Safe Exam browser is an option within a traditional AsULearn quiz setting. Most faculty elect not to employ this feature. The officially supported enterprise technology for exam security on our campus is Respondus Lockdown Browser and Respondus Monitor.
Safe Exam Browser (SEB) is a customized web browser, available for Windows, macOS, and iOS. The application must be downloaded and installed on the device that the student uses to attempt the quiz. It controls access to resources like system functions (CTRL+C or V, Print Screen, etc), other websites, applications, and prevents unauthorized resources from being used during an exam. SEB runs on a local computer and it is connected via the internet to a learning management system. There is no support system for this technology beyond yourself, and the knowledge base we have on our team. Again, Respondus is the official 3rd-party service that we contract for exam security.
Be sure to have students use the Chrome browser to access Safe Exam Browser. There are known issues using Firefox. |
If a quiz needs to be taken using the Safe Exam Browser, then SEB settings can be configured by the teacher in the quiz settings under the Safe Exam Browser section.
If SEB has been enabled, students can only attempt the quiz using the Safe Exam Browser.
- To avoid situations where learners do not know if Safe Exam Browser works on their own computers, add a SEB sample quiz with a few sample questions to the course (not necessarily related to the course topic). A practice exam is a place for students to test if SEB works on their devices.
- Question types that require JavaScript (such as dragging, aligning, etc.) may not work in a quiz with SEB configuration. When using these types of questions, it is necessary to test in advance the entire quiz in Safe Exam Browser.
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Step-by-step guide
- Within the traditional AsULearn Quiz, click on the Settings tab from the Quiz page, go to the Safe Exam Browser section, and toggle 'Require the use of Safe Exam Browser' to one of the following options. We recommend Yes - Configure Manually.
Configure manually
Here you can configure Safe Exam Browser manually. You can use default settings specified here or change them. Here you can also specify whether learners can access other programs or web addresses. By default, student cannot open other programs or web pages at the same time that Safe Exam Browser is running.
Upload my own config
You can upload your own Safe Exam Browser configuration file (extension .seb). All manual settings and the use of templates will be disabled. With this setting, for example, you can use configuration file of an existing quiz and upload it here.
Use SEB client config
No configurations of Safe Exam Browser are on the AsULearn (Moodle) side. The quiz can be attempted with any configuration of Safe Exam Browser.
- Settings within Manual Configuration:
Show Safe Exam Browser download button - Determines whether a button for Safe Exam Browser download will be shown on the quiz start page. YES
Show Exit Safe Exam Browser button, configured with this quit link - In this field, you can enter a link to quit Safe Exam Browser. It will be used on an "Exit Safe Exam Browser" button on the page that appears after the exam is submitted. Clicking the button or a link to the same URL placed wherever you want to put it, it is possible to quit Safe Exam Browser without having to enter a quit password. If the field is left empty, then the "Exit Safe Exam Browser" button does not appear and there is no link set to quit Safe Exam Browser. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually.
Ask user to confirm quitting - If enabled, users have to confirm quitting of Safe Exam Browser when a quit link is detected. Note this setting does just affect quitting with the quit link and doesn't affect quitting with the "Quit" button, Ctrl-Q or the close button in the main browser window. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually.
Enable quitting of SEB - Set whether users can quit Safe Exam Browser with the "Quit" button in the Safe Exam Browser task bar or by pressing the keys Ctrl-Q or by clicking the main browser window close button. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually or Yes – Use an existing template.
Quit password - Here, it is possible to provide a password which is prompted when users try to quit Safe Exam Browser with the "Quit" button, Ctrl-Q or the close button in the main browser window. If no quit password is set, then Safe Exam Browser just prompts "Are you sure you want to quit Safe Exam Browser?". Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually or Yes – Use an existing template.
Enable reload in exam - Used to allowing page reload during a quiz (reload button in Safe Exam Browser task bar, browser tool bar, iOS side slider menu, keyboard shortcut F5/cmd+R). Offline caching might break when the user tries to reload a page without internet connection. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually.
Show SEB task bar - Set whether users are shown the Safe Exam Browser task bar. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually.
Show reload button - Set whether users are shown the reload user interface element in the task bar bottom right corner. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Show SEB task bar is set to Yes.
Show time - Set whether users are shown an element in the task bar with the current time. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Show SEB task bar is set to Yes.
Show keyboard layout - Set whether users are shown an element in the task bar to choose the keyboard layout. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Show SEB task bar is set to Yes.
Show Wi-Fi control - Set whether users are shown an element in the task bar to choose the Wi-Fi. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Show SEB task bar is set to Yes.
Enable audio controls - Set whether users are shown an element in the task bar to change the audio volume. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Show SEB task bar is set to Yes.
Mute on startup - Set whether the audio volume is initially mute when Safe Exam Browser launches. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Show SEB task bar as well as Enable audio controls is set to Yes.
Enable spell checking - Set whether spell checking is enabled in Safe Exam Browser. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually.
Enable URL filtering - Set whether URL filtering is enabled in Safe Exam Browser. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually.
Filter also embedded content - Set whether URL filtering applies to embedded content, too, in Safe Exam Browser. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Enable URL filtering is set to Yes.
Expressions allowed - Insert a set of simple expressions URL are tested against and allowed for accessing during an exam. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Enable URL filtering is set to Yes.
Regex allowed - Insert a set of regular expressions URL are tested against and allowed for accessing during an exam. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Enable URL filtering is set to Yes.
Expressions blocked - Insert a set of simple expressions URL are tested against and blocked for accessing during an exam. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Enable URL filtering is set to Yes.
Regex blocked - Insert a set of regular expressions URL are tested against and blocked for accessing during an exam. Can only be set if Require the use of Safe Exam Browser is set to Yes – Configure manually and Enable URL filtering is set to Yes.
Allowed browser exam keys - Insert allowed Browser Exam Keys for versions of Safe Exam Browser that are permitted to access this quiz. If no keys are entered, then Moodle does not check Browser Exam Keys. Can only be set if "Require the use of Safe Exam Browser" is set to "Yes – Upload my own config" or "Yes – Use SEB client config". When using the option "Yes – Upload my own config", you have to re-download the configuration file from the attempt quiz page (using the button "Download Configuration") and use that file to calculate the Browser Exam Key in each SEB version you want to allow for this quiz. These re-calculated Browser Exam Keys you need to copy-paste into the "Allowed browser exam keys" field (each key on a new line). The reason for this is that Moodle changes the Start URL setting value and formatting of the configuration file you initially uploaded to the quiz settings, therefore the Browser Exam Key changes. This doesn't apply when using the option "Yes – Use SEB client config". Remember that using the Config Key, which Moodle automatically calculates, is much easier.
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