Reposted with added commentary from DEIDS.on.uvu.edu.
The UVU Blackboard server now allows designers to require Respondus Lockdown Browser (LDB) on assessments. This means that if an assessment is set to use LDB, the end-user (test-taker) computer must have the free LDB software installed (Bb should prompt the user to install it before the assessment can be accessed). UVU’s Testing Center has installed LDB on all its computers and is testing it before next semester. We presume this is pointless unless the Bb assessment has LDB selected, but are looking into it. In any case where LDB is used to take an assessment, “lock down” happens according to Respondus’s descriptions–even if the exam itself is not triggered to require Lockdown. I asked Respondus to clarify the “switch” in Bb, and they responded this afternoon:
The “switch” in Blackboard and other course management systems helps insure (sic) that the assessment can only be taken with the Respondus LockDown Browser. Without enabling the switch, students can take the assessment using any browser they want, including the secure browser.
For Distance Ed this means that if an instructor wishes to use LDB, we must ensure proctor locations have the LDB software installed. This may require adding wording to the proctoring info web page. For the UVU Testing Center, if they make LDB the only web browser installed on lab computers, all assessments have no option but to be “locked down”.
Brian Swaney has written a lengthy post on LDB, explaining why he thinks it’s an awful idea that only inhibits cheating in limited scenarios, and though Brian’s post gets a little bit out of hand, I do agree with most of his points. Here’s a summary of these, some of which John Krutsch, Marc Hugentobler, and I have brought up in our conference sessions, “How to Cheat Online” and “The Cheatability Factor“:
- LDB may encourage institutions to take advantage of broadly accessible but ill-suited environments for testing, like open student computer labs.
- Unless the physical environment is also “locked down” the LDB will do little to inhibit cheating (crib notes, use of a 2nd computer, mobile devices).
- Unless student identities are verified, LDB does not prevent impersonation (note: LDB doesn’t claim to).
- There is a line between securing assessments and respecting student privacy. I don’t think LDB crosses it by any means, but Brian raises some legitimate concerns about requiring software installation.
- All technology, including LDB, can be hacked.
- The kinds of assessment best protected by LDB may not be good at assessing important kinds of learning. But LDB may be alluring as a (false) panacea for measuring all kinds of learning.
