Due to the University’s decision to move classes to remote delivery for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a concern for how to hold final exams.

A couple of years ago we introduced Respondus LockDown Browser to our toolkit to address exam integrity in face-to-face proctored environments. Respondus LockDown Browser is a special browser application that runs on a student’s computer that locks them into a Blackboard test or exam. The student can’t browse other websites, other parts of Blackboard, or use other applications on their computer. They can’t print the exam or copy and paste the questions into an email to send to other students.

Respondus is now offering Wentworth a two month unlimited trial of their Respondus Monitor product as their pandemic response to support us with our remote instruction. This . This tool offers an additional feature when using  LockDown Browser by providing remote monitoring of student activity during an exam. Respondus Monitor is not live proctoring in that there are no humans watching for suspicious behavior, nor are students stopped or ejected from an exam as a result of any behavior.

Instead of human proctors watching for infractions and reminding the student that the behavior is not permitted or ending the student’s exam session, the student’s exam session is recorded via their webcam and analyzed using artificial intelligence. The recording is scanned for suspicious behavior. The algorithms used to detect more than one face in camera view, the student reaching or looking outside the camera view, and turning the webcam off, among other suspicious activities. If any suspicious behavior is identified, the section of the recording is tagged for review by the instructor.

Like LockDown Browser, LIT would like to work with instructors to streamline the adoption of this tool during final exams. We’ll be running training sessions and provide outreach to help set up both LockDown Browser and Monitor for your course.

The overall process will involve importing a course package containing content items (download instructions and quizzes) into your course and then having students install LockDown Browser on their computers and taking a sample quiz. The quizzes contain items testing students on what LockDown Browser and Monitor do and some academic honesty policy guidelines.

We’re currently working on getting the rollout ready and you’ll hear more in the next week or so.