Effective test and exam proctoring is an important part of the work that we do as faculty to ensure integrity and create supportive spaces for students to participate in assessments. This guide will provide you with strategies and considerations for the use of technology in support of proctoring practices across the various modes of delivery at Conestoga.

In-Person Proctoring

During your in-person class, you might have students writing tests or exams on paper, via eConestoga (or another platform) on their personal devices or via eConestoga (or another platform) on college computers in a lab.

Paper-based Testing

There is no technology suggested here! This is a case of you walking the room, observing student behaviours and ensuring that handheld devices are not being inappropriately used. Tests and exams in this environment that contain multiple-choice questions can utilize DataLink Connect for ease of grading.

eConestoga on Personal Devices

The use of Respondus Lockdown Browser, enabled through the Quiz Tool in eConestoga, is strongly recommended for this test delivery. Similar to paper-based testing, you will also need to walk the room, observe student behaviours, and ensure that screens and windows are being used appropriately, as well as that handheld devices are not being used inappropriately.

Note – It is strongly recommended that Respondus Monitor NOT be used in an in-person test or exam setting. There are important privacy considerations here as well as the load on college wifi. Respondus Monitor is considered a detection software that students have the right to opt-out of. For more information on this, visit Advising Students on Detection Software Used in Assessments.

What do I do if a student requests to write the in-person exam from home?

In-person courses have an expectation that all students will be present on campus for all scheduled tests and exams. If a student indicates they are unable to attend a test/exam in-person as scheduled, you can offer for them to write the exam at a Test Centre on an alternative date/time.

In-Person Proctoring How-To’s has additional considerations for proctoring in-person tests.

eConestoga on College Computers in a Lab

Conestoga’s lab computers are equipped with the software Faronics Insight, which can be activated in testing situations to allow you to observe your students’ screens from the podium computer. Please note that Faronics is not currently supported for parallel use with the Lockdown Browser within the eConestoga Quiz Tool. If you are considering using Lockdown Browser instead of Faronics, please note that with Lockdown Browser enabled, students will not be able to access additional software that might be required for test/exam completion.

Courses Taught Online Synchronously

Within an online synchronous course, you may have students writing tests and exams that take place synchronously (i.e., at the time of the scheduled class) or asynchronously (i.e.. during a time period that is set outside of the scheduled class). Typically, these types of tests/exams are also done via the Quiz Tool in eConestoga. There are, however, some situations where your students will take a synchronous online test that does not take place within eConestoga.

Important Consideration for Online Testing and MS Teams

When students use Respondus LockDown Browser or Respondus Monitor to complete assessments, access to Microsoft Teams is disabled on their device. This means students cannot take their exams in the eConestoga Quiz Tool while participating in your Teams classroom. To accommodate this, consider planning synchronous tests where students complete the exam in eConestoga at the scheduled class time, but outside of the Teams environment.

This leaves any assessment being conducted synchronously online NOT via eConestoga’s Quiz tool (i.e. a written assessment completed in a timed manner during the scheduled synchronous class time) with limited proctoring options. The Teams “Focus Mode” is not the same as Zoom, and so this is not an option that we would recommend using as it is a personal setting, not something a faculty/organizer can control for all participants. If you bring your students into the Teams classroom and then ask them to share cameras while participating in the assessment, you need to note that they will be able to see one another’s screens and access the personal chat features of Teams. It can also be very challenging to proctor class sizes larger than 10 or more students in this way, as you end up on multiple screens of small-view videos.

Wherever possible, consider how you could incorporate your timed/scheduled assessment into the eConestoga Quiz tool to be able to then enable both Respondus Lockdown Browser and Resondus Monitor. If you need support thinking through how this could work or considering alternatives, please reach out to us!

Synchronous via eConestoga

It is strongly recommended that Respondus Lockdown Browser be enabled within the Quiz Tool in eConestoga. You may also choose to enable Respondus Monitor, including the option for screen capture. Be aware of the considerations related to student privacy rights if you are planning to use Respondus Monitor.

Courses Taught Online Asynchronously

Similar to the synchronous testing on eConestoga mentioned above, it is strongly recommended that Respondus Lockdown Browser be enabled, and that you make a choice regarding the use of Respondus Monitor, including the option for screen capture. Recall that there are important considerations related to privacy rights of students with the planned used of this technology.

A consideration to scheduling tests with an asynchronous delivery is the length of the time window where students can access the test – we recommend at least a 6-hour time window to ensure that students are not competing with work, other courses or family obligations at the same time you are asking them to write their test/exam. This would also need to be communicated with your students well in advance so they can make arrangements to be available during the chosen time period.

Please reach out to our Teaching and Learning team with any questions or individual consultation needs around these technologies and proctoring suggestions.