There are two main categories of users that rely on Microsoft Teams on a daily basis: businesses and schools. Millions of employees use Teams to collaborate with teammates and external partners. Students use Teams to attend online classes, complete assignments, and take online exams.
If employees are concerned their employers could be using Teams to spy on them, many students and teachers are wondering if Teams can detect cheating. As you can see, both of these user categories have specific privacy-related questions but for different reasons.
Can Microsoft Teams Detect Cheating During Exams?
Microsoft Teams cannot detect cheating. The app cannot detect what users are doing outside of the Teams window. If you’re a teacher and you want to prevent students from cheating during exams, you need to use dedicated anti-cheating software.
Teams doesn’t sport any anti-cheating options, it’s just an app on the screen. Users can share any documents they want outside of Teams, they take screenshots, use instant messaging apps, and Teams cannot detect any of these.
It’s very hard to restrict these things during online exams, even if you’re using technical solutions and anti-cheating software. Students can use their phones to take pictures and send messages during exams, and there’s no way of controlling that.
How to Prevent Cheating During Teams Exams
To prevent your students from cheating during online exams, ask them to keep their camera and mic on. If you’re an examiner, this should give you more control over their actions. At least, you can tell them off if they’re looking away from the screen for too long.
Additionally, you can also install an anti-cheating tool on your students’ computers to check what apps are running on their machines during the exam. If they’re using school-managed laptops, installing the anti-cheat software should be pretty easy. Ask your school’s IT admin for help and they’ll take care of everything. On the other hand, if your students are using their personal computers, getting them to install the program might be a bit more difficult.
You can also force the exam full screen, and ask a remote invigilator to keep an eye on your students during the exam. An extra pair of eyes won’t hurt, especially if you’ve got more than ten students taking the exam at the same time. Additionally, you can use a random problem generator or create multiple versions of the quiz.
By the way, if you’re a teacher, you may be interested in these Teams guides:
- Microsoft Teams: How to Hand In Assignments
- How to Organize Your Files in Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft Teams: How to Create a Quiz
- How to Disable Comments and Replies in Teams
Conclusion
To conclude, cheating during Microsoft Teams online exams is a major problem everywhere. The app cannot detect what users are doing outside of the Teams window, hence it cannot detect cheating. Teachers can’t control all the actions of their students during online exams. If you’re a teacher, let us know what methods you use to prevent cheating. Share your ideas in the comments below.
The little helper says
Theoretically, If all students sit at one place (let’s call it the exam-house) and write the same Examen via MS-Teams and there are a view persons that have their „little helpers“ sitting at another location writing & submitting their exams(the one in Exam-house just close their Examen and don’t submit)….can the teacher see the difference between theirs and the ones writing the Examen the honest way at the Examen house via IP-addresses or other stuff like session ID or anything else?
NOPE says
STOP teachers let us do our thing