Assessing Higher Education in the COVID-19 Era - A journal of educational research and practice 2020 Vol. 29 (2) 37-41

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man

COVID-19 reshaped how universities operate across all major functions, with social distancing requirements mediated largely through digital technologies. Applying Zygmunt Bauman’s 1993 ethics of technology to newly initiated assessment practices, the article highlights ethical risks of relying on vendor-made solutions without meaningful input from professors and students. It focuses on privacy concerns and broader ethical implications of deploying emerging technologies, concluding with a call for stakeholder collaboration to build tomorrow’s tools while preserving pedagogical needs and Bauman’s ethical cautions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Status quo and disruption

Online shift and emerging normal

ICT in assessment and ethical concerns

Intrusive monitoring and privacy

Assessing Higher Education in the COVID-19 Era A journal of educational research and practice 2020 Vol. 29 (2) 37-41 [https://journals.library.brocku.ca/brocked](https://journals.library.brocku.ca/brocked) Rahul Kumar * Brock University Abstract COVID-19 has changed how universities operate. The changes are in all spheres and caused by demands of social distancing rules predominantly mediated by various digital technologies. Applying Bauman’s (1993) ethics of technology on newly initiated assessment practices, this article raises ethical concerns of relying on solutions solely manufactured by technology companies without professors’ and students’ input, various considerations of privacy, and overall ethical concerns that the use of any new technology raises. The article concludes by beseeching all stakeholders to collaborate to construct the tools for tomorrow that meet pedagogical needs without compromising Bauman’s ethical concerns. Keywords: higher education, ethics, technology, COVID-19 issues * [rkumar@brocku.ca](rkumar@brocku.ca) Status quo in higher education is, in part, preserved by operational inertia. The jolt of a 0.125 micron virus named COVID-19 has disrupted this status quo. Itself fragile, itself vulnerable to being washed away by everyday common soap, COVID-19 has altered many deep-seated conventions and norms within higher education that have had to reform. The question is which of the adopted changes will persist? Which will outlast COVID-19? Put another way, which practices will lose their luster and favour with time? What will constitute the new normal? Using assessment of learning as one small exemplar, this essay makes a case for a collective vision to ameliorate practices and for reflection on the underlying beliefs of adopting various forms of technology. In March 2020, the regular teaching, research, and administrative operations in universities ceased abruptly. Yet, thousands of students needed to finish their terms and year, which was only a few weeks short of their respective disciplinary requirements. First, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) were employed to finish the academic term when normal operations ended on most campuses. Upon reaching the finish line of the term, complacency and innocence have had to make way for deliberate and intentional efforts, which were subsequently adopted in the ensuing Spring term and are here to stay for at least the 2020􀀐2021 academic year. Proponents and prophets of online teaching and ICT consider this pandemic to be the catalyst to bring about the changes which they had been lobbying for a longtime. Some (the administrative cadre, chief among them) posit that these changes are here to stay permanently. This has led many to seriously contemplate issues such as: How will student learning change? How will faculty practices change? How will administrative functions change? The question that is of paramount interest here is which of the changes ushered in by COVID- 19 are here to stay and at what cost? What other new challenges will they introduce and what proactive approaches can be taken to improve teaching and learning? Concomitant with these sets of questions and assumptions is the idea that the introduction of new technologies or new forms of technologies brings with it a new set of issues—some anticipated and therefore perhaps accounted for, while others still unforeseen. The use of ICT in delivering content, engaging students through various online tools, and then assessing their acquisition and retention of knowledge in conventional ways poses some interesting challenges. The underlying assumption here is that more technology is needed to resolve or at least lessen problems the technology has introduced in the first place. For assessment processes, technology has been advocated to monitor and proctor students writing their exams. Some of the ways in which intrusive forms of technologies have migrated (or are attempting to

FAQs

How did COVID-19 change higher education operations?

Universities had to stop regular teaching, research, and administration abruptly, then rely on ICT to complete academic terms. This triggered new practices for learning and assessment across campuses.

What ethical concerns does the article raise about technology-mediated assessment?

It warns against assessment solutions created solely by technology companies without input from professors and students. It also emphasizes privacy risks and the ethical implications of using new technologies.

What monitoring approaches are discussed for online examinations?

The text describes camera-based tools using artificial intelligence to flag inattentiveness, audio monitoring for possible talking, and blocking other websites on student computers during exams.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man