Current and Prospective Views of Electronic and Remote Invigilation of Examinations

An examination or a test is intended to measure an examinee’s knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness or classification. It varies in style, rigour, and requirements. It may be administered orally, on paper, on a computer, or in a confined area that requires an examinee to perform a set of skills physically. Examinations require thorough invigilation and supervision, which may be based on direct human involvement or the adoption of remote technologies. An adequate invigilation process makes candidates conform to regulations and prevents all forms of infractions. This paper presents a review of the assessment of the existing and relevant literature on electronic-based examination or assessment and its remote invigilation strategies. The review focused on the motivations, objectives, methodologies, results, contributions to knowledge and limitations. The failure of the traditional and human-based invigilation systems was greatly emphasized alongside the urgency in putting in place safer security measures. The review revealed that significant gaps exist in the areas of attaining CBE systems that are fool-proof and infraction-free. The study on the current state of biometrics-based e-invigilation across the world also established its wide deployment and acceptance as well as the challenges of capital intensiveness, lack of political will and expertise, and methodological failure, among others. It was also established that the adoption and deployment of technology for remote/human-less invigilation of examinations is confronted with some issues that need urgent attention.