4 Tips For Creating a Successful Testing Experience in Online or Blended Courses

selecting a correct answer, you can ensure that students are truly grasping the material, which can be harder to tell in an online class than in person.

2. Set clear standards

Is using a textbook during the exam allowed? Is it OK to look up information online? It may be acceptable to do this in some courses, while in others it might be considered cheating. This line can easily be blurred in an online course or in courses that have both face-to-face and online components. Developing effective and realistic guidelines for cheating will help students understand your expectations and standards of academic integrity. Setting clear testing parameters, both in person and online, will help deter students from cheating and create a fair and open environment.

3. Implement proctoring

In a brick and mortar classroom environment, students are accustomed to having a person monitoring testing sessions. This is not only an effective way to ensure students don’t cheat, it’s also a way to support students in their learning. If in the middle of an exam a student has a technical question or problem, they are able to speak to a proctor or instructor. This option is not always available in online assessments. Through implementing a proctoring process where students have a live online proctor or can travel to a proctoring center, you can provide students support they may need during an exam and the opportunity to troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

4. Ask around
There are very cool things happening in online and blended education, and people are thinking outside the box. Administrators at Columbia College have started to reign in fraudulent use of Title IV funding using an identity management service called UCard. Additionally, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) continue to grow, evolve and gain acceptance in academia. I encourage institutions, administrators and faculty to collaborate and share best practices. Working together, along with faculty and student participation and input, we can develop and better online testing strategies that are effective and meet the needs of our students.

Don Kassner is the CEO and President of ProctorU, which helps institutions ensure academic integrity and the quality and value of their courses and degrees by enabling them to securely identify and test students anywhere. With over 12 years of experience in higher education, Kassner has a deep understanding of the unique needs of distance education, having served as the former president of the online Andrew Jackson University from 2005 to 2010. Kassner also previously served on the faculty at San Jose State University where he taught economics.

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