Proctoring

[ian10]

Hi

Looking at creating some formal quizzes, but it would be great if there was a way to detect if the students have switched from the quiz page to say Google to search for the answer, and if it does automatically close the attempt.

We don't use any third party proctoring tools, e.g. Respondus etc.

Does anyone know of a totally free option to this?

Thanks

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @ian10,

I honestly don't think there is a technically viable way to do this outside of proctoring/monitoring tools like Respondus.  The reason I say that is because for this to happen in Canvas itself, web browsers would have to be sharing all kinds of data that they currently don't, and doing so could really be a security nightmare.  A browser will let a page know if it's lost "focus", which usually means the user went to another app or tab, but no details beyond that.  Canvas does generally include this in the quiz log, but I understand it's not especially helpful when you don't know exactly where the student went.  A browser could technically know where the user went if it was another tab, but I'm not sure I'd want chrome to start reporting to every website I had open in a tab where else I was visiting at that moment, which is what this would require.  Likewise, if the user opened another app, the operating system would have to start reporting that back to the browser, and I just don't ever see that happening.  That's why these proctoring/monitoring programs all run generally as system apps so they can try to monitor all this as well as grab screenshots.  I suppose someone could make some sort of free/open-source software to do this, but I haven't encountered anything like that myself yet.

I hope this info is helpful, even if it's not what you were hoping to hear.

-Chris

[SenoraKelley]

Have you tried creatin a quiz and using "view as student" tool to see what happens?

[ian10]

Hi

Yep, been down that road, it is still possible to open another tab or browser window to search for the answers 😒

[ian10]

Still looking for an answer, anyone got any ideas?

[MDagne]

Hi. I don't have an idea but wanted to share this other related thread on the topic. Solved: Lock tabs or have quizzes "pop out" - Instructure Community - 450070 (canvaslms.com)

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @ian10,

I honestly don't think there is a technically viable way to do this outside of proctoring/monitoring tools like Respondus.  The reason I say that is because for this to happen in Canvas itself, web browsers would have to be sharing all kinds of data that they currently don't, and doing so could really be a security nightmare.  A browser will let a page know if it's lost "focus", which usually means the user went to another app or tab, but no details beyond that.  Canvas does generally include this in the quiz log, but I understand it's not especially helpful when you don't know exactly where the student went.  A browser could technically know where the user went if it was another tab, but I'm not sure I'd want chrome to start reporting to every website I had open in a tab where else I was visiting at that moment, which is what this would require.  Likewise, if the user opened another app, the operating system would have to start reporting that back to the browser, and I just don't ever see that happening.  That's why these proctoring/monitoring programs all run generally as system apps so they can try to monitor all this as well as grab screenshots.  I suppose someone could make some sort of free/open-source software to do this, but I haven't encountered anything like that myself yet.

I hope this info is helpful, even if it's not what you were hoping to hear.

-Chris

[ian10]

Thanks Chris,

Explains a lot, looks like if we are going to get serious about this then we may need to take a long look at the various third party packages.

Appreciate the nice feedback.

Ian

[JosephSpada]

My account is via Seattle College, so features could be different. However, there used to be an option to monitor quizzes live, while students were taking the quiz.

Go into a locked quiz and click "Let Students Take The Quiz." Then, the top right Elipis menu had several options: monitor the quiz live, or use the SpeedGrader.

I can't remember what this option was called/named, but I used it ALL THE TIME during quizzes and final exams. You could see in real-time students who finished and their scores. You could also allow another attempt, give more time to individual students, and if clicking on a student name, it would open another screen showing if they switched to another browser window, not scrolling, what questions they viewed, answered etc. It was PHENOMENAL!

Unfortunately, I imported my course and all the quizzes and finals into the new Canvas version, and this feature seems to have vanished—I cannot find it at all; I can only see the option to view the SpeedGrader.

I really miss this feature and would love to figure out if it's been removed or if I am missing something.

window,.

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @JosephSpada,

I believe you're referring to the moderation area for a Canvas quiz.  For New Quizzes, navigating to that area is slightly different, and the info providedis also slightly different, but you'll have access to a lot of similar things.  The How do I use the Moderate page in New Quizzes? - Instructure Community - 616 guide should walk you through the stept to get to the right area and the different thing you can do once you're there.

Hope this helps!

-Chris

[JosephSpada]

Thank you very much - Moderate Quiz is it!