Respondus-lockdown -browser | Thomas' Work Space

Audio player error message involving “pluginfile.php” in Moodle quiz

2014/02/24 plagwitz Leave a comment

LRC assistants may get called by students with this error regarding pluginfile.php in a Moodle quiz, it appears in the audio player interface itself and looks like this:
1. The error messages flashes only briefly, and afterwards the audio simply will not play.
2. In a Respondus lockdown browser quiz, you can bring up the error message again by clicking “next” and then resuming the attempt. When the quiz page reloads, the error message will briefly flash again.
LRC assistants cannot work around this error, they need to alert permanent staff. Usually it is related to a quiz author needing to update the audio file link, like so:
1. Go into the quiz, on the left, click “edit the quiz”):
2. Find the audio file link, edit the link:
  1. Can you actually load the link? If it says “file not found”, you have the root cause:
  3. Does it say “draft” in there? Not good. Copy the unique identifier from the path:
3. Go to in Moodle course / Files section, locate the offending file (you can use the unique id you put in the clip board to search), i.e. make sure it actually exists:
4. Get the correct URL for the file, puit it int the clipboard:
5. Go back to editing the quiz, update the wrong URL with the correct one.
6. Save the updated quiz.
Now the student can reload the quiz, if in Respondus lockdown browser, like above by clicking “next”and back.

Categories: assignments, audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, lms Tags: audio, moodle, Respondus-lockdown -browser

FAQs for issues with Respondus Lockdown Browser

2014/02/18 plagwitz Leave a comment

New to Respondus Quizzes? Read the CTL’s write-up.
No Photo ID (Niner ID or other state-issued)? Use the reception desk camera to take a photo with sheet, like below, we will forward it to the teacher for verification.
Issues with starting:
1. Respondus won’t open: How to bypass a Moodle Popup Window when using Respondus lockdown browser
2. Test won’t open and you get a warning
  1. in Moodle that this test must be run in Respondus Lockdown Browser? Close your regular web browser and double click on the desktop on the Moodle Lockdown Browser Icon:, then go to Moodle2 from in there.
  2. in Respondus that “No more attempts are allowed”, but the student has not made any attempts yet and the quiz closing date is long in the past: contact the teacher to check whether the quiz needs updating.
Issues with Audio:
1. Students are advised to test the headsets before entering Respondus Lockdown browser assessments:
  1. Start Audacity from the desktop, click record: if you say something, you must see something;
  2. Play back to test the speakers. Hear nothing? Try the volume knob:
  3. (More detail here).
2. Rewind-audio may get you stuck – to fix, next-page, then back (reloads page). More info: How to workaround Moodle quiz audio not playing to the end in Respondus Lockdown Browser
3. How to bypass a Moodle Popup Window when using Respondus lockdown browser
4. If no audio and error “pluginfile” flashes when clicking “Next”and back: notify permanent staff.
Issues with Writing:
1. Lost the ?
  1. Clicking around nearby where it was may bring it back.
  2. Or , quickly cancel (gets you out of lockdown browser), new attempt from desktop shortcut.
  3. Learn to use the installed US-international keyboard shortcuts. .
  4. more info: Problems with accented characters in Respondus Lockdown Browser
2. If your keyboard stops typing in English in a Respondus lockdown browser quiz…
Issues with finishing
1. If the test won’t submit, start Respondus lockdown browser on a different computer to see whether you can resume your attempt there.
More issues? Let us know in the comments here.

Categories: assessments, assignments, audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, Glitches&Errors, Listening-Stations, lms, service-is-testing-troubleshooting-debugging Tags: FAQs, moodle, Respondus-lockdown -browser

If your keyboard stops typing in English in a Respondus lockdown browser quiz…

2014/01/24 plagwitz Leave a comment

Short answer
1. press key combination LEFT ALT + SHIFT, then try typing:
2. Are you back at typing in English?
  1. If not, repeat, until you are.
  2. If yes: Do not rejoice too soon. Try inserting a character with the Respondus Lockdown Browser accent bar. If it only inserts a “?“, then repeat also, until this works also.
Long answer
1. The Respondus Lockdown browser blocks use of most key combinations, but not this default combination on Windows for switching keyboard languages (and it cannot – the user may need access to other language keyboards for the quiz!).
2. A user may inadvertently have switched the keyboard from the default (which works fine in most language quizzes in Respondus).
3. The Respondus Lockdown browser hides the language toolbar near the notification are in the lower right, so the change is not obvious, and also cannot be undone from the menu there.

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students Tags: FAQs, moodle, Respondus-lockdown -browser

Exam integrity considerations during mock and proctored written exams in the LRC

2013/11/17 plagwitz Leave a comment

The easiest way to hold a mock or proctor a written exam in the LRC is provide the students a printout of the exam. For larger classes preparing, and under some circumstances (writing impediment due to injury), providing the MS-Word file on a computer to the student would seem a more convenient solution.

However, the LRC prides itself in the large collection of MS-Office proofing tools it has installed and preconfigured – accessing which from within MS-Word could be construed as cheating during a writing exam. As a matter of fact, since MS-Word auto-detects language, under-waving of misspelled words and incorrect Grammar provides unsolicited and unavoidable extra help.

MS-Office proofing tools could be turned off by using a special MS-word template as the basis for the exam. Easier and quicker is using the SANAKO which can not only block internet access of the examined students, but also block use of entire applications like MS-Word.

Instead of in MS-Word, your students could write their responses in an application that is not part of the proofing tools infrastructure, like Notepad. Western language diacritics can easily be written in any application on LRC PCs thanks to US-International keyboard layout, and non-Western characters even easier than on paper.

For full security, the best environment for exams we can offer remains Respondus lockdown browser, integrated with Moodle, but this requires converting the exam to into a Moodle quiz (which Respondus has tools to facilitate). In certain cases, it might be easiest to create a “dummy” quiz with one long text input field, which your students could type everything in, without having access to any other resources (internet, proofing tools, chat, what not…). However, this quiz still would have to be in your Moodle course so that your students can access access, and their results get put into your gradebook.

Outside of Moodle – if you do not want to go down the Respondus-path – , you can rely on the SANAKO homework collection feature and my langlabemailer to receive the results.

Categories: audience-is-teachers, English, French, lms, office-software, Writing Tags: IELTS, moodle, proctoring, proofing-tools, Respondus-lockdown -browser, sanako-study-1200, testing

How to workaround Moodle quiz audio not playing to the end in Respondus Lockdown Browser

2013/10/26 plagwitz Leave a comment

Problem:
1. The Moodle 2 audio player tends to get stuck (= does not play to end; not pictured) after you moved fast forward or backward on the timeline with your mouse.
2. Respondus Lockdown browser has is a page refresh button, but you cannot refresh the page since this might erase data you already inputted. .
Workaround:
1. At the bottom of the page, click , or use the Quiz navigation to browse to another page.
2. On the Submit page, click “Return to attempt”, or on another quiz page, use once more the “quiz navigation” to browse back.
3. This seems to refresh the page, including the audio players, without erasing answers you already inputted.

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students Tags: 2, FAQs, moodle, Respondus-lockdown -browser

New issues with Respondus-lockdown-browser

2013/09/04 plagwitz Leave a comment

Problem description:
1. Upon starting the quiz, Students are asked to select the right Moodle server (assuming Moodle2 is the right answer – how long will this step be necessary?)
2. When they are finished with the quiz, Students receive a combined “Ar required parameter is missing” (a link with “more information on this error” is offered underneath the red error message, but cannot be opened) and “Link is blocked” error
3. before they reach the “SAVED” screen with the “submit all and finish”button: Meaning their attempt was not saved and since it cannot be submitted, will be lost.
4. When logging in on a different computer, and starting the quiz in Lockdown browser, it tells students that the attempt is in progress,
5. upon continue, they have to start afresh (nothing has been saved).
6. This is on version from Dec 6 , 2012.
Workaround: Restarting the quiz on a different computer has been the best workaround I have seen so far.