How to Use Respondus Lockdown Browser

The Respondus Lockdown Browser “locks down the online testing environment to prevent cheating.” It is able to be utilized on computers, Chromebooks, and iPads. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it works in conjunction with Schoology:

On an iPad

Teacher Setup

1. Create a test or quiz in Schoology, and enable it for access by students in the settings tab as you normally would.

2. Click “Lockdown Browser” from the left side menu of your course page.

Steps 1 and 2

3. Click on the icon next to the quiz with which you want to use Respondus, and choose “modify settings.” Select to require Respondus Lockdown Browser, then click the advanced settings tab and select the first two options for it to work as designed on the iPad (have a look at the other options if/when they may pertain to you).

4. Save and close and you’re good to go!

Student Workflow

1. Students will first need to have the Respondus app installed (it is set to auto-install on all devices at our high school).

2. If they’ve never used Respondus before, have them open the app and respond to the in-app prompts to allow permissions for the mic and camera. They only have to do this once, but if they wait until they’ve started a test it could cause problems. Once they’ve done this they NEVER NEED TO OPEN THE RESPONDUS APP DIRECTLY again.

3. They must access quizzes as they normally would via the Schoology app, but be sure they go through your course to get to the quiz. It will not work if accessed via the “upcoming” shortcut on the sidebar of their recent activity page, and many students naturally go this route if they know what they’re looking for!

4. After accessing the quiz, they should select “start new attempt.” This will prompt them to open the quiz in the lockdown browser. When prompted, students must choose “Yes” to allow the lockdown browser to lock them down. If they don’t, they will not be permitted to begin the quiz, and they may have to restart their device to make a second attempt at following directions.

5. If students attempt to close the exam prior to submitting, they will be warned not to do so. If they persist, they will be required to provide a reason for their early exit. That reason along with a time stamp of their exit time will be recorded for you to view on Schoology in the lockdown browser page (where you previously modified the lockdown settings for the quiz).

• *Respondus now allows the option to disallow even this sort of “escape” from the lockdown on iPads as an option in the settings test settings on Schoology.
• Troubleshooting tip: **If students get an error message about exam settings, have them exit the lockdown app., then open it again and start typing “Lebanon” in the search field, and choose our district. This will fix the error when they relaunch the quiz from Schoology!

I had to take pics of the screen for these since the lockdown browser also prevents screenshots!

6. Manually restarting their iPads will free students from the lockdown; however, when they attempt to re-access the quiz, they will only have the option to submit without ever reentering the exam, so this is not a viable escape route!

On a Chromebook

Teacher Setup

See the iPad section above — teacher workflow is the same as is described for iPads except that you don’t have to select the “allow to be taken on iPad” option in the lockdown browser advanced settings.

Student Workflow

1. Using the Respondus lockdown browser on a Chromebook requires it to be launched in kiosk mode. This means that students should power up the Chromebook but NOT sign in. Instead, they should select “apps” down at the bottom of the login screen and choose “Lockdown Browser.”
2. The first time a Chromebook is used with this App, students will be prompted to choose / search for their appropriate school district. They should type in the name of the district (i.e. “Lebanon”) and choose from the list that appears. Subsequently, they will simply be forced directly to the Schoology login page.

3. After logging into Schoology, students should navigate to the course to access the test or quiz. (Do not use a sidebar or calendar link shortcut!)

4. Students should select “Start New Attempt” NOT “Download LockDown Browser,” complete the test and hit submit when finished.

5. You’ll notice that the interface in general is not all that different than normal when using a Chromebook to access a quiz through Schoology except that students cannot open any new browser tabs or apps. They will need to restart their device to exit kiosk mode and return the Chromebook to normal operation.

Once again, pics of the screen because screenshots are disabled.

That’s all I’ve got for today. If you’ve got questions, you know where to find me!