What are Respondus Monitor and LockDown Browser used for?
LockDown Browser is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within Canvas. While using the LockDown browser, assessments are displayed full-screen and cannot be minimized. Students are prevented access to other applications and cannot print, copy/paste, or screen capture. Assessments that are set up for use with LockDown Browser cannot be accessed with other browsers; students have to download the LockDown browser and use it to access and log into Canvas in order to take their exams.
Respondus Monitor uses a student's webcam, in conjunction with the LockDown Browser, to prevent cheating during non-proctored exams. Students are guided through a pre-exam sequence, including a webcam check, before gaining access to their exam.
Resources:
Respondus-Provided Resources
Resources
While technology scales easily, humans don’t. With over 700 universities ramping up their use of Respondus Monitor in a significant way, we are seeing large increases in technical support volume. About 80% of support questions are very basic – such as where to find the tool in the LMS, or how to set an exam so it requires students to use Respondus Monitor. We have put together a set of resources that we encourage you to share with administrators, trainers, and instructors.
Daily Training Webinars with LIVE Q&A
Respondus offers daily training webinars for LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor: https://web.respondus.com/webinars/. The trainings are about 45 minutes, with an extended Q/A period where questions are answered live. The trainings are an amazingly effective way at getting instructors quickly up-and-running with these applications.
Scalability
Respondus is getting questions about the scalability of Respondus Monitor for situations where thousands of students start an exam simultaneously. The quick answer is that the autoscaling has worked smoothly so far, even in situations where thousands of students at a university began an exam at the same time. However, we are planning for exceptionally high volume scenarios (eg. final exams) where thousands of students across hundreds of universities might start an exam proctoring session during the same minute. If our autoscaling isn’t fast enough (it takes about 2 minutes to launch new servers), students will enter a queuing system with a countdown clock showing when the proctoring session will begin. In the rare event that the queuing system is triggered, the countdown clock isn’t expected to last more than one minute.
Finally, our account managers and trainers have been receiving 100+ emails per day. Please be patient if you are waiting on a response, and also understand if the response is “to the point.” We are working very hard to help as many educators as we can during this unique time.
First, set up your exam as you normally would within Canvas.
For help with Canvas exams see How do I create a quiz with individual questions?
Once your quiz is set up in Canvas, select LockDown Browser from the Course Navigation on the left side.
Respondus may ask for access to your account. If so, click Authorize.
Subsequent visits to this page won't ask for this authorization.
Respondus will then show you a page with a number of training resources and videos. Review the resources, then click Continue to LockDown Browser.
If this is your first time utilizing Respondus, it is highly recommended you review these resources.
You should now see the Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard.
On this page, you should see a list of all quizzes that are currently in your course.
- Quizzes labeled with Required require students to use LockDown Browser.
- Quizzes labeled with Not Required do not require students to use LockDown Browser.
To change the settings for a quiz, click the drop-down arrow on the left side of the quiz you want to change, then click Settings.
Click Require Respondus LockDown Browser for this exam.
Set an access code or any advanced settings as appropriate, but note that these settings are note required.
If you do not want to utilize Respondus Monitoring, click Save and Close, otherwise continue to the next step.
NOTE: Respondus Monitor requires the usage of the LockDown Browser. Be sure to complete the steps listed above.
From the Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard, select "Require Respondus Monitor" for this exam.
NOTE: In testing, we ran into an issue where the settings did not properly display after selecting this option. If this happens to you, our recommendation is to try using another browser.
If you want to give students a choice of either Respondus Monitor or live proctoring, 1) expand Advanced Settings, then 2) check "Allow this exam to additionally be delivered in a proctored lab."
When navigating to the quiz or exam within Lockdown Browser, students will be presented with a choice to either use Respondus Monitor or to input an access code (which the proctor would need ahead of time) to begin the exam without Respondus Monitor.
Select the Startup Sequence that students will have to go through before they can begin their exam. CDT's recommendations are listed below.
Set any other settings as you see fit. Generally speaking, we recommend leaving these settings at default. Once finished, click Save + Close.
Your quiz should now display Required next to it. If so, it is now ready for your students to take via the LockDown Browser.
Practice Quiz (Highly Recommended!)
To ensure your first exam with LockDown Browser runs smoothly, have students take an ungraded practice quiz that requires the use of LockDown Browser. Ideally, have students use the same computers/devices they'll later use with the graded quizzes, including the same network/Wi-Fi environment. The latter is especially important if you plan to have a large number of students starting the quiz simultaneously from a Wi-Fi network. Leave the practice quiz available for the duration of the course, with unlimited attempts, so students can access it again if they use a different computer or Wi-Fi network.
Respondus Monitor
If using Respondus Monitor (the webcam feature of LockDown Browser), the practice quiz is especially important. Prior to starting the practice quiz itself, have students access "Help Center" from within LockDown Browser:
- Locate the LockDown Browser application or shortcut and manually launch it
- Select "Help Center" from the toolbar
- Run the "Webcam Check" and the "System & Network Check" to make sure everything is working properly. If a problem is indicated, students can search for a solution in the Knowledge Base, or seek technical assistance.
Once students have completed the practice quiz, review the video results to see if corrective actions are required for certain students (eg. poor lighting; the head isn't positioned within the video frame, etc.).
What happens if students try to take an exam in another browser when LockDown Browser is required?
If LockDown Browser is required for a quiz or exam, students will not be able to access that quiz or exam from another browser. Instead, Canvas will display the following message:
To access the exam, students must launch Respondus Lockdown Browser and access the browser from there.
Does Lockdown Browser/Respondus Monitor allow for live proctoring?
Respondus recently implemented live proctoring with LockDown Browser. For more on this please visit https://web.respondus.com/instructor-proctoring/.
How does Respondus Monitor meet accessibility needs?
For information on Accessibility please visit Accessibility - LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor - Respondus
Is data safe with Respondus Monitor?
For information on data privacy and Respondus, please see RRespondus Privacy Policy or visit https://web.respondus.com/privacy-policy/.
Troubleshooting Issues and Getting Support
Remember, students can access built-in troubleshooting and live chat from within Respondus Monitor if they encounter a technical problem. You can find more resources for students, including how to access Live Chat, here: web.respondus.com/student-help/
Respondus also offers frequent training webinars with live Q&A
These free, 45-minute trainings are the best way for instructors to learn how to use Respondus Monitor for online proctoring. Each session is followed by an extended Q/A period where questions are answered live. Register: web.respondus.com/webinars/