Online Assessments in a Changing Education Landscape

Abstract

COVID-19 threatened to bring education system to its knees across the globe, forcing educators to adopt e-learning as an alternative. While other teaching and learning activities could still go ahead online, the challenge was how would authentic assessments be conducted? E-learning can facilitate administration of online assessments, allowing educators to evaluate students, provide feedback while at the same time providing students with access to assessments from anywhere and at any time. In the post-pandemic era, creativity is likely to become a critical component of online assessments, allowing the use of technology-enabled multimedia tools to enhance assessment experience to enable students various ways to demonstrate their understanding of concepts. This chapter examines role of e-learning, creativity, and technologies in online assessments and their potential to enhance educators’ experience. It discusses challenges and proctoring tools used in, and also online assessments as a future permanent feature of education to support Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and hybrid systems.

1. Introduction

The face of higher education has changed since Covid-19 befell the globe. Hassan et al. [1] contend that learning has experienced a shift since Covid-19 global pandemic and that it will never be what it used to be as everything is changing. The benefits of the usage of information technologies through different forms of eLearning are evident, irrespective of the type of educational organization where it is provided: from universities and schools to small training organizations [2]. The current situation requires a lot of innovation and intervention [1], as evidenced by the widespread of availability and installation of Learning Management Systems (LMS) or various software applications tailored to satisfy particular requirements of learners and educators. In spite of the innovations alluded to advances in flexible e-learning systems, on the fore is the issue of online assessment which has always been a gnawing issue for educators but was amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 almost brought the education system across the globe to an abrupt stop, albeit temporarily. While other learning activities, such as materials delivery, lecturing, etc. could still go on, the gap existed in the administration of authentic and credible assessments that can be trusted. Kurniati et al. [3] asserts that online assessment is the biggest challenge to the learning process. This is true when considering that hybrid or blended learning is one of strategies for higher education in the current post-covid landscape. E-learning also supports Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that enable multiple students to enroll in courses and programmes without requiring their presence on campuses. Absence of credible and authentic assessments brought about trust issues in qualifications bestowed. The traditional invigilation processes to authenticate the assessments could not be implemented, since students were locked down and scattered at various places, hence the emergence of credibility and trust issues. Holden et al. [4] allude to e-dishonesty and e-cheating as new concepts to be consider as new challenges.

E-learning can be defined as the virtual delivery of education, facilitated by mediums that enable virtual delivery of education, such as cloud, multimedia, and communication technologies [5]. These technologies have enabled ‘live’ remote assembly thus making it possible for lectures to be held in real-time mode [5]. These technologies have replaced traditional snail mail and its faster cousin, the e-mail. Furthermore, they have enabled an increased number of students to join classes as distance is no longer an obstacle to taking courses from any part of the world. Scattering of students over a large geographical area pose a challenge as to how they will be assessed. Though such differentiated means of teaching and learning exist, it may be difficult to converge the students together for purposes of taking assessments, thus necessitating consideration of online assessments [6]. Though this way of accessing course materials online allows unprecedented levels of flexibility and accessibility for students from around the world and overcomes geographical barriers that might prevent students accessing on-campus course offerings, it also has its own challenges especially as regard e-assessments [7, 8, 9]. Therefore in the context of e-learning and its associated activities such as assessments, requires careful planning and maximization of available online technologies to cater for a variety of individual differences, student timetables and external commitments, and assessment modes (e.g. [10, 11, 12]). Considering all such activities alluded to above, assessment as an activity, has higher stakes and therefore calls for new innovations, creativity, and a paradigm shift.

Assessment of student learning is a fundamental function of Higher Education (HE) and is a central feature of teaching and the curriculum [13]. It is also complex, multi-faceted, and influenced to a large extent by the context in which it takes place [14]. Online assessments (i.e. e-assessments) can be defined as the administration of authentic and trusted virtual assessments to a large number of students scattered over a large geographical area [15]. Assessment is a complex topic since it involves two distinct aspects. First, it forms an essential element of the learning process [16]. Second, it is the means by which academic staff form judgments as to what extent students have achieved the intended learning outcomes of a programme, or of an element of a programme [16]. Since it would be expensive to deploy invigilators to monitor the process at each of the places where there is a student taking an assessment, it leaves an assessment in danger of being compromised thus bringing its credibility, authenticity and trust into question. In addition, assessing students’ practical abilities, and technical competencies, in online learning continues to be a challenge for both students and teachers [3]. Many efforts and techniques have been undertaken to quell assessments being compromised and maintain credibility and authenticity. Some of these efforts and techniques do not use technologies but rather rely on creativity and innovation while others employ technologies such as automated proctoring tools [17]. Pre-technology techniques required an extensive creativity and innovation on the part of the lecturer so as to minimize chances of compromising online assessments while maintaining their credibility and authenticity. Online assessments should be such that they reduce chances of students neither collaborating to attempt questions nor searching the internet for answers or clues to solutions. Though there are no many empirical studies comparing integrity breaches between traditional and e-assessments, it still remains that the sudden shift to e-assessments for summative assessment calls for more research.

In the post-pandemic era, e-learning and technology are likely to play an even more significant role in education. According to a report by Technavio, the global e-learning market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 14% from 2020 to 2024 [18]. The report attributes this growth to the increasing demand for personalized and adaptive learning solutions, the need for cost-effective education, and the growing adoption of mobile learning. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for educators to reimagine the role of e-learning, creativity, and technology in the post-pandemic era. E-learning and technology can enhance the learning experience by providing access to a vast array of resources, promoting collaboration and communication, and enabling personalized learning. Creativity is also crucial in education, fostering innovation, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Technology can provide students with tools to express themselves creatively, promoting creativity and communication skills. In the post-pandemic era, education must evolve to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world, and e-learning, creativity, and technology are likely to play a significant role in this transformation. For the benefit of students, faculty, employers, the market place (business, industry etc.), the role of online assessments cannot be overemphasized in this post pandemic arena.

The chapter is structured as follows. First, it will discuss the role of e-learning, creativity and technology in online assessments; then it will present techniques used in online assessment; then continue to cover technologies used in an attempt to authenticate online assessments. The chapter will finally culminate in discussing the future of online assessments in the face of changing education landscape where online and hybrid systems are the order of the day, by highlighting the challenges of online assessments and conclude by looking at the future of assessment and support for MOOCs and hybrid systems that stand to benefit greatly.

2. Role of e-learning, creativity and technologies in online assessment

Baneres et al. [19] states that one of the great contributions of technology in education is the evolution of assessments into e-assessments. The diverse spectrum of formative and summative assessment activities includes online quiz, online presentations, e-portfolio and assessment activities such as online essay and computer-marked online examinations respectively [20]. The role of e-learning and its associated technology can now facilitate the entire assessment process starting with the creation of assignments, monitoring of progress, marking, communication of results to as far as conducting statistical analysis. In this regard learning analytics have become a huge body of research facilitating high end analytics and dashboards. This is so because of the large footprint of data that e-learning leaves behind, enabling creativity that has led to understanding a student academic journey more formally. It is common feature now to see a large collection of learning management systems such as Moodle, blackboard, canvas, Google Classroom and MOOCs like Coursera and EdX etc., which have extensions that provide seamless interfaces to other student support systems including assessments. In the past, most LMS were used for formative assessments and rarely for summative assessments. Yet during covid and now in the post-covid landscape, a lot of creativity has been seen in the shift to third-party software interfaced with the LMS to facilitate summative assessment for example final examinations. This has underscored effectiveness of online exams for diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments and provide students with the opportunity of demonstrating performance [16].

Applying technology in education is seen as an integral component of a teaching-learning environment that addresses the need of 21st century learners. Wanner and Palmer [21] notes that such students have different learning styles, but they are mostly internet-savvy and uses technology to help them build their knowledge. These technology-driven delivery, interaction and assessment methods such as flipped classroom, blended learning, MOOCs, and distance learning are deemed the best ways to meet the needs of the 21st century learner [21]. Since students assume more active roles in the modern methods of learning and teaching, it promotes more creativity on the part of the various stakeholders such as education institutions, technology developers and the society. Simamora [22] notes that in this arena a student become more responsible for their learning process and develop creativity and independence as a result of the distinct learning style experience each gets as a result of technology differentiation targeted at individual learning styles. The new online paradigm of learning is undergirded by several learning theories such as the theory of social learning and constructivism, where students are the active actors in their learning (Young and Jeong, 2020 as cited in [23]). Other theories include:

2.1 Net-aware theories of learning

The Net-Aware theories draw from net-based technologies which provide avenues for collaborative, informal and lifelong learning [24]. Emerging technologies driven by ICT encourage epistemic engagement in teaching-learning processes characterized by an abundance of educational information and content, enabling the learners to be active agents that compile and present relevant information according to their needs [24, 25]. The internet provides the capacity for powerful communication of multimedia content in abundancy at a low cost and delivers learning information with a variety of display and presentation features, from YouTube videos to large-scale distribution and development of Open Educational Resources (OER) [26]. These tools can therefore be intertwined with e-assessment enabling self-assessment and peer assessment.

2.2 Heutagogy

Heutagogy. Heutagogy method is not only driven by advances in ICT but is centered on self-directed education and avoids the instructor dependency connected with both teaching and learning studies, which when practiced in e-learning is suitable for the 21st century and in line with the education 4.0 concept broadly accepted among the millennials [27, 28]. The millennials are technology dependent and connected via social media, making them savvy on online platforms [29]. Heutagogy provides a learner-centered environment that enables learners to design personalized learning contracts, define their own learning path, design their own assessments in a collaborative learning environment [28]. As a result, heutagogy emphasizes self-direction and concentrates on the growth of competence in the use of online tools and information, opening up new ways of advancing e-assessments. Heutagogical practices could serve as a potent instructional method for self-diagnostic, self-formative, and self-summative assessments [27, 28].

2.3 Connectivism

Connectivism aims to grow and build learning networks through making new connections, regardless of official education systems. According to Siemens [30], knowledge and learning are today defined by connections; “know where” and “know who” are more important today than “know what” and “know how.” [31]. Connectivism learning is controlled by the network metaphor, with connections consisting of learning materials, and machines to store and generate information. Learners develop and use learning environments with the help of computers, peers, and experts in the learning network to access, process, analyze, propose, and apply information [31]. Though there are opponents of connectivism as a theory, it is evident that it is a lens through which interactions between learners, institutions and learning content is enabled through digital tools, thereby enabling both self-assessment and peer-assessments with ease as a result of this connectivism.

2.4 Groups nets and sets theory

Groups Nets and Sets Theory defines learning in terms of groups, nets, and sets with groups being seen as safe spaces where students gather (in person or online) to complete a sequence of autonomous and/or collaborative learning activities [31]. On the other hand, nets are networked learning activities, which extend connectivity beyond the learning management system (LMS) and sets are formed when people share the same interest or trait [31]. To generate a community of inquiry, well-organized groups develop significant social, cognitive, and teaching presence. These characteristics of groups, nets and sets can be extremely useful in the classroom, and in the presentation of group assessment tasks, to support both formative and summative e-assessments enabled by digital technologies [32].

Some of the online assessment tools driven by technology are Myopenmath [33], webassign, Examity, MeritTrac, ProctorU, ExamOnline, SpeedExam [34]. Table 1 shows a list of assessment instruments, their descriptions and example online assessment tools. Table 1 has been derived from [35]. The table outlines some of the assessment tools and the technologies best appropriate those instruments.

Assessment instrument	Description	Assessment tool
Online quizzes	Quiz questions can take a number of forms, such as multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, and hotspots. One benefit of quizzes is that they are short and easy to assess	Gimkit, TriviaMaker, Quizizz, Proprofs Quizlet, Syrveymonkey,. Most LMS like Blackboard, Moodle, EdApp
Essay questions	This type of question encourages critical thinking and is best suited for evaluating higher-level learning	Moodle, Esperion, Qorrect, TAO, TCExam
Drag-and-drop activities	show a learner’s ability to link information and apply knowledge to solve a practical problem. Learners are able to apply knowledge in a real-life situation.	Most LMS
Online interviews	During brief online interviews, students can demonstrate their proficiency in various areas	Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom
Dialog simulations	Help train learners for real-life conversations with customers, colleagues and others	Virtual labs, Microsoft Teams, Zoom
Online polls	They allow you to capture feedback directly from your audience on their learning experience	Monkey survey, online Forms
Game-type activities	These are considered fun and not tests, so they are good general indicator of skills and knowledge	Quizlet, Kahoot
Peer evaluation and review	Give each participant a chance to reflect on their knowledge and then communicate their feedback in a consistent and structured way	Monkey survey, online Forms
Forum posts	Use them when you want learners to interact as part of the learning process, while checking their comprehension of a topic	Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle

Table 1.

Assessment instruments and tools.

There has been a sustained innovations in proprietary and open-source tools to support e-learning as well as e-assessments [36]. However, the thrust has been towards e-assessment technologies that offer proctored environments.

3. Techniques to do online assessments

Principles and factors that promote and facilitate best and successful assessment practices are widely discussed in the literature (e.g., [37, 38, 39, 40]). While the principles and factors discussed may vary, they all aim at promoting the widespread use of learning outcomes assessment in higher education, thereby elucidating the three dimensions of assessments namely evidence, interpretation and use. Online assessments need a different regime of strategies to facilitate credible assessments. Challenges of deploying invigilators due to students not being in one place further put a strain in implementing successful and credible assessments.

One of the challenges faced by Online assessment is that students are alone wherever they are taking the assessments, opportunities for dishonesty by gaining external help are abound. This was true especially during the covid-19 pandemic but can be generalized for situations involving MOCCs. Students can consult the internet to attempt to get answers. They can refer to physical materials such as books for help. They can consult others who might know better than them. They can even go to the extent of impersonation whereby they get other people to sit for assessments on their behalf [41]. But the issue can also be turned on its head with some authors questioning if the cameras used to observe the student while taking an assessment is not invasion of privacy. It is being questioned whether the requirement that a student shows 360degrees view of the room where he would be taking an examination is not compromising his privacy. While the intentions of showing the room to prove that the student is alone and no material that could be used to compromise the assessment are available, but that act can go beyond to show private spaces that the student may not prefer to share with the outside world [42].

Different set of strategies can be applied for different assessment environments. For instance, questions can be randomized so that one group of students get one set of question at one time and the other group, another set of questions. The situation is then reversed after some time. Randomizing questions will ensure that even if there is a chance for collaboration, students will probably talk about different questions, thus reducing chances of dishonesty. Technique to randomize questions is possible when an assessment is taking place at scheduled time, and everybody is present and connected to the proctoring environment. Only resource rich institutions that are capable of providing live proctoring system can enable such an environment. Other techniques include blocking the web browsers to make it impossible to access the internet, the use of artificial intelligence to confirm and authenticate the student. AI can further be employed to detect intruders, using cameras and microphone, that could come from the outside to offer help and even detecting impersonation by continuously scanning the face of the students in order to affirm that it is still the authorized one taking the assessment [41, 43].

One of the biggest challenges facing online assessments exist in resource poor environments where attempts to carry online assessments are done in the absence of supervision or automatic monitoring tools. In those situations, creativity and innovation are required. Khan and Jawaid [44] lists some of the techniques used to carry out online assessments such as assignment portfolios, multiple choice questions and open book examinations. Owusu-Oware and Tanye [45] further asserts that cheating can be minimized in open book examinations if they are taken in real time. The challenge is how to minimize cheating when the examination is not taken in real time. Other studies, e.g. [46, 47] have found that students who took unproctored assessment took a long time to complete it and obtained high marks. This suggested that they had time to engage and cooperate which is a misconduct that lead to dishonesty. Lack of proctoring tools is a characteristic of resource poor institutions that have to do or carry on online assessments with limited resources that discounts any form of proctoring but could only rely on Learning Management Systems (LMS), such as Moodle and Blackboard. Owusu-Oware and Tanye [45] assert that LMS have become core platforms for providing online teaching and learning. They further assert that challenges that come with these platforms include creating assessments that accurately evaluate students’ learning and are cheat proof. Cheating compromises efficacy and integrity of online assessment due to bountiful opportunities for students to cooperate or seek outside help when they take the assessment remotely without any invigilation [45].

Commercial proctoring systems have surfaced. While proctoring system proposed to solve many challenges faced by online assessment, they however, further require cutting edge infrastructure setup, software, and hardware on both the instructor and student sides [48]. There are also additional equipment such as cameras which may further burden the set up. The extra burden may disadvantage students from resource poor institutions and backgrounds. The disadvantages are further exacerbated by limited connectivity necessary for real time monitoring of assessments as students may not have enough data to enable or sustain extended periods of connectivity. In other studies, teachers experienced problems such as poor internet connection, limited internet capacity and student not having access to smartphones [49, 50]. Thus, assessment techniques employed in the absence of proctoring tools must reduce chances of online assessments being compromised in order to retain their credibility, authenticity and trustworthiness amid those constraints. This section discusses three such techniques; and those are the timing techniques, structuring of questions and use of online presentations or interviews. The thesis is that these techniques are practical and can work in a resource poor environment. They are not time consuming to implement.

3.1 Timing techniques

Use of timing technique is designed to put students under pressure so that their time to access the internet or consult with their peers is severely limited such that they would be concerned with finishing the assessment and submitting before time allocated expires. Guangul et al. [48] also suggests that setting time limits for remote assessment would discourage students from cooperating and thus limit seeking outside help to complete the assessment, as they race against time to complete and submit. Timing assessments is achieved by allocating time long enough to do the assessment and submit. The use of technologies such as the Moodle Learning management system could play an important part because the system shuts when time expires, necessitating race against time for students to complete and submit assessments before it closes when time expires.

Timing is a complex technique because students work at different speeds. Some are fast or could find an assessment manageable such that they finish quickly thus having time to share with their fellow peers who are slower. The other complexity is structuring a question to fit the time that has been allocated. The issue of designing an assessment that will take time allocated to be worked through, is a delicate balancing act as the assessment need not take too long/hard to complete (within allocated time) or too short/easy to finish quickly. The assessment must also fit uniformly across the class. This means that the question must not be too easy for a bright student and not too difficult for a struggling student so that the assessment can be completed in allocated time.

Designing such assessments is not a straightforward exercise. It requires skill, knowledge and experience of the assessor [51]. Such assessments need careful thought and consideration, for them to work. Despite giving the assessments such thought and consideration, it is not uncommon to find a number of submissions bearing glaring similarities such that it is difficult to tell them apart. Such similarities suggest that given a slightest chance, students will still find a way of collaborating and/or sharing their work with each other, thus compromising credibility, authenticity and trustworthiness of the online assessment. Sometimes footprints of compromises are left in the works. For example, one student forgot to remove the details of a student from whom she or he got the work. Sometimes evidence suggests that students get someone, more knowledgeable and experiences, to do the assessment for them. Signs of a student obtaining such assistance shows in the use of advanced concepts that are sometimes not even covered in the course. For example, some students in an introductory programming class used pointers, some used functions, some used object-oriented programming when they were being introduced to procedural programming. At this stage, students are still in their novice state, they would not therefore be expected to use such advanced concepts. The use of advanced concepts suggests that someone more knowledgeable than the student, did the work on behalf of the student.

3.2 Question structuring

The other technique is careful structuring of online assessment questions. This technique can be used with the technique of timing, as described above. Educators resorted to composing questions whose answers could not be found on the internet or reference books. Noorbehbahani et al. [52] talks about developing questions that are not prone to cheating. Even if small and scattered clues that could be found, say on the internet, it would still take a lot of time to put the answer together. With physical assessments, access to the internet is controlled as invigilators are present when students undertake their assessments or browsers are lock to limit access to the internet. Students are also denied use of electronic devices that can be used to connect to the internet. This is not the case when students are being assessed remotely and are not at the one venue. It is therefore difficult to control students wherever they are. Therefore one of the ways used to reduce chances of copying is to reduce chances of finding answers on the internet by structuring the questions in such a way that their solutions cannot be found on the internet. The exercise needs careful consideration by examiners and it invokes their creativity in order to come up with such assessments. The exercise is a game changer, as educators have to think out of the box, contrary to what they are used to. This technique is useful in what is traditionally known as take home or open book assessments. When given a take home assessment, which is what the assessments technically became when Covid-19 stuck, allows students to browse the internet looking for answers [48]. To this end, [48] suggests that conceptual assessments whose answers cannot be found on the internet or other sources. This is done to make browsing the internet or scouting other sources for answers a futile exercise. Boettcher and Conrad [53] asserts that open book assessments in online education eliminates many problems as they can happen without need for remote proctoring. It can be observed therefore that careful structuring of questions can enable credible, authentic and trustworthy online assessment, which is suitable for resource poor environments.

3.3 Online presentations/interviews

Online presentation or interviews is a strategy that can be used to cross check or verify the student’s work. It is a useful technique to counteract academic dishonesty, especially in resource poor environments where automatic proctoring tools are not available. An online presentation can be scheduled after submission and detection of dishonesty to confirm if indeed the student did the work or not. For instance, in a programming assessment, an online presentation can be arranged when a student in an introductory programming course is found to have used advanced concepts that are yet to be covered to cross check the work. The use of advanced concepts suggests that the student sought outside help. Guangul et al. [48] also found that combination of online presentations when used together with the submitted report affords the teacher opportunity to ascertain whether the student did the work or not, thereby minimizing or discouraging dishonesty.

(Li and Lalani, 2020) cited in [54] asserts that learning occurs by engaging in critical thinking, original writing, and demonstrating knowledge and abilities through academic work. With the emergence of new AI technologies, like ChatGPT, it is suspected that during online assessments, students may gravitate towards using such technologies and thus stop engaging in critical thinking and original writing required for academic work. There also is danger that large numbers of students that enroll in MOOCs will overwhelm instructors to the extent that they may not be able to distinguish between students’ work and those generated by advanced AI driven technologies like ChatGPT for students who may have access to it [54]. Therefore, in those circumstances, the use of online interviews become indispensable.

Although online presentations or interviews seem attractive, they are not without challenges. Scheduling interview for a large class can be a tedious exercise, bordering on impractical. It may also be challenging to find co-assessors to sit through the extended periods when the interviews are being held. Other challenges are that students can share interview questions with those that are yet to be interviewed leading them to gain unfair advantage. This is possible because the students would not be in a controlled environment where cooperating opportunities are bountiful.

4. Technologies applied in online assessments

As already indicated, online assessments were the missing link for entire higher education to go fully online. Already lectures, notes, discussions were happening online with great potential. Students were able to join programme remotely as the need for physical presence in campuses were reduced. Thus, e-learning enabled education in flexible manner separate from traditional norms. What was left was to plug in an online assessment in order to complete the chain. While administering assessments online is no problem, the challenge comes when question of credibility arises. Without some form of monitoring, it would be difficult to ascertain if the assessment administered in that manner is free from dishonesty. The issue arises because students will have an urge to cheat given a chance. The problem is compounded when they are alone with nobody looking over their shoulders to check if their behavior is honest. Hence the need for some form of remote proctoring. As the challenge of presenting authentic and credible assessments became glaringly apparent, entrepreneurs entered the space with tools to assist and fill the gap exposed by the pandemic. As a result, AI based proctoring system are on the rise [55] in an attempt to fill in the gap.

Absence of such tools presented an entrepreneurial opportunity for industrial giants to tap into the market of providing online assessment tools. The prevailing Covid-19 pandemic gave emergence to a myriad of tools, of varying capabilities, that can be used to help authenticate online assessments. Arnò et al. [56] discusses some of the commercial online proctoring systems that have entered the space of higher education. From their categorization, it is evident that almost all proctoring systems are for the resource rich institutions. Their poor counterparts will struggle to access those tools hence affect their students. The access factor could comprise and hence bring doubts about the quality of education provided.

There are, however, advantages brought about by proctoring systems. Alruwais et al. [57] discussed advantages to students, teachers, and the institution. For the student, benefits include instant feedback which could improve learning on the part of the student; ability to access assessment remotely, thus giving flexibility that normal pen and paper assessments do not have. Alruwais et al. [57] also states further that teachers can grade assessments and give feedback quicker than when they use traditional methods of pen and paper. On the other hand, institutions benefit by results being released quickly thus making it easy for enrollment plans to be implemented. The enrolment can also be increased as physical demand put on the institution by pen and paper assessments are averted [57].

Accommodating working and remote students can be one of the most important advantages of online assessments [42]. Costs of accessing higher education will be reduced as a consequence of not having to be physically present at an institution far away from the student [58]. It therefore improves access to higher education. Also, the advantage promotes MOOCs programmes. Also, if a resource poor student can access online assessments without need to upgrade or acquire additional equipment will be appealing and inclusive of students from all walks of life. It reduces stress of having to secure top-of-the-range equipment or acquire additional one in order to continue with studies.

All authors [55, 56, 59] agree on categorization of online proctoring systems into three broad but non-mutually exclusive groups, namely:

1. Live Proctoring Programs. These are the systems that require an invigilator to be present in a remote location to monitor and control activities of the students. The activities that are controlled include authentication of students. Activities that could lead to dishonesty are also monitored. If a students is judged to have violate the examination rules, the remote invigilator or proctor can interrupt the assessment process. Arnò et al. [56] reports that since introduction, live proctoring has expanding on a largescale due to increased growth of assessments. The growth can be attributed to increase in MOOCs. Also the scale of use would be increased with the set of Covid-19 pandemic, as institutions across the globe sought new ways of administering assessments remotely. Live proctoring system will likely be used by resource rich institutions as opposed to poor ones. Advantage of these kind of systems is that the assessment occurs at once for everyone involved. The drawback is that it requires resources to make it happen, on the part of the institution in the provision of human resources and equipment needed. On the other hand, students must be able to acquire necessary equipment and be able to access requisite infrastructure such as internet connectivity in order to partake in the assessment process. Live proctoring systems mimic traditional invigilation process done remotely with the help of ICT.

2. Recorded Proctoring Systems record the behavior of the student during assessment. It does not involve remote human proctor to control the process. A video captures all activities and log them in a database. Authorized reviewers check the recorded videos and analysis of logs for red flags that could compromise the assessment. Reviewers include teachers, professors, or other people who are charged with proctoring duties. Red flags that could be identified could lead to an assessment being disqualified for dishonesty. Recorded proctoring systems are automatic and they work independent of human interference. They have a potential to allow students to choose when and where to take an assessment. Reviewing the recordings can however add a considerable overhead on the side of the reviewers especially when the number of students who have taken the assessment is large [55]. They are also resource intensive as they require equipment that will enable the online assessment setting to be recorded.

3. Automated Proctoring systems use AI extensively. They are notably advanced systems that are almost fully automatic. These systems record the entire online assessment setting and later produce report detailing the authenticity of the online assessment by analyzing video, activity logs and sound recorded. In this setup, reviewers are presented with report instead of producing reports themselves. They can then agree or disagree with the analysis, in case there are signs of dishonesty. But students are given freedom to write anywhere and anytime. The systems in this category are also resource intensive especially if extra equipment to record audio-visual content is required [55].

In summary, from this broad categories of proctoring tools discount the poor rural and remote student who has intermittent internet connectivity and lacks resources to acquire equipment that is required by proctoring systems, as their cost could be prohibitive. The ability to access online assessment tools has the potential to affect progress in further and higher education for such a student. The limitation also has potential to affect participation in MOOCs by resource poor students. Access to online assessment tools remains a challenge and it will be explored in the next section.

5. Challenges of online assessment

Bhagat et al. [60] reported that online learning integrated with social network connectivity is providing students and educators with an ecosystem of interaction and troves of learning resources. This is in part because online learning allows students the convenience and flexibility to better fit their studies in with their work and other obligations and, as [61] show, many of those enrolled in online courses are of typical college age, i.e., 18–24. While online proctoring may provide a solution to the question of exam integrity, the negative effects of such an intrusive type of monitoring on students and exam performance are not yet well known. Rohadi [49] quotes the four principles that define success of student in the 21st century. These four principles are 1) that mode of instruction should be student-centred; 2) education should be collaborative; 3) learning should be contextual; 4) schools should be socially integrated. The question to be answered, therefore, is how can these are to be realized in the phase of changing landscape of education, where online assessments are the order of the day.

There are very few studies in the realm of online proctoring specifically relating to the nexus of test anxiety and exam performance. The few studies we came across do not deal with online proctoring (i.e., webcam monitored examinations—especially those using live proctors). Baneres et al. [19, 62] states that one of the great contributions of technology in education is the evolution of assessments into e-assessments. Online assessment or e-assessment includes a broad range of assessment activities such as online essay and computer-marked online examinations [63]. Guardia, Crisp and Alsina (2017) as cited in [19] defined them as the use of information and communications technology in facilitating the entire assessment process starting with the creation of assignments up to checking to as far as conducting statistical analysis. Its effectiveness is stressed by [64] claiming that online exams are effective for diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments and provide students with the opportunity of demonstrating performance. Terpstra et al. [42] asserts that students experience high levels of anxiety during online proctoring.

The issue of access to resources is key in accessing online assessments. Although [65] assert that challenges in online assessment proctoring technologies lie in deeply rooted in problems such as educational approaches that are teacher-centred and make teachers transmitters of knowledge. They further claim that adoption of online exam proctoring technologies have produced “negative impacts on student subjectivities, pedagogical relationships and educational outcomes”. Therefore, the focus on student cheating as an “individual and interpersonal problem neglects the more fundamental issue of social and educational inequality” is utterly flawed. The social and educational inequality are not generally the problem of the rich north and the poor south but specifically of South Africa which has been labeled as an unequal society. The inequality is posing a problem to access to higher education in terms of affording fees especially for the marginalized blacks [66]. Moses et al. [67] further indicates that despite improvement in educational attainment, poor black schools still lack behind their rich white counterparts in South Africa. This inequality permeates into higher education. Challenges of access to resources is probably a third world phenomenon. Umare et al. [68] reports that in India, the infrastructure that facilitates online teaching/learning is inadequate.Umare et al. [68] further extrapolates this to the rural parts of the developing countries, where there are issues of unreliable electric power supply; erratic network connectivity and lack accessibility to smartphones/laptops by the poor. The challenges are further compounded by little to no support from the family due to economic background brought about by constraint education.

Raman et al. [69] further indicates that it is students from remote areas who have greatest challenge of accessing the internet. According to Moses et al. [67] poverty is still rampant in rural areas, which are former homelands where blacks were forcibly moved to during the apartheid era in South Africa. Since blacks constitute majority of people, it also means that majority of students are black. And it is this majority of students who find it difficult to access the internet. Their state of poverty also means they have difficulty in accessing devices such as computers, tablets, smartphone and even cameras that are required by online proctoring systems [69]. Therefore, the requirements imposed by online assessments, namely, electronic gadgets (such as the computer/laptop, smartphone/tablet, fiber for internet connectivity and/or data) all make it almost impossible for a poor student to access online assessments proctoring, especially when the student is enrolled in a MOCCs program. It is lack of financial resources to their access to the Internet, educational materials, and equipment necessary for online learning brought by differences in social standing among the students and unequal distribution of ICT infrastructure that pose a challenge in accessing online assessments [70, 71].

E-learning requires expertise and skills in ICT. Undoubtedly, the role of experts is indispensable in e-learning but specifically in online course assessment. However, teachers and students are the frontier participants and users of these courses and their feedback, therefore, deserves more attention. Sarfo and Yidana [72] studied the involvement of lecturers in the design and development of Moodle-based courses. Their results revealed that major challenges were “low technology competencies, cumbersome institutional culture, and lack of adequate ICT facilities” [72]. Valdez and Mader [73] asserts that more effort must be exerted in, among others, training teachers in the use of ICT and designing online materials that incorporates online assessments. Figure 1 highlights some of these issues. They also argue that in order to achieve its full potentials to promote the development of the 21^st-century competencies, there are myriad challenges that will need to be addressed [72, 74].

Figure 1.

Relationship between skills and wellbeing (adapted from ref. [51]).

Babić and Bubaš [51] conducted a pilot study to determine competencies of teachers to do online teaching. They established that there is a relationship among the following factors: 1) ICT and EDUTECH knowledge, skills, competencies, attitudes and skills; 2) personal characteristics of the teachers; 3) institutional factors – institutional culture; 4) situational factors. The study suggests that the question of competency is not a single-dimensional factor but a multifaceted one. The well-being of the teacher, situation that the teachers find themselves in that are largely affected by institutional factors all contribute to aptitude of teachers in acquiring skills necessary to survive a hybrid learning system, as illustrated in Figure 1. Therefore knowledge, skills and competencies are not standalone issues but are affected by other issues. So skills needed for success of online assessments need to be supported by policies that improve well-being of staff involved. The diagram below had been adapted from ref. [51] to show the relationships.

There are considerable pedagogical challenges that need to be overcome in order to undertake online assessments. van Rooij and Zirkle [75] lists pedagogic factors, such as collaboration, interactivity and learner feedback, as one of success factors for online learning. Institutions need to provide resources to support professional development of lectures so that they gain skills to conduct online assessments. When shifting from face to face to online assessment, lecturers need to be aware of time management, teaching styles and content development and delivery [76]. Students also need to be trained so that they are able to engage and embrace e-learning and hence online assessment. Student training will mitigate environmental challenges that students face so that they are able to cope [71]. There is also a need to provide technical support to ensure that e-learning systems, including proctoring system work properly [55, 76].

We also note that contents of online courses have far exceeded those of traditional courses, involving a line of education elements and activities, which means that there is a challenge to ensuring that all assessment objectives are clear and are met [77]. This challenge arises from the fact that there could be confusing assessment indicators systems, as well as overemphasis on experts focusing more on technology rather than subject matter [77]. van Rooij and Zirkle [75] further suggests human factors such as technology competency and motivation, a critical success factor in e-learning and hence online assessment.

Recent studies highlighted that students did not understand the necessity for online assessments due to technological incompetence of students and teachers, mistrust in the technology infrastructure and significant reliance on multiple-choice questions format. The students preferred online assessments that provide constructive, timely and personalized feedback, as well as a gradual transition towards online assessments together with technical training for both students and faculty. They also required active individualized interaction with instructors to incorporate online assessments into higher education effectively [77].

In their study, [78] found that instructors have identified some of the pitfalls that surround MOOCs. These pitfalls included pedagogical limitations. MOOCs programmes are joined by many students from various countries across the globe. This situation brings about a challenge of teaching students from various backgrounds such as educational, national and cultural. Also, MOOCs are resource intensive programs. Appropriate policy framework must be in place to ensure that required resources are provided. Sufficient support must also be provided to staff teaching in MOOCs programmes. It has been pointed out that they need skills to improve their competencies, conducive environment to boost morale in order to enable them to cope with challenges of teaching MOOCs programme, especially online assessments. There are challenges of interoperability. The online assessment tools need to be integrated into LMS of institutions so that data exchange can occur seamlessly. Also institutions may need to exchange data [79].

6. Future of online assessments

With the proliferation of MOOCs, online assessment remains a crucial part of the system to support e-learning. Since the challenge is how to conduct authentic and credible assessments especially in the online systems, then the ability to provide and secure assessments remain key. Such security will inject credibility into the examination process and hence trust in the results, thus promoting trustworthiness of online education. Zakharova and Tanasenko [78] assert that MOOCs can be attended by hundreds and thousands of learners. This increased number makes it difficult for students to be assessed in a normal manner as assessment cannot be done by the instructor. Therefore, the use of automatic assessment tools become necessary, and the fact remains that online assessments are here to stay.

The future will see more features of secure online assessment systems such as proctoring features, lockdown features, authentication options, webcam features, the interaction between the examinees and the test administration, analyzing the testing events instantly, and evaluating the level of security risk by taking advantage of existing data sources such as demographics, test stakes, and testing history, and overall security capability. The success of these will also draw attention to authentication methods that go beyond biometrics-based authentication and draw on artificial intelligence techniques. Economies of scale will drive these developments as institutions and MOOCs champion their business models that support anywhere, anytime, any device learning, teaching and assessment.

The gap yet to be filled in order to provide that credibility and trustworthiness of online education, is narrowing due to private and commercial education providers entering the space and are providing tools that can be used to proctor the assessments. However, current proctoring technologies are expensive. The demand for additional equipment such as cameras or cellphones/tablets makes the technology neither widely applicable nor accessible. Although systems that observe behavior of students are reported by Indi et al. [43], there is still needed to develop systems that are fully automated and artificial intelligence-driven that use only the camera and the microphone that come with the basic laptops. Such systems will make online assessments complete and accessible to everyone. MOCCs and hybrid systems will further benefit from such systems.

Studies conducted by many researchers have discussed the effectiveness of applying technology in education. Studies further showed that this effectiveness can be achieved if factors affecting the perceptions of students and teachers in its use and their experience in an online learning set-up are examined [80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85]. A dominant characteristic of the investigation has been the appetite of students for online assessment. Online assessment has also created new challenges for academic integrity, and this has in part driven the refocus on assessment design in order to provide assessment that is robust in the face of the increased challenges in online environments, and in particular from commercial companies that provide opportunities for academic misconduct online. As the threat of the COVID pandemic declines, the new normal in assessment in this large-scale international higher education system, the new paradigm for pedagogic approaches to authentic assessment, technology-inspired academic practice, and the universities’ commitment to academic integrity.