Background:
Respondus LockDown Browser is licensed to Carson College of Business and the College of Veterinary Medicine for use in select WSU Canvas courses.
Respondus LockDown Browser is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within a learning management system and .
Respondus LockDown Browser can be used with Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes.
If Respondus is not available in your Carson College of Business or College of Veterinary Medicine course, please submit your request to ats.aoi@wsu.edu.
How LockDown Browser Works:
- Assessments are displayed full-screen and cannot be minimized
- Browser menu and toolbar options are removed, except for Back, Forward, Refresh and Stop
- Prevents access to other applications including messaging, screen-sharing, virtual machines, and remote desktops
- Printing and screen capture functions are disabled
- Copying and pasting anything to or from an assessment is prevented
- Right-click menu options, function keys, keyboard shortcuts and task switching are disabled
- An assessment cannot be exited until the student submits it for grading
- Assessments that are set up for use with LockDown Browser cannot be accessed with other browsers
LockDown Browser prevents a student from accessing other applications and personal files during an online exam, but it doesn’t access the personal files or documents itself, nor does it transmit those files to a Respondus server. Once an exam has started, LockDown Browser will additionally restrict access to certain functions of the operating system, such as printing and screen capture. When the assessment is complete, the locking/blocking features are turned off. LockDown Browser doesn’t do anything on the computer when the application isn’t in use. Microsoft recognizes LockDown Browser as a high-volume application and includes it as part of their Microsoft Windows Compatibility Program. Under this program, Microsoft tests LockDown Browser against each new release of Windows. Similarly, LockDown Browser for Mac is reviewed and notarized by Apple prior to each release of the browser. With over 300 million exams taken per year on managed computer and students’ own devices, it is the most widely used and trusted locked browser solution in Education.
If users have more specific questions, those should be directed to Respondus Technical Support.
Using Respondus LockDown Browser:
Before using Respondus LockDown Browser, it is advised that instructors view the Respondus Support overview videos.
Student Guidance
Provide the following link to students well in advance of the first assessment: Respondus LockDown Browser - Student.
After downloading Respondus LockDown Browser, students must log their browser out of Canvas, and log into Canvas using the LockDown Browser application to complete an assessment. A common issue is students attempting to take a Respondus-associated quiz from a normal browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari).
Once an exam has started, LockDown Browser will restrict access to certain functions of the operating system, such as printing and screen capture, as well as prompt for certain applications to be closed (e.g. Zoom, Teams). When the assessment is complete, the locking/blocking features are turned off and other applications can be re-opened for use.
Enabling Respondus LockDown Browser in your course:
Respondus LockDown Browser can be enabled in the course navigation on course settings page. The LockDown Browser navigation link will not be visible to students.
You can then use the Respondus integration to associate quizzes with LockDown Browser.
For more detailed information on using Respondus LockDown Browser with an assessment, please visit the Respondus Instructor Resource page or the Rollout Resource page.
Provisioning the Respondus LockDown Browser download link to Students:
If the student doesn’t have LockDown Browser installed, regardless of whether it’s Classic or New Quizzes, it should prompt them to install it. We automatically update the student version of LockDown Browser a few times a year otherwise we know students never would. If a student wanted to manually update it, they could click on the (i) icon in the toolbar (Windows) or the planet icon on a Mac to “check for update.”
There are a few reasons – one, students tend to search online for the download, will find your link, install the browser, and then it will not work if they are not at your institution. This has been known to cause issues for the Help Desk at institutions as those students could be directed to contact them if they launch the incorrect browser and it directs to them to the wrong institution's Canvas LMS.
Students are provided with the link in the course itself when a practice quiz is created, which is the best way to ensure that students have not only installed the browser, but know how to launch it and use it.
If you want to share the download instructions outside of a quiz, we recommend that it be posted within the course.
Respondus Support:
User issues should be addressed via Respondus support.
Respondus hosts a technical support portal for troubleshooting for common known issues.