The 2020 pandemic forced colleges and universities worldwide to close down or resort exclusively to online learning, making students take exams and complete assignments remotely. At U.S. colleges, academic integrity is a significant and serious issue, so many administrations turned to AI software to monitor students during remote tests—a decision that proved to be controversial.

Universities Using Remote Proctoring Software

Many U.S. universities consider cheating or academic misconduct a grave matter, and students who violate rules regarding academic integrity often face harsh sanctions. However, when every student is at home taking an exam through a computer screen, it's much harder to watch for signs of cheating or misconduct.

Proctoring software like Proctorio and ProctorU became extremely popular at U.S. universities during the 2020-2021 school year. Almost immediately, critics started questioning their use, citing invasion of students' privacy. As more and more students began using this software, issues surrounding accessibility and racial bias surfaced.

Students noticed problems with motion tracking that would produce different results based on skin tones or gaze tracking that flagged some ADHD behaviors as suspicious. The result? The invasive tools would create a high-anxiety environment for students.

Academic Integrity Vs. Student Privacy

Many students felt that Proctorio and ProctorU software were an invasion of privacy and that their use during exams impacted their performance. It's not just student concerns that have drawn critics' attention, however. The companies behind these programs haven't made the source code available for audit, which is a big red flag for software with high privacy concerns. It also suggests the possibility that these programs rely on flawed algorithms, producing biased results.

Are These Tools Really Effective?

At the University of Texas, Austin, a committee worked on the question of continuing to use AI proctoring software. They found that throughout the entire 2020-2021 academic year, the program referred 27 cases to the Student Conduct and Academic Integrity office, and only 13 of them were upheld. These numbers were satisfactory to justify the use of the program, its cost, and the psychological toll it was taking on students.

UT Austin wasn't the only university to stop using proctoring software in 2020 or 2021. UC Berkely, Baruch College, and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana also ceased using remote proctoring solutions for similar reasons.

Academic Integrity and Remote Proctoring

Understanding and dealing with complex academic integrity rules is hard enough when you're in class taking exams. When you're being monitored by software that can accuse you of cheating for simply glancing the wrong way or for the color of your skin, it makes following the rules impossible.

If you're dealing with an academic misconduct issue resulting from the use of AI proctoring software, you need to know what your rights are as a university student. Attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm have helped countless students nationwide with academic integrity issues and have the experience necessary to help you deal with your school. Contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686.