Three years ago, when the coronavirus pandemic hit our shores, it took a group of like-minded academics just six months to develop an education-focused assessment monitoring app, find investors, test, and launch it nationally.
With close to 1-million local students now using the Invigilator app, it has been scaled for the global market, with Mexico, India, and Australia the first to incorporate it into their tech-education management systems.
The Invigilator responds to the need for online, in-venue or blended learning assessments, be that (as the name suggests) for invigilation which remains its primary goal, facial verification and tracking of students attending an online or physical class, and an anti-plagiarism feature to ensure students present original work. Its uniqueness is that it opens education to a large number of communities in the academic environment as it forges a marriage between human and digital without the need for expensive devices or constant internet/wi-fi connection. It simply requires only an entry-level smartphone.
Nic Riemer, one of the co-founders, explains that in 2022 the Invigilator hit the number one spot as the most downloaded education app in South Africa. “At that time, we realised that we were at the point where the technology was scalable and the structure of our back-end infrastructure and servers allowed for increased volume. We were, in essence, ready to launch to global markets.”
The team chose Mexico and India first because they have a similar context to Africa, where laptops and internet connectivity are scare.
“Australia came into the picture most recently when we progressed the Invigilator to PC platforms that incorporates video monitoring and again, without the need for a constant internet connection. It only took a handful of months for The Invigilator pilots to prove to educators in the three nations that the App is one of the most transformative, and affordable, AI-based solutions in the ed-tech environment globally. This is because of the all-inclusive nature of the technology,” says Riemer.
Typically, online edtech is rolled out in small pockets within an institution, whereas the Invigilator offering facilitates connection between an entire ecosystem of users in a university or school. The App also offers a low-cost fixed price per student, who have unlimited use over a 12-month period, meaning institutions can engage more regularly and effectively with students in a safe environment that protects academic integrity. Engaging regularly with students, makes teaching and learning far more effective.
Currently there are three academic facilities in Mexico using or piloting the Invigilator: TUA in Aguascalientes; Olmeca in Tabasco; and UNAM Mexico City. India also has three signups: Shiv Nadar University SNU; Vedica Scholars; and PSGR Krishnammal College for Women. In Australia, Navitas is piloting the app, being one of the most exciting given it has a global presence of some 60 000 students.
However, the app doesn’t stop at 60 000: it can accommodate an unlimited number of students, lecturers/teachers, and management within an educational institution, whether in blended, purely online, or traditional learning environments.
Facial recognition algorithms are utilised through the Invigilator, serving to verify the student identity during an assessment. Students are prompted at random to take selfies during the assessment with a limited to window to capture the selfie which is compared to the on-file master photo. The Invigilator can also be used to capture in-venue attendance of students attending classes or other required on-campus activities.
With the addition of The Invigilator PC – although Apple devices are also included – video checks have been incorporated. This build runs exactly like the mobile App but with microphone and screen recordings of the device in use being included in the recording. This AI detects if students are talking or using their mobile phones, if textbooks are being made use of, their note-taking, and again, confirms the student’s identity.