What is the name of your organization?
Ann-Connect
What is the name of your solution?
ProctorPal
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
An Offline Examination Platform and Invigilation App that ensures students can write online exams even when there is no internet connectivity.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Pretoria, South Africa
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
ZAF
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
it was 2020 during the time of COVID-19 when I scheduled to write my final online exam at the University of South Africa (UNISA). 15 minutes before the exam, I lost internet connectivity, fortunately, connectivity cam back 25 minutes after the exam had started. Even though I managed to finish the exam, I asked myself "how many students get to face this issue?"
This question sparked the founding of Ann-Connect.
Ann-Connect was built to address a fundamental but overlooked problem in online learning: millions of students are excluded from fair, secure assessment because of poor or no internet access. Globally, over 3.7 billion people remain unconnected, with over 100 million students across Africa facing challenges in writing online exams due to unstable internet, power outages, and limited digital infrastructure. This was a problem worth solving.
In a 2023 survey we conducted with South African students where 42,6% reported power outages or load-shedding interrupted connectivity during an online exam, 38,3 % reported they experienced slow internet connectivity during their online exam, and 12.2% responded that they encountered technical issues with the examination site.
What is your solution?
To solve the challenge of unreliable connectivity during online exams, we built two innovative platforms based on a set of tools designed for low-bandwidth, low-resource environments.
We built an offline examination platform, a software that allows students to access, download, write, and submit exams entirely without internet access. The platform stores all exam data locally and securely submits once the student syncs. This ensures that no student is disadvantaged because of poor internet, Wi-Fi or power cuts.
We have also developed ProctorPal, an offline invigilation app. It allows students to be monitored during exams without needing a live internet connection. The app captures: audio recording, ID verification, location, screen-activity monitoring to prevent students using sites or ChatGPT during an exam.
Demo Links:
1. Student View (ProctorPal): https://youtu.be/S2T8l01M1qo
2. Educator View (ProctorPal): https://youtu.be/kGrpLf3Raaw
We designed Ann-Connect to make sure no student is left behind simply because they don’t have internet access.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
We partnered with universities, colleges, online high and primary schools, and training organizations that serve these populations. Many of these learners face poor or no internet access, load-shedding, and a lack of compatible devices, making it difficult or impossible to participate in online exams or assessments.
These students are not underperforming due to a lack of ability, they simply do not have stable internet access. Ann-Connect was founded to change that.
Our offline exam platform and Invigilation app allow students to write and submit exams without needing live internet access, ensuring that learners in rural or low-income communities can be assessed fairly, just like those in well-connected urban areas.
This directly improves their educational access, reduces exam-related anxiety caused by connectivity issues, and opens up more opportunities for them to graduate, gain certifications, and participate in the digital economy. We are bridging the divide by making sure all students are able to have equal access to quality education regardless of their background or state of internet in their areas.
