One of the biggest struggles of allowing students to test online is the question of whether they are doing it HONESTLY ..or… not so honestly. How do you know that students aren’t opening up google in a separate browser window and searching for answers? How do you know they aren’t using Facebook messenger to send questions out to friends that have already taken the class? How do you know that they aren’t copying and pasting all of the question and answer choices to a document to share with other students in the class later on? These, among many others, are concerns that instructors have in this current world of education where technology is a prevalent and ever-present force.
To help combat the common testing worries listed above, Odessa College currently licenses Respondus Lockdown Browser/Monitor! These products are already integrated directly into Blackboard and are available for any test that you create in your Blackboard course shell. Interested in using Respondus Lockdown Browser/Monitor? See below for more information!
What is Respondus Lockdown Browser?
Respondus Lockdown Browser is a custom browser that students download and install on any computer that they will be taking online tests from (they must have administrative rights to download/install on the device they are using!). The download link that we provide is custom to OUR institution. Students can’t download just some generic version of Lockdown Browser (LDB) – it MUST be the institutional version that is keyed to point at our Blackboard instance for login. I will provide the link further below in the Resources section, along with additional useful resources!
Here are some key features of Respondus Lockdown Browser:
- Integrated directly with Blackboard Learn. No need to go to a separate third-party website for use.
- Assessments are displayed full-screen and cannot be minimized
- Prevents access to other applications including messaging, screen-sharing, virtual machines, and network monitoring applications
- Print, Print Screen and screen capture functions are disabled
- Copying and pasting anything to or from an assessment is prevented
- Right-click menu options, function keys, keyboard shortcuts and task switching are disabled
- An assessment cannot be exited until the student submits it for grading
- Browser menu and toolbar options are removed, except for Back, Forward, Refresh and Stop
- Assessments that are set up for use with LockDown Browser cannot be accessed with other browsers
- Localized for multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese
- Supports screen readers
- Available for Windows, Mac, iOS and other systems (note: NOT AVAILABLE FOR CHROMEBOOK!)
What is Respondus Monitor?
Respondus Monitor is the companion product to Respondus Lockdown Browser. If you have Respondus Lockdown Browser enabled for any test in your course, you can also choose to enable Monitor to add an extra layer of anti-cheating protection. Enabling the use of Respondus Monitor on a test will require that students must have and use a webcam that will record them while they are taking their test. Using Monitor will require that the student goes through a start-up sequence before beginning the test that will help them check their audio and video to make sure it is working, ask them to show a copy of an identification card (you can request to see a school ID if it has picture on it, or a driver’s license, or any kind of ID that has their picture and name on it), and take a video of their surroundings (especially the desk area to make sure it is clear of notes, notebooks, textbooks, etc). This startup sequence allows you to confirm that the student taking the test is the student that is supposed to be taking the test! Additionally, using Monitor to record a student while they are testing allows for the identification of any suspicious behavior (Monitor’s smart software flags this behavior for you automatically to review so that you don’t have to watch the entire video!). If a student starts to look over their shoulder, or if they leave the room, or if they start talking to someone not in the room – Monitor will let you see all of these things.
Here is a great short overview video (3 min) of both the Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor products:
How Do I Enable Respondus Lockdown Browser / Monitor on my Tests in Blackboard?
Simple! From any course in Blackboard where you have tests, you can go to Control Panel –> Course Tools –> Respondus Lockdown Browser. This will bring you to the main Respondus Lockdown Browser/Monitor Dashboard.
Once you are on the Respondus Dashboard, you will see all of the tests that you currently have deployed to content areas in your course. On the right side you’ll see columns for Lockdown Browser and Monitor. These columns will let you know if either product is already enabled for a test or not. If you wish to use Monitor, know that it is dependent on the Lockdown Browser product – you must enable the Browser first before you can turn on Monitor.
Use the down-arrow icon on the left side of any test name and select “Settings” to start the process of enabling LDB/Monitor for your test.
On the settings screen you will want to select “Require Respondus Lockdown Browser for this exam”. There are some additional settings you can make – but they aren’t necessary. Feel free to explore these additional settings if you feel they might apply to your class or your own personal testing preferences.
If you want to enable Monitor, you’ll want to select “Require Repondus Monitor for this exam”. Once you select this option, you will get a chance to customize the startup sequence that you want students to use before the exam. Look at each of these areas and customize to your testing preferences.
And the most important part! Don’t forget to select SAVE+CLOSE to make sure that all your setting changes are saved and updated. 🙂
Once you’ve done this, you should now see the word “Required” under the respective columns of the products that you enabled for the test.
When you have done this, Blackboard AUTOMATICALLY updates the link to this test to display additional information in the text heading of the link, as seen below:
NOTE: Once you have enabled Respondus Lockdown Browser or Respondus Monitor for a test, DO NOT CHANGE THE TITLE! If you alter the title in any way, it could break the test’s link to Respondus and not allow students to take it.
If a student attempts to take a test marked for Respondus in a normal browser (ie, Chrome or Firefox or Safari or IE, etc), they will get prompted with a message telling them to use Respondus Lockdown Browser, but also a field provided for a password. This is a bit misleading (I wish they would change it) – when students see this, their immediate reaction is to think that they need a password for the test – but this is never the case. If your students start asking you for a password, tell them to make sure they are using Respondus Lockdown Browser (not Chrome or Firefox, etc) to access the test. If they access the test through Lockdown Browser, they will not get this message.
Important Resources if You Want to Use Respondus Lockdown Browser/Monitor in Your Courses
| Resources for Students |
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Odessa College Institutional Download Link for Respondus Lockdown Browser (This is the link that students will use to download the browser install file. Once it is downloaded, they will need to install the software to their device.) |
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Quick Start Guide for Students (I highly recommend you put this in any course where your students will be using RLDB. Almost might not be a bad idea to email it to them!) |
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Introduction Video to Respondus Lockdown Browser+Monitor for Students (Great video for students to help them better understand what Respondus Lockdown Browser is.) |
| Resources for Instructors |
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Quick Start Guide for Instructors (This is a helpful guide to gettting started with Lockdown Browser and Monitor.) |
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Quick Text to Add to Your Syllabus – Respondus Lockdown Browser (This document contains text that you can copy/paste to your course syllabus that gives students information about Respondus Lockdown Browser and expectations on how it will be used.) |
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Quick Text to Add to Your Syllabus – Respondus Lockdown Browser + Monitor (This document contains text that you can copy/paste to your course syllabus that gives students information about Respondus Lockdown Browser+Monitor and expectations on how it will be used.) |
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Video: Prepare an Exam for Use with LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor (This document contains text that you can copy/paste to your course syllabus that gives students information about Respondus Lockdown Browser+Monitor and expectations on how it will be used.) |
Training Opportunities?
Respondus frequently offers both introductory and advanced webinar training sessions throughout the year. Watch your email (the FAC mailing group) for emails from OC Global about upcoming opportunities to attend Respondus (and other) training webinars. We will always add any of the training opportunities to the PD app so that you can get PD credit for them as well.