Testing is one method by which instructors quantify student knowledge, skills, or experience of course content. Instructors of courses want to know what learners understand. Exam results can, among other things, uncover students' areas of strength and weakness or provide a picture of a students' academic progress. At its core, exams should measure the specific learning objectives that they are intended to evaluate.

Given the relative importance of testing to their courses, instructors will need to make an educated decision about whether exams, if given, will be proctored or non-proctored. The crucial difference between a proctored exam and a non-proctored exam is the supervision of the student while testing. Students are monitored while taking a proctored exam. Students are not monitored while taking a non-proctored exam.  

Students could be monitored by live proctors at a test center or by a virtual proctor that observes the student through a webcam. Because the students are monitored during a proctored exam, proctored exams provide more security than non-proctored exams. However, some strategies can be employed to make non-proctored exams more secure. 

Click on the links below to learn more about each type of exam proctoring.