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  • Jenzabar eLearning 2024.1 Faculty Guide
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  • Using Respondus LockDown Browser

Using Respondus LockDown Browser

This chapter offers additional details and guidance on Respondus LockDown Browser, a secure browser you might wish to require for online tests.

Note

If you are looking for help specifying that LockDown Browser be required for a particular test, note that this is a setting you can configure when you create or modify the assignment. The field that you use to require the browser is Security.

LockDown Browser is a customized browser that increases the security of online testing. When students use LockDown Browser to access a test, they are unable to print, copy, go to another URL or use other applications. Students are locked into a test until it is submitted for grading.

Tip

For a student to take a test using LockDown Browser, the browser must first be installed on the student’s computer.

The browser installer provides a custom interface for the Edge (Windows) or Safari (Macintosh) software that is already installed on the computer. The locked-browser installer does not modify existing copies of Edge or Safari, but rather installs a separate program that will display the custom browser when it is started.

LockDown Browser uses the same security features and service packs that are currently installed for Edge or Safari. Installing LockDown Browser won’t modify the current version of Edge or Safari in any way.

Feature List

LockDown Browser creates a “locked” testing environment for eLearning online tests. It includes the following features, among others:

  • Tests are displayed full-screen and cannot be minimized.

  • Tests cannot be exited until submitted by students for grading.

  • Task switching is prevented, as are any attempts to access other applications.

  • Printing functions are disabled.

  • Print Screen and capturing functions are disabled.

  • Copying and pasting anything to and from a test is prohibited.

  • Right-click menu options are disabled (Windows); key + click options are disabled (Macintosh).

  • Browser menu and toolbar options are disabled except Back, Forward, Refresh, and Stop.

  • Function keys (F1-F12) are disabled.

  • Source code for the HTML page cannot be viewed.

  • URLs cannot be typed.

  • Hundreds of screen capture, messaging, screen-sharing and network monitoring applications are blocked from running.

  • The browser automatically starts when the student launches a test that requires LockDown Browser (by clicking the links labeled Start the test, Resume the test, or Launch the locked browser to review your test).

  • Links in questions that point to other servers don’t compromise the “locked” testing environment.

  • Pages from the test aren’t cached or stored in the browser’s history.

Note

LockDown Browser is not intended to replace the browser typically used by faculty or students within eLearning. LockDown Browser is only intended for use by students while taking tests that have been prepared for use with locked browser. The locked browser has not been tested for use in other areas of eLearning.