Privacy disregarded as Massey won’t back down on web-monitored exams
Massey admits it didn’t consult any students before implementing Online Supervised Exams which breach the privacy of students.
Massey University implemented Online Supervised Exams (OSE) at the start of the semester, monitoring if students use artificial intelligence to cheat.
Student association Te Tira Ahu Pae general president Jake Law called an urgent meeting with Massey representatives to ask them to roll back their plans, however, Massey refused.
Law said, “This is something they should have actually been willing to communicate to students before implementing this onto 2000 students who didn’t know about it. I just think that's really underhanded.”
Law said the university admitted it had done no privacy impact assessment, no consultation with students whatsoever, no cost analysis, and no investigation into bookable exam spaces.
Students must download an app called Remote Proctor Now (RPNow) before exams, pan their webcam around their space, and have their camera and mic on throughout.
The app relies on human and AI monitoring to catch students that look away from their screen or where another person is heard or seen during the exam.
Te Tira Ahu Pae surveyed almost 500 students and found 90.7% of them were opposed to OSE’s.
Disappointly, 158 students from Law’s survey said they were going to move universities because of the exams.
Across the Albany and Manawatū campuses, an estimated 3,300 students in the College of Business have to take OSE’s this semester, around 2000 more students than last year.
The decision to increase OSEs was made after students had enrolled in courses, “they (Massey) expect students to just go along merely with whatever their planning,” Law said.
OSE recordings are sent to an overseas company who check for infringements.
Law said the university admitted it can’t guarantee student privacy in terms of a hack or a breach, meaning videos or information could be leaked online.
Many students impacted are international students or Chinese students, “which is also interesting because often those students are seen, perceived as by Massey staff, as more likely to be cheating,” Law said.
He had concerns OSEs were being used to target the Chinese student community.
Photo / Lawyer Monthly
In response to Law’s concerns, Massey University provost professor Giselle Byrnes said, “OSEs are used across a range of courses and are administered fairly and without bias to promote academic integrity across all student groups.”
Byrnes said there were several small-scale trials of RPNow since 2014, which she said returned positive feedback.
“Notably, students liked being able to sit an exam in their own environment.”
Byrnes said Covid-19 and lockdowns made it necessary to use RPNow on a large scale sooner than planned in order to meet student needs.
She said, “As part of our commitment to authentic online learning, we have also been moving away from traditional examinations and promoting the adoption of more effective forms of assessment such as open-book and open-web, for some time.”
Despite the university doing no investigation, Law said it seemed very confident all students had the right technology for OSEs.
The student association’s survey said around 30% of students were concerned about being able to afford equipment.
Massey reps assured Law students who can’t afford the right technology can apply for a technology grant or emergency hardship grant.
However, grants are one off up to $500, which is not enough for a high spec computer.
The student association was previously able to give hardship grants of up to $500, now it can only give grants up to $150.
Law said, “The student association can’t help because our ability to help in that regard has been taken away from us.”
After doing an interview with Stuff in April regarding OSEs, Law said the university was not happy he went to the media before going to them.
“That was really not on… they were unhappy that we went to media on it when they wanted us to go to them first. Well, they didn’t even inform us of this happening, so how could we have gone to them first?”
“How are we supposed to know to go to you about these issues when we don’t even know that these are being implemented? Like we weren’t consulted… we weren’t told that this was happening.”
Law was unhappy to know that unknown people were taking down posters opposing OSEs on the student association boards.
“Really nasty things were happening ... Only our association staff or student reps can put posters up or take posters down.”
Law said Massey reps said using OSEs was not to save money on examinators or examination rooms.
The university itself did not decide to use OSEs, as any course coordinators had the freedom to decide. However, Law said Massey does have the power to ban OSEs for all courses.
Victoria University previously tried to implement OSEs in 2020, but it was ditched after student opposition.
If you're concerned you may be sitting an OSE this semester, contact your course coordinator or check your exam timetable for your examination assessment details.
