Laurier students ordered to buy webcams
Math students furious over cost of external hardware mandated for writing exams
WATERLOO — Students at Wilfrid Laurier University are furious after they’ve been asked to purchase an external webcam so instructors can look over their shoulder remotely during exams, despite the fact that webcams are in short supply on online stores.
Mathematics department chair Roman Makarov wrote in a email to all math students taking summer courses that built-in webcams found on most laptops are not accepted and that “there are no alternatives to writing exams in this manner.” This is so that instructors can have a clear view of the students’ desk space in order to prevent cheating.
The cost to buy an external webcam can run upwards of $100 and more if a student needs to buy a tripod in order to mount the webcam properly.
In addition, finding a webcam in stock is a challenge with the increase in people working and learning from home. At most online retailors such as Amazon, Best Buy, Staples and Canada Computers, nearly all available name-brand webcams are out of stock. Thirdparty resellers have taken to sites such as eBay to sell namebrand webcams with significant markups.
Vincent Nguyen, a third-year computer science student enrolled in a statistics course over the summer, is one of many students who feel that the external webcam policy is out of line. He told the Star that quality webcams have been “impossible to find” and the small size of his working area makes it difficult for him to properly mount it.
“A lot kids can’t afford webcams and tripods. … It was really unreasonable and I was surprised that (the math department) went ahead and did that,” said Ngyuen.
In a statement to the Star,
Wilfrid Laurier spokesperson Lori Chalmers Morrison said that the university plans on offering alternative options for students who face difficulty obtaining external webcams.
“The university strives to balance the need for measures to ensure academic integrity during online courses and exams with the technology and financial realities of our students.”
However, she further added that the math department believes that the external webcam together with the Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor is the “optimal solution for online administration of math exams.”
As for the “alternative measures,” the chair of the mathematics department has provided suggestions to students as “borrowing or renting equipment and pointing to financial supports available from the government and the institution,” Chalmers Morrison said.
The president of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union, Devyn Kelly, said in a statement that the union is concerned about the legitimacy of the external webcam requirements and is actively working to ensure the “proper non-tuition fee/expense guidelines are followed.”
“We have made the University aware of our concerns and expect to discuss this matter with them shortly,” Kelly added.
A similar controversy erupted in April at Montreal’s Concordia University, where some instructors had planned to use students’ webcams to monitor their exams, although none of the Concordia instructors required students to purchase external webcams.