, to catch students who just throw it in ChatGPT, and all submissions came back with the expected features you would get from including the hidden info. Extremely disheartened, and don’t know how to proceed both regarding addressing this with the class and designing the future assignments to be more AI proof. submitted by /u/Drumblebore [link] [comm”
“I think this is the key. I am focused more on in class formative and small summative assessments. So they know they do not get it before the big ones. If they do poorly because they are cheating HW, that is on them. Also teaching them about learning and the forgetting curve the first week of school. Explaining why they get HW at all. (Namely, I see them 3x a week and they need more frequent exposure to make things stick.)”
“My professor isn’t giving any lectures or material. The only thing we use is mcgraw hill. No assignments within it. Just the textbook and only proctored quizzes and exams. No study guides for them either. Any advice? submitted by /u/Sea-Suggestion-6865 [link] [comments]”
“I ran into this with a similar study app and the answer was to keep community questions out of generated exams until they earn a “reviewed” or “trusted” status through moderation and user feedback,”
“The coverage tracking bit is interesting, most tools just throw questions at you without ever showing the gaps”
“The proposed solution is essentially turning your high school math course time slot into a college-like recitation. Good work!”
“Is it OK if you reformat it to look the way you prefer as long as it’s the same material and questions?”
“Did you get ChatGPT to do your school work while you just relax or do Something else? tell me what work did you get it to do and if you got the grade and what was your grade on that work? (Do NOT come here just to say not too do so) submitted by /u/flash_speed3412 [link] [comments]”
Seniors have forgotten algorithms and just do structure and politics.
“Depends on the subject a bit, but probably a test, using pen and paper. Make it multiple choice and prohibit any electronic use. If this is more for a writing class, it may be a bit much to ask them to hand write an essay, but if you keep the questions and answers fairly short this should still work fine.”
“Throwaway account This week, we were told the following: Oral exams, proctored exams, and lockdown browsers for exams are no longer allowed in online courses. The rationale given was that they discriminate against the poor, single parents, working students, etc., etc. We were "encouraged" to think twice about using oral exams, paper-only exams, and proctored exams in F2F courses. If we scaffold assignments, students who wish to skip those steps and just turn in a finished product must”
“A coworker has the students hand in their homework, then gives a flash quiz at the beginning of the class with identical questions - kids simply need to re-complete the math problems.”
“I started making my online math courses (College Algebra and Trigonometry) submit their completed notes this semester. I got sick of student never opening any of my lecture videos, failing the midterm, and then asking me for guidance. I figure if they turn in their notes, they will learn something while in the process, even if they don’t want to. We started classes on Monday. Today, Wednesday, I had a student turn in completed notes as a word document and had AI written all over it. For example,”
“Yeah I know that's a risk. I don't really mind, I could always call them and say "hey I'm a fucking idiot and an automation I set up removed me from some courses", and I'm sure they'd think I'm a dumbass and fix it, but I also think that is incredibly unlikely.”
“I have recently moved to a new university where the students are truly great - intelligent, ambitious, hardworking. But they are also excellent cheaters. Last year I noticed that (I think, but am pretty sure) students were grabbing moments to cheat on their exams using AI on their devices or quickly among themselves when a student asked me a question and my attention was devoted to that student. In fact, I also suspect there were several coordinated attempts among students, in which one would di”
“I'm an instructor at a community college. The majority of my summer class have been a delight to teach. My class is not one that's meant to be exceedingly difficult. Students who attend just my lectures do just fine. Anyways, cue me seeing a student taking the final exam who I've l never seen before. The glasses have a damn LED on them. I see him clicking buttons on them to take photos. I write him up with an academic dishonesty charge. I'm seriously just baffled this is an actua”
“Anyone here knows a resource where i can go feel how the respondus lockdown browser exam feels like? NEver done one, and planning to implement it first time for all online course. but i would like to know in and out of it before doing so. Thank you! submitted by /u/Fgrant_Gance_12 [link] [comments]”
“[Claude] ★ 1/5 (v1.260810.0) — Now a bunch of students will be accused of cheating. When the outcome is supposed to be learning. If you look up a question on Google or Claude or Chat you still learned the answer. This is going to create more problems than it solves”
“[ChatGPT] ★★★ 3/5 (v1.2026.209) — Tbh everything good asking questions wise helps with school work general skills knowledge but doesn’t monitor ”
“Has anyone used Google forms for in-class quizzes? I plan on doing mostly in-class question sets, but might need to create a few quick quizzes if I don't have time to come up with questions or the material doesn't work as well for question sets. I have used iClicker in the past, but want my students to have to purchase as little as possible, so I'm trying to find another easy & free option. Google forms has a quiz format, and I'm curious if anyone has any experience with it?”
“Our school now does not want students to cut and paste. If I want the students to do a word sort and match pictures to terms, I have to cut it all out for them so they don’t waste instructional time cutting. This isn’t an exaggeration. If I want something cut I have to do it myself. Keep in mind, this is not for safety, it is for preserving instructional time. This is insane… right? submitted by /u/Goblinbooger [link] [comments]”
“Yes, I know, money, low standards, etc. Accreditor shopping. US Dept of Ed run by clowns. Yes, they’ve always been suspect. But, students are clearly AI offloading their way through these programs. Most students are, it’s safe to say. How do they keep going, even considering everything I listed above? submitted by /u/Otherwise_Look_8137 [link] [comments]”
“I teach at a community college in STEM (biology, anatomy) and the bulk of the professors use Canvas Quizzes for labs and I did last semester. The issue with this is even with a 10 or 15 minute time limit it’s clear the students are using resources to complete them. I say this because they get 10/10 scores but when the same exact questions come up on exams or practicals they miss them at a high rate >70% incorrect. I feel like going back to in class paper quizzes is an easy solution to prevent”