The Respondus Lockdown Browser (LDB) is exam security software, installed on the computer itself, that “locks” the user’s computer into the test. It prevents them from printing, saving, running other programs, etc.
The Respondus Monitor is a video proctoring feature that can be enabled alongside the Respondus LDB. The computer’s webcam/microphone is used to record the student during the exam. Artificial intelligence is used to analyze the recording and identify possible sections for post-exam review by the instructor.
IMPORTANT! There is a major change in how students access tests in Brightspace via the Respondus LDB. You don’t open the LDB first. Instead, open a regular web browser, navigate to the course and click on the test. This will call up the Respondus Lockdown Browser if it is already installed on the computer used to take the test.
It’s beyond the scope of this document to fully cover all of the features of the Respondus LDB/Monitor, or how to use the post-exam review of flagged videos. We will cover the most common settings here. Instructor resources — materials, videos and one-on-one training — are available through the Respondus LDB tab in your Brightspace course.
The Respondus LDB is installed in public computers in locations used for exams. Many of these have webcams so the Monitor proctoring feature could be used there as well. Students must install the Respondus LDB on the computer they will use. They can access instructions, a link to the installer and a practice test in the Student Orientation and Information course in Brightspace.
Activating Respondus Lockdown Browser For Your Exam
Click on the Quizzes link to arrive at the Manage Quizzes page; click on the Lockdown Browser tab link at upper right.
- Dashboard: The default tabbed page. It lists all of the existing quizzes and shows whether the LDB and Monitor features are enabled yet.
- Help: Worth going through these other tabs to access the rich resources available to faculty there. Links to monthly webinars and to schedule one-on-one with trainers are here.
- Turn it on: To access LDB/Monitor settings for a given test, click on the angle caret button to the left of the quiz, then choose Settings from the drop-down menu. After the students have submitted their tests, come back here to click on Class Results to access the reports and to check on any flagged segments.
- Respondus LDB: if a test has been set to require the Respondus LDB, this column will display “Required”.
- Respondus Monitor: If a test has been set to require the Respondus Monitor, it will show here. Note: you can require just the Respondus LDB without the Monitor video proctoring. But the opposite is not available; you cannot choose to require the Monitor video proctoring without also requiring the LDB.
The first time you access the LDB / Monitor settings in a course, you may see an informational dialog box. Just read and click on Continue.
- When the Lockdown Browser Settings box appears, choose the Require option.
Click on the plus sign to expand Advanced Settings.
- Password: LDB does not require a test-specific password except for mixed remote/onsite delivery (see items 13a below). Put a password here if you are going to let some students take it onsite and some offsite.
- Advanced Settings: Click on the plus sign to expand additional LDB options.
- iPad: We recommend that you check off the setting to allow students to use an iPad.
- Access to an external domain: If students need to access something on the web during the test — for example, to watch a clinical video — you will need to check this off and enter the domain URL in the box that appears.
- Monitor video proctoring: Choose the radio dial button to Require Respondus Monitor. A list of items that students are required to do/check — the pretest checklist — are displayed. You are able to uncheck some options or adapt the displayed text for other options here.
Video proctoring options: none, recorded or live: Note that just beneath the Monitor option is another possible choice: use a “live” streaming video service such as Zoom or Teams. Respondus LDB will allow that software to run during the exam. No recording is made by Respondus, nor will it be analyzed. The proctor must remain vigilant during the test. To provide evidence, the proctor must make their own recordings for later possible investigation.
Respondus Monitor video proctoring records the student, runs automated analysis and leaves the instructor free to do other things during the test. You do not need to watch each individual recording afterward, either. The analysis flags potentially suspicious segments for you to review. Having these recordings automatically stored and available can make investigations easier to pursue and can serve as a deterrent factor.
- Facial Detection: We recommend that you leave these default settings. The automated detection of possible suspicious behavior relies upon facial analysis — where the eye focus is relative to the center of the screen, whether the head is turned for a significant time or out of view, etc. The default options here are to ensure that the automated analysis can run successfully.
- Advanced Settings (Monitor): click on the plus sign to expand the list.
- Allow the exam to be additionally be delivered in a proctored lab: If checked off, the student will be presented with a screen to select one of two options:
- Take with a webcam.
- Take in a proctored lab.
- If they select the Webcam option, they will be taken to the standard Monitor pretest series of checks.
- If they select the proctored lab, they will be asked for a password. The onsite proctor should then provide the password.
- You should not distribute the password to the students taking the test offsite, as they can then skip the Monitor video proctoring.
- Show your work. An additional recording step after test submission that allows them to show their papers for image capture by Monitor.
- Allow another application to use the microphone. Use this feature if you wish your students to record an answer. This will result in the loss of ambient audio from the Monitor recording.