Today the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a great article about the last 100 years of distance education. Among the interesting stats quoted are the figures showing the tremendous growth in online learning over the last couple of decades. However, the article is somewhat incomplete without a mention of academic integrity and exam proctoring.
The growth of distance education int he last five years has been astounding. According to a 2011 report from the Babson Survey Research Group, nearly one-third of all students in higher ed are taking at least one online course. The article also shows some interesting numbers from the Sloan Consortium, which report an estimated 1.03 million students at the K-12 level nationwide took an online course in 2007-2008. That figure is up 47 percent from two years earlier.
Also highlighted is National Distance Learning Week, which is coming up next month.
The article calls attention to the development of the 35mm portable movie projector in 1912 by Dr. Herman DeVry, who would later establish DeVry University in 1931.
While we can certainly appreciate the look back at the last 100 years of distance education, we at ProctorU feel that the retrospective article may be incomplete without some mention of exam proctoring. In the last decade, we’ve seen the industry grow as a result of many factors including faster Internet speeds, better computers and more efficient pedagogies. More specifically, exam proctoring has moved online as well with the development of online proctoring services such as ProctorU. The average student now has access to more information at higher speeds and increased stability like never before and online proctoring companies allow institutions of higher learning to ensure high levels of academic integrity while offering students the ability to test securely from home.
Here at ProctorU, live human proctors interact with students in real time and can see the student, see what they are doing and know who they are using some of the strongest authentication methods in the industry.