Recommendations for Digital Exam Software for Higher Ed

[erooks1]

Hi Everyone,

I am interested in hearing about which learning tools other Higher Ed institutions are using to conduct digital exams. I work in the Learning Technology department of a business school; our courses range from 50 to 800 students. Digital exams are run on a Bring Your Own Device model, and we are currently using Canvas quizzes and Lockdown Browser as our main assessment tools.  As more and more faculty begin to conduct digital assessments, we find that our current model falls short in some areas:

• Quantitative assessments that require excel.
  • Respondus’ spreadsheet tool does not have the functionality required for finance exams and its lack of auto-save has caused issues for students when their computers crash or they lose internet.
  • We just need students to be able to access Excel on their computers in a secure exam environment.
• Importing questions from Word or Excel.
  • This isn’t a feature in Canvas.
• Managing question metadata in question banks (which course, which term, what version of quiz was used last year)
• Managing quiz versions
  • We have 800-person courses with 12 tutorial sections. Instructors are finding managing the different quiz versions in Canvas challenging.

We are looking for a comprehensive digital assessment tool that can offer both a secure exam experience while also improving the instructor’s experience with exam creation and management.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations.

Sincerely,

Emily

[ProfessorBeyrer]

This is a great question, @erooks1 and one that I hope gets lots of responses. Here's a resource shared by another Community member that helps with your question about converting MS Word documents to Canvas Quizzes:

Effortless Quiz Creation: Free Tool by Lawrence S. Ting School to Convert DOCX to QTI for Canvas LMS 

[tjslater]

I get an "unable to connect" error when trying to access the site - https://utility.lsts.edu.vn/convert-quiz

Edit: ITS filter to blame.

[KellyMartin09]

I am seeing the website okay

[tjslater]

I think our IT folks may have blocked the .vn domain - I CAN access it using a VPN...

[dspiel]

While on your colleges quiz tool I noticed a Canvas Tools tab on the page, but that one requires a Canvas login. What other cool tools is it your college has worked on?

[jaiyoung · Accepted solution]

HONORLOCK 1.3
Overview:
Honorlock is an automated, AI-driven remote proctoring tool integrated directly into Canvas. It is available for all FIU courses and does not require exam scheduling. It provides on-demand exam access within the instructor-defined timeframe.

Strengths:

• Fully integrated with Canvas Classic Quizzes

• No student scheduling required

• AI-based monitoring with video, audio, and screen recording

• Low or minimal cost (if any) to students

Limitations:

• Incompatible with Excel-based assessments or external file access

• No real-time human intervention during exams

• Not currently compatible with Canvas New Quizzes

Best Use:
Honorlock is ideal for low- to mid-stakes exams delivered within Canvas that do not require external tools like Excel.

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PROCTORU LIVE+
Overview:
ProctorU Live+ is a live online proctoring service that replicates in-person exam monitoring. It includes multi-factor identity verification, live screen and webcam monitoring, and direct student-proctor interaction.

Strengths:

• Allows students to access Excel or other desktop applications during exams

• Real-time proctoring enables intervention during technical issues or suspicious behavior

• Robust identity verification with webcam, screen share, and multi-step authentication

• Recently updated with integrated chat and expanded Chromebook support

Limitations:

• Students must pay a fee per exam (based on exam length)

• Requires advance scheduling

• Can be complex to manage for large-scale courses unless properly coordinated

Best Use:
ProctorU Live+ is the only viable solution for high-stakes exams requiring the use of Excel or external software in a secure environment.

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RESPONDUS LOCKDOWN BROWSER
Overview:
Respondus LockDown Browser is a custom browser that locks down the student’s testing environment during Canvas-based assessments. It prevents printing, screen switching, copy/paste, and web navigation.

Strengths:

• Integrated with both Classic and New Quizzes in Canvas

• Easy for instructors to set up with a practice quiz option

• No cost to students

• Does not require live scheduling

Limitations:

• Students cannot use Excel or access local files during an exam

• No auto-save feature; student work may be lost if the system crashes

• Some compatibility issues remain with newer tools in Canvas

• Currently shows outdated browser warnings to Mac users (known, non-blocking issue)

Best Use:
Respondus is best suited for simple assessments that can remain fully within Canvas and do not require access to other applications.

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Recommendation for Excel-Based Exams in Large Courses:
For courses that require quantitative assessments using Excel, particularly those with large enrollments and multiple tutorial sections, ProctorU Live+ is the most appropriate solution. It allows secure access to Excel, offers live proctoring, and supports flexibility in technical troubleshooting. While it introduces a cost to students, it is the only tool that addresses both the functional needs of the exam and the academic integrity requirements. In contrast, Honorlock and Respondus are effective for Canvas-native assessments but cannot accommodate the use of external tools like Excel, making them unsuitable for most finance-related testing scenarios.

Tool	Excel Support	Canvas Integration	Live Proctoring	Cost to Students	Ideal For
Honorlock	❌ Not supported	✅ Classic Quizzes only	❌ AI only	❌ Lowcost	On-demand, low-stakes exams
ProctorU Live+	✅ Supported	✅ Indirect (via external launch)	✅ Yes	❌ Paid	High-stakes, Excel-required exams
Respondus LockDown Browser	❌ Not supported	✅ Classic + New Quizzes	❌ None	✅ Free	Basic quizzes without external files

[RobDitto]

For what it's worth: we're an institutional customer of Honorlock and have known it to support New Quizzes for several years, with improvements to that support delivered in 2024.

Not meaning to be argumentative here; I was just surprised by the information above.  

[JaredWall]

Also worth noting that Excel will now be an option with Respondus:

Respondus Monitor will soon support switching to MS Excel during an online exam. This feature is scheduled for release on Thursday, May 29.

What to Know
• A new instructor setting for Respondus Monitor enables students to switch between an online exam and Excel.
• Screen Recording is required since the Excel environment is not locked down.
• The timeline for the proctoring results shows when Excel is used with corresponding video.