Insight into the challenges of implementing e - Proctoring exams at a regional university during COVID-19

Chand, Rajni K. and Hussein, Mohammed J. (2024) Insight into the challenges of implementing e - Proctoring exams at a regional university during COVID-19. [Conference Proceedings]

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Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the global education sector, requiring universities to quickly modify their pedagogical approaches. Even though the virus arrived
later in the South Pacific, the effects were still rather severe. Lockdowns that were imposed throughout the region made it difficult for people to travel and conduct traditional in-person education, which led colleges to adopt alternate teaching strategies.
During this period, the University of the South Pacific (USP), a regional university with its main campus situated in Fiji, encountered difficulties. USP had to quickly deploy Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) across its 14 scattered campuses due to the unexpected lockdowns. All institutions faced inherent challenges with ERT, but USP's regional organisation created additional complications. Campus-to-campus geographical separations, differences in on-site
support systems, and regional variations in internet connectivity all contributed to a great deal of stress for the university's personnel, administration, and student body. Travel limitations made things much more difficult by making it impossible for USP faculty members to give inperson lectures at nearby campuses.
USP used a combination of their current Learning Management System (LMS), Moodle, and easily accessible online tools like BigBlueButton (BBB) or Zoom to address these issues.
Since 2006, the university has been using Moodle to ensure that all courses have dedicated online spaces. Moodle was already a well-known learning management system among USP
academics. During the lockdowns in 2021 and 2022, USP moved all face-to-face (F2F) classes online, greatly reducing disruptions due to this prior familiarity.
The introduction of online tests represented a significant modification. USP implemented Proctorio, an e-proctoring programme, to make sure that accreditation standards for courses that typically required exams were met (Hussein & Yusuf, 2021). This change required more work than just transferring lectures and course materials to the internet. To guarantee the seamless operation of e-proctored online tests, USP conducted training sessions, stringent testing procedures, and a trial programme for the Proctorio system. To integrate the new assessment system, the university's LMS was also modified, improving user experience and navigation for both teachers and students.
This paper explores USP's ERT experiences during the COVID-19 lockdowns. It focuses on the steps involved in implementing e-proctored online exams, including training programs and testing protocols. The LMS changes made to accommodate the new online assessment method are examined in this research. It also looks at the challenges and successes USP students had when taking online tests using e-proctoring software. The purpose of this study is to provide important insights into the special difficulties and effective adjustments that a regional institution experienced during a worldwide pandemic by looking at these elements, especially in relation to upholding academic integrity through online examinations.

Item Type:	Conference Proceedings
Subjects:	L Education > LC Special aspects of education
Divisions:	Centre for Flexible Learning (CFL)
Depositing User:	Ms Shalni Sanjana
Date Deposited:	29 Jul 2025 03:29
Last Modified:	29 Jul 2025 03:29
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/15114

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