In the era of 2019 when COVID-19 made its entrance into the world, all systems in the world got paralyzed no matter how essential they were for human existence. As the world was in lockdown, the educational system also got jammed up hence it all went into the online system.
All was well until examinations came into the part. Where students were enjoying their time in comfort and taking online classes, teachers were concerned about how to take exams when they could not invigilate themselves. That is when Lockdown Browser came into being. For students, the most common question was Does the lockdown browser tell you if you are flagged?
Well, you will find out in a bit so continue reading.
· What is Lockdown Browser?
A lockdown browser is a tool called Respondus for monetizing students about their activity during examinations. The lockdown browser or Respondus allows teachers to keep an eye on students’ computers, webcams, speakers, and any dashboard activities that may occur during examination.
· Flagged activities:
Flagged activities are those that are considered cheating in the online examination. And, this can vary in many forms. Students may copy and paste stuff, want to get access to any other browser, want to check notes and documents, and may also use keyboard shortcuts. All these things can get flagged on the lockdown browser.
· Does Lockdown Browser Flags Eye Movement?
Lockdown browser does monitor your eye movements in the sense that if you take your face completely off the screen. That doesn’t mean you will be unable to look at the keyboard as the built-in camera in your laptop can see you working on the keyboard.
· Does Lockdown Browser Flags Noise?
Lockdown browsers will surely be going to get flagged for noise because they may consider you as talking to someone else for help. Shut down your phone and any other gadgets that may produce voices, additionally, tell your family members to not disturb you while your assessment is going on.
· Does Lockdown Browser tell you if it’s recording?
The browser is not going to start recording until and unless it has been turned on by your teacher. The pop-up will be shown on your screen after the recording is initiated. The recording is usually for future purposes to negotiate if there were any activity that may get slipped during the examination period.
· What Do Teachers see on Lockdown Browser?
On Respondus aka Lockdown Browser teachers can see anything as it is not like a Zoom call or anything similar to it. Respondus is software installed in your system so it navigates with your system and monitors any unusual activity. Teachers can check your on-screen activities or can see recordings filmed by Respondus.
· Can Lockdown Browser see your Files?
No matter which files you are opening and no matter how confidential they are, if you have a lockdown browser you are being monitored during the exam as to which files you are getting accessed to. You should only open files that have been sent by your teachers’ e.g. online exam sheets or your school, college, or university slate.
· Do Teachers check the Lockdown Browser?
Well, it depends on the institution and the teacher itself. Sometimes teachers have to check students’ activities from the Lockdown Browser and attach a report with their respective exams and where it is not necessary teacher can also check whether the score the student obtained is clean or cheated.
· Does the Lockdown Browser detect other movements rather than students?
Respondus does respond to every movement that happens in the surroundings. If your mother comes into your room and gets given the Lockdown Browser it will flag it as inappropriate. Whether your mother talks to you and you respond to that, it will also be flagged because of your lip movement. It is advised to keep your exam in a private area or tell your family not to enter your room.
It is better to keep the safe side so the less interruption the better.
· Can you know if you get flagged on Lockdown Browser?
In Lockdown Browser you won’t be getting any notification or any means of getting to know that you are being flagged. At this point, you should know that Respondus doesn’t detect cheating but instead, it will inform your teacher about any suspicious activity that should not occur while doing the assessment.
· Is Lockdown Browser safe to use?
Respondus software is safe to use. Always download software from authentic sites to not install any additional malware. Also, the Lockdown browser doesn’t harm students’ computer systems in any way and it doesn’t run in the background after the exam is done. So, it will not be putting any system load.
· Is the Lockdown browser Legal to use?
The Lockdown browser is legal to use as it doesn’t invade one’s privacy instead only detects activities that it should be. Respondus doesn’t spy on students it is only an online invigilator that helps teachers to monitor hundreds of students as they cannot keep an eye on everyone simultaneously.
