Respondus comes in two flavors at MSUB: Lockdown Browser (with or without Monitor) and Respondus 4.0 (a quizmaking software). Depending on your needs, you can find more information about them both below.

What is Respondus Lockdown Browser?

Lockdown Browser is a simple, easy way to keep your students focused on the quiz in front of them. When the Lockdown Browser is enabled on a quiz, the browser keeps students from browsing to other websites, opening other programs, or doing much else on their computer while the browser is running.

What is Respondus Monitor?

Respondus Monitor is an addition to the Lockdown Browser which acts as your eyes and ears (minus the ears) when your students are taking their tests. The monitor uses the student's webcam to track what they're doing while taking a quiz and alerts you afterwards to any potential discrepancies from expected behavior. Things like the student getting up from their seats, or a new face appearing. It's like you're there with them, just on your own time.

Things to know

  • Used for online proctoring of exams, quizzes, tests, etc.
  • Can be used syncrhonously or asynchronously (though it will always be individual and students cannot be viewed in real-time)
  • The Lockdown Browser and Monitor are fully integrated into D2L

Who uses Lockdown Browser and Monitor?

Everyone looking to proctor quizzes at MSUB has the option to use these tools. While it may not feel the same as in-person monitoring, because it's offered anytime, anywhere a student has a stable connection, it's got a lot of advantages over the classic style. Doesn't hurt that it's free too.

A Note

If used on campus, the student must select the "MSUB Mobile" option when connecting to wifi. The "MSUB visitor" connection is unsecured, and therefore incompatible with Lockdown Browser and Monitor.

Want more information?

Check out the Respondus official Webinar page for upcoming sessions and easy-to-follow tutorials on both Lockdown Brower and Respondus Monitor.

What is Respondus 4.0?

The quizmaker! Respondus 4.0 is an application available to us that allow you to take a normal doc, txt, or rtf file and turn it into a quiz, magic! Using it, you will set all of the properties and restrictions, and fix any formatting or spelling errors before bringing it into D2L. The package that it creates adds the quiz questions to your Question Library for you, including the creation of random sections. The files you feed into it do have formatting requirements to allow Respondus to translate it into a quiz.

Things to know

  • Used if quizzes are created in Word or other text file
  • Word documents are imported into Respondus, a system that repackages them for D2L
  • Respondus 4.0 exports into .zip file for D2L
  • If your document has marked answers or an answer key included make sure you don't upload it into the content area directly

Who uses Respondus 4.0?

Respondus 4.0 can involve some wrangling in order to get it to output a quiz package correctly, and may involve a substantial time investment. If you have a quiz built in a document and would like to put it in your course, contact us at e-Learning support. Any submitted documents need to have the correct answers marked. If you would prefer to use Respondus 4.0 yourself, it first needs to be installed on your university computer. Contact the faculty IT helpdesk for more information about installing it. After it is installed contact us at e-Learning support for usage information.

Other Quiz Options

As long as your quiz is well formatted and contains no attached answer key or marked correct answers, you may choose to put it directly into the Content area with the normal upload method. Doing it that way will require you to manually grade the quiz, and it will not show up with the normal quizzes icon in the content section. It should include the word "Quiz" or similar in the title to identify it.

This option has some drawbacks, including giving all students the ability to download and keep or share the quiz with other students. It may also be somewhat confusing to students who are used to taking quizzes from the "Quizzes" section.