NEWS

Leading edge IT tutor, Anita Murphy, had her students’ welfare at the forefront of her mind when she organised for her Year 3 Bachelor of Information Technology students to sit their mid-year assessment exam online whilst quarantined. To make this happen, she was strongly supported by Anna Crooks, IT Operations and Projects Manager, and her team. Anita and Anna trialled a web browser, Respondus Lockdown Monitor, and discovered that it worked flawlessly.

The alternative was to wait until the students were back onsite and sit the exam at a later date. However, if they had waited, it would have meant students would have faced completing all assessments for this paper, plus the other papers they are studying, in a very concentrated period when back on campus. Undertaking the exam as scheduled relieved the pressure on students as they will not have to face such concentrated assessment periods.
 
But how do students sit an online exam in isolation and resist the urge to cheat?

To ensure cheating did not occur, webcam and microphone monitoring systems were installed remotely on the students’ computers by the Information Technology Services team. Respondus Lockdown Monitor, a specially designed web browser, does not allow access to the internet, or any communication services (such as Skype or Facebook Messenger), or any other software on the computer. The entry process involved showing a 360 of the room, and the student showing their student ID card. A full video and audio of each student throughout the exam was also captured and retained for later review should this be required for later investigation.

The process worked flawlessly from a technological and student perspective, and the students were very excited to be the first to use the new system at SIT.