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Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that affect students’ behavioral intentions to use virtual classrooms at Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research approach was adopted, an online survey method was used and the data were collected among students at PSUT in Jordan. A total of 511 responses were usable for analysis. A structural equation modeling partial least squares technique was used to examine the hypothesized model. Findings The findings reveal that the proposed factors have direct and indirect relationships with behavioral intentions to use virtual classrooms. They show that students’ satisfaction has a direct influence on behavioral intention, while other variables such as instructor characteristics, virtual classroom quality, perceived self-efficacy, perceived organizational support, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have an indirect effect on behavioral intentions to use virtual classrooms. Research limitations/implications The study was conducted at PSUT in Jordan, which could limit the generalizability of the findings. Furthermore, the present study measured students’ behavioral intentions to use virtual classrooms and future research should consider the actual use of virtual classrooms. Practical implications The findings of this study offer significant and useful information to policymakers, instructors, developers and students regarding the use of virtual classrooms in universities. Based on students’ needs and readiness, the findings identify which factors to consider when developing an e-learning system to enhance learning and teaching performance. Originality/value This study extends existing knowledge by developing a conceptual model to identify the key factors of virtual classroom adoption in higher education institutions in Arab countries. This study contributes to the literature in the context of e-learning by validating an extended technology acceptance model from an Arab countries perspective and considering the differences in culture, learning style and physical environment compared to developed countries.

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This study technically analyses one of the online exam supervision technologies, namely the Artificial Intelligence-based Auto Proctoring (AiAP). This technology has been heavily presented to the academic sectors around the globe. Proctoring technologies are developed to provide oversight and analysis of students’ behavior in online exams using AI, and sometimes with the supervision of human proctors to maintain academic integrity in a blended format. Manual Testing methodology was used to do a software testing on AiAP for verification of any possible incorrect red flags or detections. The study took place in a Middle Eastern university by conducting online exams for 14 different courses, with a total of 244 students. Afterward, five human proctors were assigned to verify the data obtained by the AiAP software. The results were then compared in terms of monitoring measurements: screen violation, sound of speech, different faces, multiple faces, and eyes movement detection. The proctoring decision was computed by averaging all monitoring measurements and then compared between the human proctors’ and the AiAP decisions, to ultimately set the AiAP against a benchmark (human proctoring) and hence to be viable for use. The decision represented the number of violations to the exam conditions, and the result showed a significant difference between Human Decision (average 25.95%) and AiAP Decision (average 35.61%), and the total number of incorrect decisions made by AiAP was 74 out of 244 exam attempts, concluding that AiAP needed some improvements and updates to meet the human level. The researchers provided some technical limitations, privacy concerns, and recommendations to carefully review before deploying and governing such proctoring technologies at institutional level. This paper contributes to the field of educational technology by providing an evidence-based accuracy test on an automatic proctoring software, and the results demand institutional provision to better establish an appropriate online exam experience for higher educational institutions.

Cheating in online exams has become an undeniable phenomenon throughout universities worldwide. This study examined the effect of a single factor on the scores and essay questions of online exams, helping the researcher identify cheating incidents. This factor was an awareness lecture, conducted in the form of a debate between the instructor and students, about the negative effects and ethics of cheating. The methodology of this study was based on the explanatory sequential approach, in which the researcher conducted the same online exam but with different treatments. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with certain students after the course had finished. The study consisted of two groups of students in the same course. Each group was given a different treatment: Group 1 consisted of 33 students who participated in an awareness debate lecture before the online exam, and Group 2 consisted of 31 students who did not participate in an awareness debate lecture. Then, 12 students were randomly recruited from Group 1 to participate in the interviews to explore more insights about the rationalization of cheating in online exams. The results showed that Group 1 had grades averaging (18.23 out of 30), and Group 2 had grades with a significantly higher average (22.1 out of 30). Conclusions and recommendations were presented to better shape the experience of online exams.