ARCHIVED: Administer tests and quizzes using Respondus Monitor with LockDown Browser
On this page:
- Overview
- How Monitor works
- Privacy and security
- Before you begin
- The practice test
- Set up LockDown Browser and Monitor
- Review test sessions
- Learn more
Overview
During the COVID-19 situation, your students may not have access to the technology resources necessary for completing an exam using Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor. If you choose to use Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor to proctor your assessments, you'll need to have a back-up assessment plan in place for students who don't have the necessary equipment (including a webcam and microphone) or internet access available to them. Contact your campus teaching and learning center or see keepteaching.iu.edu for strategies.
Instructors need to edit the exam settings to allow iPads to access Respondus LockDown Browser. (Chromebooks can now access LockDown Browser with no instructor intervention.) Android tablets cannot use Respondus LockDown Browser.
You need to allow Chromebook and/or iPad access via the advanced settings for each exam so that students can use these devices.
Respondus Monitor is an automated proctoring service for Respondus LockDown Browser that uses students' webcams to record students during online, non-proctored quizzes, and automatically detect behaviors that could indicate cheating. It is best used as a deterrent to cheating. As an instructor, when you enable this feature for a quiz, your students will be required to use a webcam and microphone with LockDown Browser. After the student submits the quiz, you can review details of the assessment, including the recorded videos.
Using Monitor with LockDown Browser is an alternative to traditional proctoring. LockDown Browser is already integrated with Canvas at Indiana University and has been used for several years for proctoring in-person tests taken on a computer (for example, in testing centers). Adding Monitor to LockDown Browser provides an additional layer of proctoring for tests taken at a distance. Monitor was used successfully in many courses during spring 2020, and it is used at many other colleges and universities.
How Monitor works
Monitor serves primarily as a deterrent to cheating. It also helps to confirm students' identities. Monitor records the entire testing session on the student's webcam and uses software to detect possible cheating behaviors (for example, looking at a phone or other computer, talking to another person in the room, having another person take the test).
After students have completed an exam, Monitor provides a visual rating of how likely it is that the student has displayed questionable behavior. When you see ratings that indicate a high likelihood of cheating behavior, you can go into the student's session recording and look at time-stamped thumbnails of suspicious behavior. From those thumbnails, you can move directly to the relevant sections in the video and decide if cheating has occurred.
Respondus Monitor uses facial detection technology for several of its flagging events. Facial detection refers to the system's ability to detect that a face is present. This is not the same as facial recognition, where the system is attempting to identify a particular face. You can help your students use Respondus Monitor successfully by giving them these tips, which are also included in the syllabus information provided below:
- Avoid wearing baseball caps or hats that extend beyond the forehead.
- If using a notebook computer, place it on a firm surface like a desk or table, not your lap.
- If the webcam is built into the screen, avoid making screen adjustments after the exam starts. A common mistake is to push the screen back, resulting in only the top portion of the face being recorded.
- Don't lie down on a couch or bed while taking an exam. There is a greater chance you'll move out of the video frame or change your relative position to the webcam.
- Don't take an exam in a dark room. If the details of your face don't show clearly during the webcam check, the automated video analysis is more likely to flag you as missing.
- Avoid backlighting situations, such as sitting with your back to a window. The general rule is to have light in front of your face, not behind your head.
- Select a distraction-free environment for the exam. Televisions and other people in the room can draw your attention away from the screen. Other people that come into view of the webcam may also trigger flags by the automated system.
Privacy and security
When using proctoring tools (Examity, Respondus Monitor) for online exams, government IDs, security questions, and video feeds of the test-taking environment are encrypted to ensure the data is protected from unauthorized access. Only properly authorized people, instructors and the service administrators, have access to the information and the videos that are stored. All videos are saved for a prescribed period of time and then deleted. The individual proctors employed by Examity and Respondus work in proctoring centers with supervisors overseeing them, and everything they do is recorded on video and audio.
Both Examity and Respondus have contractual agreements with IU that ensure these proctoring services abide by IU security and policy expectations. Students with specific questions about either service are encouraged to review each company's privacy policy for clear details about what each service does and does not do:
Both proctoring services in use at IU are also routinely monitored to ensure they are abiding by their contractual agreements and privacy statements, and IU representatives meet with them regularly to discuss any issues and coordinate a timely resolution. Faculty with additional questions regarding privacy and security of online proctoring at IU can contact elearn@iu.edu
to learn more.
Before you begin
As an instructor, before you decide to use Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor, consider whether this software is a good fit for your course. To get the best results from using Monitor, you'll need to do some follow-up. For example, to make sure the correct student took your test, you'll need to click on every student in the class and compare each student's snapshot with their ID photo. You should also check the thumbnails and video for any students with a "High" or "Medium" review priority (see Review test sessions below). For very large classes, this could be a lengthy process.
The practice test
The single most important thing you can do to help your students be successful in taking their test with Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor is to give them a practice test several days before their first real test. A practice test requires students to download the necessary software and test their computer hardware and internet connection in a low stakes environment. If they encounter problems, they can work with IU and/or Respondus support to clear up any issues before they take a real test. In addition, the practice test will familiarize the students with the environment and the procedures for taking the test, and that will lessen any anxiety students might have about the experience.
Set up LockDown Browser and Monitor
To set up a quiz in LockDown Browser and Monitor:
- Add LockDown Browser to your course:
- Go to and click .
- Select from the list of available tools.
- To add LockDown Browser to your course navigation menu, click and drag it into your active tools; alternatively, you can click How do I manage Course Navigation links? on the right side and choose . For more, see
- Scroll down and click .
- Create a quiz in Canvas, using either Classic or New Quizzes.
- Save and publish the quiz.
- In your course navigation menu, click .
- Find your quiz and click the down arrow next to the quiz name.
- Choose and click .
- Provide an access code, if desired.
- Under "Advanced Settings":
- Enable LockDown Browser and Monitor for use with Chromebooks and iPads by choosing and .
- If desired, select allows students to access an e-book or website (such as a government website) that you specify. Use this option with care, because it grants access to an entire domain, not just an individual page.
- If desired, select allows students to use a calculator (standard or scientific) during the exam.
- Under "Monitor Webcam Settings", choose .
- Under "Startup Sequence and Facial Detection Options", UITS recommends keeping the default selections.
- Click .
Review test sessions
After your students have submitted their tests, to review a test session:
- Find in your Canvas course.
- Click the down arrow next to the quiz you wish to review, and choose . You will see a list of your students and their review priority ("High", "Medium", or "Low"). High review priority indicates a greater likelihood that the student displayed questionable behavior during the exam.
- Click
- Thumbnails in the student's report point to moments in the video when violations may have occurred.
- UITS recommends that you check each student's authentication photo against the student ID photos, even those with low review priority, to ensure the correct students took the exam.
(the plus sign) next to a student's name to see details about that student's session:
- Once you have reviewed a student's session, you can click the button in the "Reviewed" column to help you keep track.
Learn more
To learn more about Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor, refer to the following resources.
- For an overview of the service, watch Respondus Monitor: Protecting the Integrity of Online Exams (YouTube video)
- For syllabus information, see Using LockDown Browser and a Webcam for Online Exams.
- For more on setting up an exam in Monitor, see Instructor Quick Start Guide: LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor.
- For more on reviewing an exam and understanding the proctoring results, open the Class Results from the LockDown Browser Dashboard for any exam, and select
- For more on Monitor, see Respondus Monitor.
- For help setting up an exam, and an example of the student experience, watch Preparing an Exam for Use with Respondus Monitor and LockDown Browser.
- For information to help students install LockDown Browser, watch To Install Lockdown Browser in Canvas (For Students).
This is document bfax in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2021-08-20 07:48:01.