Hi everyone,
With the shift to remote learning in Sydney and other states, and the timing of this with Year 12 and potentially Year 11 exams, there have been some conversations between schools around whether Schoolbox has an integration with one of the lockdown browser solutions.
Currently Schoolbox doesn't have an integration with any of the solutions out there. We did some testing the week before last with a free product called Safe Exam Browser - all seemed ok. Schoolbox is not endorsing it at this stage. Others have looked at Respondus, Procturo and Janison.
Respondus and Procturo look good, however schools identified that they don't monitor what students are doing ie via webcams etc - this requires another level of the product to be put in place.
I did a bit of an ask around a bunch of Schoolbox and non-Schoolbox schools last week on this issue. And then Gladys gave a date for Year 12 to return and for most schools the urgency for a solution abated.
Regardless, what I found overwhelmingly is that schools with a solution in place are still reluctant to use it for Trial HSC exams, and maybe even any other exams down the track. Whether it is a trust thing, Trials are too high stakes, or that they just haven't played with the software enough to this point - they were all opting for some alternative style assessment. The fact they would have to re-build their exams in quiz components of their chosen LMS was also a key factor.
Those alternatives included open book exams, reduced and modified assessments in lieu of a 3 hr Trial exam, or the easier return to school as per Gladys's announcement and sitting a pen and paper test. Some have already completed the Trial HSC and did so remotely and with students having to have Zoom running whilst completing their responses.
Schoolbox is looking to have an option down the track however it would be more on the medium term roadmap.
The fact that we saw schools needing to investigate options, then actually pull back, probably says to us the urgency isn't quite there right at the minute. The experience of the prolonged lockdown in Victoria last year showed exactly the same behaviour and responses.
I hope the sharing of this information helps in some way. If this is still high on the agenda in your school and completing exams in a remote setting is the only alternative at your school, please let me know.
Chris Durante