I use ProctorU for my online exams, for a course I’m taking exclusively online. I don’t have to use ProctorU - I could even use a member of the clergy (!) as a proctor and probably save a little money.
However, I can actually see the person who’s proctoring my exam, I don’t have to take it in a room full of people who are there for their Series 17 or FAA or dental technician exams, and the commute is pretty short.
To answer some of the questions - I use a desktop, not a laptop, and I had to buy a webcam to take the exams. Again, I could have gone to my local community college’s test center, but didn’t want to. I am the customer, not the University. The University wants me to take the test ethically, and ProctorU is one of the dozens of other options. The webcam is a requirement - in fact, there are a list of system requirements for the software, just like any other software. The remote access is for one reason - to make sure you don’t have course materials open on your primary or other monitors. And if my Internet connection drops, there’s an emergency number to call.
(lots deleted here to save time) For me, this works very well, but I grant that I’m a subset of total online students. I’ll readily accept that this is an imperfect offering for all students. In fact, if it’s the sole proctoring method for the SJSU students in the article, it needs to have alternatives. But the rest of it is incredibly innocuous, and I readily trade the 90 minutes of remote access (I scrub the software after every exam and disconnect my home network) for the massive convenience.*
*Yes, I know that makes me part of the problem.
