How we keep online exams running when a learner’s internet drops

Nexford University is a fully online American university headquartered in Washington, DC, accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), with learners in more than 110 countries. Since we moved to Constructor Proctor, a dropped connection no longer ends a learner’s exam.

Where we started

Many of our learners take exams on connections that drop without warning. Our previous proctoring system ended a session after 30 seconds offline. Every disconnection meant a retake request, a support ticket, and a professor rescheduling an assessment, and for the learner, an exam lost to something they could not control. As a DEAC-accredited institution, we also need proctoring that holds up in accreditation reviews.

Why we changed

We needed proctoring built for how our learners actually live: on mobile data, in shared homes, in regions where power and internet are unreliable. The system had to keep an exam secure without punishing a learner for a dropped line.

What we did

We moved to Constructor Proctor in August 2024. Within weeks we had a full testing environment connected to Canvas, then a live pilot. We enabled it in half of our proctored courses, and then in all of them, within weeks. When a learner’s connection drops now, the session stays open for up to 10 minutes, with the exam locked until they reconnect.

What changed

• 14,674 proctored exam sessions completed on Constructor Proctor between August 2024 and November 2, 2026

• 6,546 of them in 2026

• A dropped connection no longer ends the exam, so learners keep their work and their place

• From testing to all proctored courses within weeks

In our words

“Constructor Proctor significantly reduced the support tickets related to internet issues and improved the learner experience. Their team was highly responsive during the entire process.”

Hesham Alaa, Head of Technology Operations, Nexford University

Nexford University runs Constructor Proctor from Constructor Tech. Read Constructor Tech’s account of the project: constructor.tech/customer-stories/nexford-university