It is unlikely the proctor will notice, but if they are paying attention this is a red flag. Be sure your VGA connections are secure during the movement.If one falls out, getting it back in makes your computer blink for a second. The proctor cannot see under your desk, but it will likely make you less nervous if you have your “helper” move into the room with the monitor after you have already started taking the test and the Proctor has no more need to look at the room.
During one of our attempts our “helper” stepped on a squeaky board, so practice the path their feet will take! If you have the second monitor set-up in an adjoining room (which is a good idea for when the proctor has you spin the webcam to show your room), make sure you practice the path the "helper" will take when they move into the room to give you the answer. If a simple multiple choice test is being taken, all you really need is Facetime, since both the “helper” and the remote test taker can convey visually the question and then the correct letter answer, which can then be conveyed to the you taking the test through whatever method was chosen. If the helper and remote test taker are texting answers, the “helper” switches off of the Facetime app, looks at the text message, writes the answer onto a note card and then conveys it to you, the person taking the exam. The remote test-taker then quickly types the answer back on their Mac, and sends it via iMessage, or holds up a flashcard with the multiple choice letter into the view of Facetime. This allows your “helper” to take a picture of the screen with your test question (for complex questions such as for math classes) or to simply hold the Facetime iPhone to the computer for the remote test taker to see the question.
We found that the best way for this to work is if the remote test taker has a Mac and both are working with an iPhone. During our trials, no one ever asked to see the scrap paper and none of the proctors are specifically trained in the subject- they are purely trained to watch for eye and body movement that indicates cheating. This ensures that in the event anyone actually looks at your scrap paper they don’t see that you randomly wrote the right answer down when nothing else on your scrap paper was correct. You then move on to the text question and while your “helper” is doing the problem, you pretend to be writing on your scrap paper, conveniently scratching out at some point the answer to the last question. You then write the answer onto your scrap paper, the “helper” removes the notecard, and you act as if you now have the answer and enter it into the test from your scrap paper. Because your eyes and head are already down, the webcam does not pick up the slight movement of your eyes to look at the notecard. This allows you to have your head down while you are either writing on scratch paper or using your calculator and places the answer within your field of sight without being in the range of the webcam.
If you are stuck taking a math test or a coding test, your “helper” writes the answer on a 3x5 notecard and slides it slightly under your monitor.