I'm proctoring a test a week from now. We will check every student's ID. It's not quite common practice, but some instructors do insist on it.
The previous university I taught at provided a photo roster for each course. As a TA, I would go through this roster and make sure I recognized the students in my class.
Other people have mentioned actual in-class instruction being useless. As my students are getting ready to take their test, one of the main things I'm noticing is that I can't provide enough one-on-one instruction. At best, I have 5 people in office hours I'm trying to help at the same time. And that's still not personalized enough.
The internet is a great resource, but it's as good for undergraduate education as an encyclopedia. The biggest thing I learned in undergrad is _how_ to think about various concepts, not the concepts themselves - and you get that by talking to people.
"An education is what remains after you've forgotten everything you've learned".