AU online exams: AI, human invigilators to keep track of students

CHENNAI: After getting permission from the State government, Anna University has come out with a detailed plan on conducting online terminal semester examinations besides releasing comprehensive protocols for students to attend virtual exams.

Thought it was the first institution in the State to announce online exams for final year students due to COVID-19 pandemic, it had to wait for a long time to obtain permission from the Higher Education Department. Eventually, all State-run universities got the nod to conduct final semester exams through online. The examinations would be held from September 22 to 29.

The university released the functioning of “Online Proctored Examination”, asking students to use laptop, smartphone, tablet or desktop computer with internet connection to appear for exams. Students must sit for the examination for the entire duration of one hour, the guidelines said, adding that candidates should attend the examination at the scheduled start time (10 am/12 noon/ 2 pm/4 pm).

The instructions warned that during examinations, all actions of the candidate would be closely monitored by the remote proctors with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software.

“Students are not allowed to access the internet or books/notes for referring to any material or consult other people for any information during the entire duration of the examination session,” it said. The system uses AI to detect and record face emotions, eye movements and all activities, without any hindrance to the examinations, it added.

The guideline also said that taking photos or recording videos and sharing it with others or indulging in suspicious and objectionable activities during the examination would be automatically recorded and would be treated as malpractice.

“The exam system will issue regular warnings on the screen of student’s device and the number of warnings issued to each student will be duly recorded in the online examination system and this will affect the overall credibility score of the student, which may lead to cancellation of your examination,” it added. The guidelines also pointed out that in addition to auto proctoring by the online examination system, manual proctors (invigilators) would continuously watch and monitor students during the entire duration of the examination.

The university, which has spent Rs 1.86 crore to conduct online exams, also announced that it would conduct mock test to help them get accustomed to the system before the final exam.