The University of New England was present at the creation of distance study and now it is completing the cycle, testing remote exams that save students having to travel to a supervised centre.

Using a US product, a proctor observes half a dozen students doing an exam on their laptop. There are a range of security features, including “facial recognition and typing style biometrics used to verify identity” UNE’s teaching and learning director Greg Winslett and colleague Kylie Day tell CMM.

With a maximum of six students per supervisor in each exam there are obvious efficiencies to be had, but surely not not huge ones and this service seems far more focused on saving students time rather than the university money.

And there is another reason to let students type, rather than handwrite their exams, legible scripts aren’t universal anymore, or as UNE politely puts it, remote exams by laptop ends; “issues involved with marking handwritten work.”