Respondus Updates - June 2023

In the coming weeks, a number of updates will be made to Respondus Lockdown Browser and its monitoring system. While the user experience will be largely unchanged for the students, instructors will notice new features and enhancements to Lockdown Browser’s existing features. The changes discussed below will begin rolling out in the coming weeks and will occur over a period of 1-2 months.

Student Screening

Respondus Monitor, the feature that prevents students from accessing unapproved resources, runs on top of Lockdown Browser. However, this feature was limited to only recording students through their webcams. Student Screening will now enable instructors to record their students’ screens during an exam. The screen recording setting is controlled by the instructor on a per exam basis.

Respondus Vision

Respondus Monitor has a new computer vision engine that will improve the accuracy of flagging, which will reduce the number of false positive flags. Instructors will also receive notice of multiple faces being detected in instances where exams may be taken in a public space. 

Tilt Camera Down

Respondus will give students specific instructions on how to adjust the camera if there needs to be a downward adjustment. This will reduce the number of notifications they receive to sit upright to address a face detection warning. 

Fewer Video Interruptions

A new video recording method will reduce the number of “video interruption” warnings when reviewing proctoring results. If a connection interrupt occurs, this is addressed by storing segments of the student’s videos on their device. Lockdown Browser will then upload those segments when the connection is restored.

Higher Video Quality

Video recordings will be sharper during playback. This particularly applies to older webcams or students on slower networks.

Faster Proctoring Results

It would generally take Respondus 2 to 8 hours after the submission of an exam to deliver proctoring results. Moving forward, proctoring results will be made available in under 30 minutes for most sessions.

Faster Pre-exam Steps

Students are given a series of pre-exam steps that must be completed before starting an exam. Moving forward, completing these steps will require less time.

Sensitivity Levels

Instructors will be able to choose security levels for the flagging system. This selection will appear on the proctoring results page. Using this will cause Lockdown Browser to recalculate all  results and reorganize the results by score.

Algorithm Fairness

Respondus Monitor has been periodically tested to ensure that the age, gender, and skin tone don’t impact the proctoring results of the students (read more here). This process now occurs every time the code is modified to ensure that Respondus Monitor remains fair and equitable to all users.