Trends and Challenges in the World of Online Examinations

Abstract

Online examinations have become an important form of assessment in higher education over the past decade, driven by the digitalization of education and the growing demand for flexible, remotely accessible testing solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated this process, as institutions were widely forced to implement digital examination solutions. This shift has raised numerous technical, security, ethical, and psychological issues, necessitating a comprehensive examination. This recognition motivated the present literature review, which aims to highlight the main research directions in online examination studies. Based on the analysis of 1412 studies published in the Scopus database between 2015 and 2025, four main research areas emerge. The first addresses technical solutions and exam organization, with a particular focus on learning management systems and dedicated proctoring platforms. The second deals with security challenges and fraud prevention, where camera monitoring, browser lockdowns, and behavior analysis are emphasized, alongside data privacy concerns. The third research direction examines student experience and perception, highlighting convenience while also addressing increased stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. The fourth area concerns the integration of artificial intelligence, which plays a key role both in proctoring systems and in automated task generation and evaluation, while also raising new ethical dilemmas, particularly with the advent of generative AI. The literature on online examinations identifies three phases: technical experimentation (2015 2019), mass adoption (2020 2021), and critical reassessment (2022 2025). Based on the findings, future challenges include AI-based fraud prevention, addressing data privacy dilemmas, and restoring student trust.