Web Cam Plugin

Web Cam Plugin

Mahtab Hussain-mit -
Antal besvarelser: 17

May you all live in peace!

We have a requirement for our courses and I was wondering if there is some plugin for the purpose out there?

We need to record student web cam & screen shot at entry, mid and exit point of a course and each activity within the course. Further, we want to record web cam & screen shot at random times during the course.

So, in short, we want to have pictorial proof that a student has actually participated a course throughout course.

Is there a plugin developed for similar purpose?


If there is no such plugin developed so far, I would start on it and we appreciate some suggestion to get an idea how to deal with web cameras & screen captures.

Looking for some valuable comments,

Mahtab

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Doug Moody-mit -

I don't have a solution, but if it were me, I know what logic I would use...

I would basically look in the online hacker community for programs that hijack the webcams of users without their knowledge. This is spyware, but its out there.

I would then find out how it works, and call it as an external program from within Moodle. I would program it in such a way that it starts a timer from the time a user logs in and at preset times from that moment and have it call the external program, then exit and wait for the next time.

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Mahtab Hussain-mit -

Thanks Doug for giving me a pointer to google for some scripts which may handle cameras and screenshots. If found such scripts, it would make my job easier.

Thanks once again. I shall keep posted about this plugin over here.

Regards,

Mahtab

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Richard Oelmann-mit -
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Before you do this consider what happened in the US and consider that unless your site is locked down to only provide access within the institution, you could have offline users using your site in bedrooms and private areas of their own homes. Screen shots are one thing - taking automatic pictures of someone else's webcam is potentially dangerous

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10/webcam-spy-settlement/

Richard

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

John Andrewartha-mit -

The privacy issues surrounding this are at the extreme end of the scale.

You would have no defence if challenged.

John

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Mahtab Hussain-mit -

May you live in peace John!

You are right. Actually, we are a registered training organization in Australia and government legislation requires us this functionality in our LMS to be able to deliver our courses online.

Regards,

Mahtab

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

John Andrewartha-mit -

Hi Mahtab,

I to am in AU. Keep in mind that state laws are inferior to Commonwealth Law. You have run head long into the Commonwealth Privacy Act.

I have a friend in QLD that is a RTO here is his URL http://automotive-academy.com/website/

his name is Laurie, drop him a email he ,may be able to point you in a better direction. He provides national training online.

John

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Joseph Thibault-mit -
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I'm not sure if that's accurate.  There are a growing number of institutions that use webbased proctoring which film students throughout their examinations.  If students agree to the terms of use of a site and agree to allow the webcam to be used what is wrong with that?  I'm not a lawyer, but I'm certain a lawyer could navigate this issue with a solid defensible student agreement prior to the use.  

 

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Mahtab Hussain-mit -

May you live in peace Joseph!

Your point is valid. I, myself, think that it should not be against law. Well, we definitely are going to get a consent from our students to allow web cam and screen to be recorded during the course.

BTW, can you point out some examples of the institutions which use webbased proctoring. What solution they use for the purpose?

Regards,

Mahtab

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Joseph Thibault-mit -
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there are lots if you search it "web based proctoring in college".  Here's a recent news article http://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/09/10/u-north-carolina-teams-with-proctoru-on-online-proctoring-api.aspx which talks about one of the leading companies.  There are a few other companies in this space as well (including Software Secure).  

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Jesse Alastalo-mit -

Hi guys,

as couple years have gone by, is there any options available nowadays for this kind of webcam based authentication for Moodle? 

Our RTO is looking to find a solution like this to take few pictures at the beginning to authenticate the learner and then take random snapshots throughout the course to ensure it's the same person answering to all the questions. 

Jesse

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Matt Bury-mit -
Plugin developers-ip assinga

You might find this article interesting:

Online Test-Takers Feel Anti-Cheating Software's Uneasy Glare

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/technology/online-test-takers-feel-anti-cheating-softwares-uneasy-glare.html?_r=0

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Matt Bury-mit -
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I've got an idea...

How about a webcam with a built in video recorder (or just a video recorder that you plug your webcam into) that users can use to record themselves at their computer working diligently and then play that recording back as if it were a live feed during tests so that users don't get accidentally "flagged" (AKA false positive) for innocently swaying or dipping out of view for a moment, e.g. to reach for something or pick something up the fell on the floor?

I think it'd be popular and fairly cheap to make.

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

James McLean-mit -

That's a method students already use to bypass proctoring software - by playing a pre-recorded stream. 

I'm not across the specifics but I'd think it would be as simple as recording with VLC and playing the stream back in a method that looks like it's live from the webcam, at least as far as the proctoring software is concerned. I would expect that could be done entirely in software.

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Justin Hunt-mit -
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Boy what a good idea Matt!

But it would be best as a virtual webcam driver, like "ManyCam" that you could toggle between recorded and live streams. Sadly, though its a great idea, its evil. its main purpose would be for cheating and deception.

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Matt Bury-mit -
Plugin developers-ip assinga

People might use it to cheat?!! overrasket

Perhaps a better idea is to establish policies that make all or most tests "open book." This will more than likely have the added benefit of forcing teachers to change tests so that they focus on the more desirable higher-order and critical thinking skills and what learners understand about the information rather than simply regurgitating it or selecting answers from multiple choice options.

Also, a stronger focus on higher-order and critical thinking skills in tests can lead to better study habits and engagement from learners, a phenomenon known as "washback", i.e. assessments inform learners about what you value and expect and learners will (try to) adjust their study habits accordingly (Many learners will need some help with this initially simply because they may have had educational backgrounds that relied too heavily on information recall rather than critical and higher-order thinking).

I guess the point I'm trying to make is you can't stop cheating - learners will always find a way, one way or another - and cheating is the product of poor assessment and curriculum practices.

Just my €0.02! smiler

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

James McLean-mit -

There are a number of proctoring solutions out there. There are some which integrate with Moodle, but I can't speak to how well as we have only looked into the available options and not installed or run any as yet.

None of them are foolproof however and are really only a deterrent rather than definitive way of eliminating cheating. 

There are many ways around the software.

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Re: Web Cam Plugin

Prerna Prakash-mit -

James ,I am looking for proctoring solutions.Can you post few ways in which we can achieve it ?

I will try myself whether that works or not..

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