How do I view Respondus Monitor videos?

When Respondus Monitor is enabled for a test, students are required to use a webcam and microphone with Respondus LockDown Browser. After the exam is complete, an instructor can review details of the assessment, even the recorded videos. The videos can only be viewed within the Blackboard course itself. Only the instructor role has rights to view the videos, or someone with higher login credentials (e.g., Blackboard administrator).

Tell Me

1. Return to the Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard in the Blackboard course. See How do I enable Respondus Monitor on a Blackboard test?

2. From the context menu to the left of the test title, select Class Results.
   
   
   

   Open

   

   Select class results

   
   
   
   

3. A roster of the students in the course is shown, along with the date, time, duration of the test, review priority, and grade (if applicable). 
   
   
   

   Open

   

   
   Review Priority is a comprehensive measure that conveys whether a student's exam session warrants a closer look by the instructor. Results appear in Low, Medium, and High categories with a green-to-red bar graph conveying the risk level.
   
   
   

4. Click [ + ] to expand the section for a student.

5. Details of the startup sequence and the exam session are shown in thumbnails. Click a thumbnail to view the video from the time indicated. Videos can be marked as reviewed or have comments added by the instructor. 
   
   
   

About Flagged & Milestone Events

Respondus Monitor generates a list of events from the exam session. "Flags" are events where a problem might exist, whereas "milestones" are general occurrences such as when the exam started, or when a question was answered.

Flagged Events*

• Missing from Frame — the student could not be detected in the video frame for a period of time.

• Different person in Frame — a different person from whom started the exam may have been detected in the video frame for a period of time.

• Multiple persons in Frame — multiple faces are detected in the video for a period of time.

• An Internet interruption occurred — a video interruption occurred as a result of an internet failure.

• Video frame rate lowered due to quality of internet connection — if a poor upload speed is detected with the internet connection, the frame rate is automatically lowered for the webcam video.

• Student exited LockDown Browser early — the student used a manual process to terminate the exam session early; the reason provided by the student is shown.

• Low Facial Detection — facial detection could not be achieved for a significant portion of the exam.

• A webcam was disconnected — the web camera was disconnected from the computing device during the exam.

• A webcam was connected — a web camera was connected to the computing device during the exam.

• An attempt was made to switch to another screen or application — indicates an application-switching swipe or keystroke combination was attempted.

• Video session terminated early — indicates the video session terminated unexpectedly, and that it didn't automatically reconnect before the exam was completed by the student.

• Failed Facial Detection Check — facial detection could not be achieved during the Facial Detection Check portion of the startup sequence.

• Student turned off facial detection alerts — the student selected "Don't show this alert again" when the facial detection alert appeared during the assessment. The student did not receive alerts after this.

Milestone Events*

• Question X Answered — an answer to the question was entered (or changed) by the student.

• Pre-Exam — the webcam recording that occurs between the environment check and the start of the exam.

• Exam Start — the start of the exam.

• End of Exam — the exam was submitted.

Important Tips about Flags

1) Flags aren't cheating. Flagged events and the Review Priority value don't determine whether a student has cheated or not. Rather, they are tools to help identify suspicious activities, anomalies, or situations where the data is of too low of a quality to analyze.

2) Facial detection is important. Several flagging events rely heavily on facial detection technology. If the face cannot be detected in the video, it isn't possible to determine if the test taker is "missing" or "different". If a student's face is turned away from the webcam or heavily cropped in the video (e.g. you can only see the student's eyes and forehead), facial detection rates will drop. Other things that affect facial detection rates are baseball caps, backlighting, very low lighting, hands on the face, and certain eye glasses.

3) There are more "false positives" than "true positives." Flags that rely on facial detection technology are often incorrect (known as a false positive). If a student is flagged as "missing" but he/she is still visible in the frame, this would be considered a false positive. A "true positive" is a suspicious behavior that is correctly identified by the flagging system. The goal is to reduce the false positive flags as much as possible, without missing the "true positive" events. It's not a perfect science — yet.

4) Garbage in, garbage out. You can achieve immediate improvement with automated flags that rely on facial detection by having students produce better videos. Provide these simple guidelines to students to help them create higher quality videos so the flagging system works better.

• Avoid wearing baseball caps or hats that extend beyond the forehead.

• If using a notebook computer, place it on a firm surface like a desk or table, not your lap.

• If the webcam is built into the screen, avoid making screen adjustments after the exam starts. A common mistake is to push the screen back, resulting in only the top portion of the face being recorded.

• Don't lie down on a couch or bed while taking an exam. There is a greater chance you'll move out of the video frame or change your relative position to the webcam.

• Don't take an exam in a dark room. If the details of your face don't show clearly during the webcam check, the automated video analysis is more likely to flag you as missing.

• Avoid backlighting situations, such as sitting with your back to a window. The general rule is to have light in front of your face, not behind your head.

• Select a distraction-free environment for the exam. Televisions and other people in the room can draw your attention away from the screen. Other people that come into view of the webcam may also trigger flags by the automated system.