Some practical reasons to avoid high-stakes online tests, particularly using surveillance or browser lock tools:

1-the more tech you use, the higher the likelihood something will go wrong. Quiz+surveillance tool= some predictable tech fails on both student & teacher sides.

2-the higher surveillance the tool employs, the more work on the instructor to go back through all the evidence of misbehavior flagged by the software. Sometimes this means HOURS and HOURS of work going through videos of students sitting at their desks taking your exam.

3-Things that work during your f2f class do not automatically transfer to online. Maybe in your f2f course high-stakes final exams helped you distinguish between those who learned a lot and those who learned a little. No guarantee you will glean same data from that exam online.

4-ANY tech tool is navigable, cheatable. Teachers who focus on a few high-stakes, high-security exams are setting students up to panic and use any means at their disposal to get around the system.

All that said, what would assessment look like in our courses if we focused on helping students demonstrate what they have learned over time through a series of lower-stakes assessments?
Or even, how do our students want to be assessed so they can show off what they've learned?

More food for thought: https://twitter.com/holden/status/1245369757458718720?s=20

And this just came out today. PLEASE READ! https://twitter.com/SheaSwauger/status/1245744714663387136?s=20