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Setting Up Respondus with Blended Teaching Quizzes in Canvas

How to use Respondus with your Blended Teaching quizzes.

Blended Teaching allows you to use your university's proctoring tools to oversee your quizzes in Blended Teaching. This guide shows you how to set that up for Respondus in Canvas. There is a separate guide for Honorlock here.

This guide is split into the following steps:

  1. Configure Proctoring In Blended Teaching

  2. Install the Textbook in Canvas

  3. Create Wrapper Quizzes in Canvas

  4. Adjust Wrapper Quiz Settings and Save

  5. Configure Respondus LockDown Browser Settings

  6. Re-Organize & Publish

  7. Testing it Works

  8. Repeating the Course Next Semester

1. Configure Proctoring in Blended Teaching

The first step is tell your Blended Teaching Control Center that you want to proctor a quiz with Respondus.

To do this:

  1. Go to Blended Teaching at educators.blended-teaching.com and find the relevant textbook Control Center.

  2. Go to the quizzes page and find the quiz that you want proctored.

  3. Select the three dots on the right of the quiz, and select Settings.

  4. Scan down on the Setting page to find the Proctoring section.

  5. Check the Enable Proctoring box and then from the dropdown, select Respondus LockDown Browser + Monitor, and then Save Changes.

  6. Repeat this process for each of the quizzes you want proctored.

2. Install the Textbook in Canvas

If you have already installed your textbook in your LMS, and your Blended Teaching quizzes are already inside Canvas, skip this step, and go to the next step, 3.

This step only relates to people who are intending to install their textbook into Canvas using the Common Cartridge method, but haven't yet done so.

Once you've selected the appropriate proctoring setting for your quizzes, your course is prepared, and you are ready to install your textbook in Canvas, complete the steps listed in this guide.

Once you have installed the textbook, you will notice that in Canvas, in the Assignments page, you have 2 quizzes for each of the proctored quizzes. In the example show below, we are proctoring 4 exams, but not the quizzes.

The reason for the 2 quizzes rather than the usual 1 is as follows:

  • One of the quizzes is the original quiz, linked to Blended Teaching.

  • The other may appear in another Group in the Assignments page of Canvas. It carries a 🚀 rocket icon and has "(Respondus)" - or something similar - after the name of the quiz. This is what we call a Wrapper Quiz, and is created specifically for Respondus.

If you see these 2 for each of your proctored quizzes, it means the installation has succeeded.

If you have just completed this step 2, skip ahead to step 4.

3. Create Wrapper Quizzes in Canvas

If your quizzes have already been installed in Canvas before you switched on the proctoring service in Blended Teaching, then this step is for you.

After enabling proctoring in your Blended Teaching Control Center, you then create a corresponding quiz in Canvas to launch the proctored Blended Teaching assessment, which we call a Wrapper Quiz.

This means each proctored quiz will actually have 2 Assignments in Canvas. This sounds odd, but the reason for the 2 assignments rather than the usual 1 is as follows:

  • One of the quizzes is the original quiz, linked to Blended Teaching.

  • The other, the Wrapper Quiz, is created specifically to make Respondus work.

Follow these steps exactly in order.

3.1. Check Assignment Link Setting

  1. Navigate to the Assignments page in Canvas and find the Blended Teaching quiz you plan to proctor.

  2. Click the three dots on the right and select Edit.

  3. When the Edit Assignment box opens, select More Options.

  4. Ensure the checkbox for Load This Tool In A New Tab is checked and then Save.

  5. Repeat for each of the quizzes you intend to proctor.

3.2. Create and Configure the Wrapper Quiz

  1. In Canvas, go to the Quizzes page and click + Quiz.

  2. Choose Classic Quizzes and click Submit.

  3. Under the Details tab, give your quiz a Name (ideally the same name as in Blended Teaching).

  4. You can leave the main Quiz Instructions box empty.

  5. Don't leave this page, carry on to the next step.

3.3. Add the Link via a "Text (no question)" Question

  1. Select the Questions tab at the top of the quiz editor and click + New Question.

  2. From the question type dropdown menu, select "Text (no question)".

  3. In the Rich Content Editor box, enter clear instructions for your students. Feel free to copy and paste the example instructions below.

Instructions:

  1. Click the link below to launch your assessment. It will open in a new browser tab.

  2. Use the password below to access the assessment.

  3. Complete and submit your assessment in the new tab.

  4. Close the quiz tab to return to this Canvas page.

  5. Click the "Submit Quiz" button below to finalize your attempt.

Begin Your Assessment:

  • The Respondus password to start this assessment is: [password]

  • Click here to start the assessment: [link]

Do not exit this page yet. There's more to do. We now want to replace the [password] and [link] with the correct details.

3.3.1. Add the Password

  1. Go to the Quiz page of the Blended Teaching Control Center, find the quiz you are currently setting up in Canvas, click on the three dots and click Settings.

  2. On the Settings page for the quiz, scroll down to the Proctoring section, and copy the password.

  3. Go back to Canvas, and replace the [Password] text with the password you copied.

Do not exit this page yet. There's more to do.

3.3.2. Add in the Link to the Blended Teaching Quiz

  1. In the Canvas Rich Content Editor box, delete the word [link].

  2. Place your cursor where the word used to be.

  3. Find the menu option Links > Course Links. Expand the Assignments section and select the related Blended Teaching quiz you want to link. This will now create a link to that quiz.

Do not exit this page yet. There's more to do.

3.3.3. Edit the Link

  1. Now we want to edit that link. Be careful to do this exactly as we show.

  2. Select the HTML Editor in the View menu dropdown for the Message Text box.

  3. Find the text for the direct link that you have added. The exam name will be listed twice. Find the > that precedes the second time the exam name is listed and paste target="_blank" in front of it.

  4. Click Update Question to save and take you out of the question editing window.

  5. Then click Save. The quiz is now set up to open in a new tab/window.

  6. Repeat this process for each of your proctored quizzes.

Copy this and paste it in to the relevant place:

target="_blank"

EXAMPLE HTML BEFORE

            <p class="intercom-interblocks-align-left">Click here to start the assessment: <a title="🧠 Exam 2 (Proctoring Example)" href="/courses/193743/assignments/2577220" data-course-type="assignments" data-published="true">🧠 Exam 2 (Proctoring Example)</a></p>

EXAMPLE HTML AFTER ADDING target="_blank"

            <p class="intercom-interblocks-align-left">Click here to start the assessment: <a title="🧠 Exam 2 (Proctoring Example)" href="/courses/193743/assignments/2577220" data-course-type="assignments" data-published="true" target="_blank">🧠 Exam 2 (Proctoring Example)</a></p>

4. Adjust Wrapper Quiz Settings and Save

You now have Wrapper Quizzes that are set up for each of your Proctored Quizzes. Now we need to set the settings for the Wrapper Quizzes.

  1. For each Wrapper Quiz, go to the Details tab.

  2. Set the Time Limit. A good practice is to make the Canvas Quiz time limit at least 5 minutes longer than the time set in Blended Teaching.

  3. Under the Assign box, set the Available from and Until dates to match the window you set in the Blended Teaching Control Center.

  4. Click Save. Do not publish yet.

5. Configure Respondus LockDown Browser Settings

5.1. LockDown Browser Settings

[gif]

  • From your course navigation menu, select LockDown Browser.

  • Find the quiz you just created and click the dropdown arrow to its left.

  • Select Settings.

  • Select "Require Respondus LockDown Browser for this exam."

  • IMPORTANT: Do not add a Password / Access Code.

  • Don't leave this page yet, as we've more to do in the next step.

5.2. Monitor Webcam Settings (Optional)

  1. If you are using webcam proctoring, select "Require Respondus Monitor for this exam."

  2. Choose your desired startup sequence options (e.g., Webcam Check, Student Photo, ID Check).

5.3. Advanced Settings

  1. Click the "+" to expand the Advanced Settings.

  2. Select the checkbox for "Allow access to specific external web domains."

  3. Copy and paste the list of URLs from the box below, into the text box in Canvas.

  4. The final URL in the text is "[Your Specific LMS URL]". Delete this and replace it with your institutions specific Canvas domain (e.g., your-school.instructure.com or canvas.your-school.edu). This is the URL you see in your browser's address bar when logged into Canvas. In the above gif example we used "canvas.fau.edu", but you should not use this, only use the one for your institution.

  5. Once completed, scan down and click Save + Close.

Copy this text:

library.blended-teaching.com,canvas.instructure.com,connect.blended-teaching.com,mayflower.blended-teaching.com,[Your Specific LMS URL]

6. Re-Organize & Publish

Now that you have created the Respondus Wrapper Quizzes, we want to remove the original Blended Teaching quizzes from the Modules or Home pages, and replace them with the Wrapper Quizzes.

  1. Navigate to your Home or Modules page, wherever you intend for the students to access the proctored quiz.

  2. Remove the original Blended Teaching quiz by clicking the 3 dots to the right and selecting Remove.

  3. Then click on the + in the Module bar (grey bar just above that group of content), and from the Add dropdown menu, select Quiz.

  4. Select the relevant Respondus Wrapper Quiz from the list of Quizzes and Select Item.

  5. Then Publish the Quiz.

You're good to go. 🙌

7. Testing It Works

You've just done a lot of work, and some of the steps are complicated. So how do you know it works?

7.1. Test

This first test is a lite one that let's you know respondus is connecting to the quiz. But it's not proof that everything is set up as you wish, for that, you will need the second test.

  1. In the Modules or Home screen, click on the Wrapper Quiz.

  2. Then select View as Student and Take the Quiz.

  3. You should be shown a screen that says Respondus Lockdown browser is required.

That let's you know that Respondus is doing it's job.

8. Repeating the Course Next Semester

Teaching this course again next semester? Your Respondus setup comes with you — you don't need to work through this guide a second time.

This applies when you do both of the following:

  1. In Blended Teaching, you create a new version of the same textbook — from the Settings page of your Control Center, using Create New Version — rather than starting a brand new textbook. See A Guide to Launching Your Class Using An Existing Textbook.

  2. In Canvas, you copy your previous semester's course into your new Canvas course.

When you do both of those, your Wrapper Quizzes copy into the new Canvas course along with the rest of your content, and they keep working:

  • Every version of a textbook uses the same links, so the link inside each Wrapper Quiz still opens the right Blended Teaching assessment.

  • The Respondus LockDown Browser settings on each Wrapper Quiz copy across as well.

  • Your Modules layout copies too, so the Wrapper Quizzes are already sitting where you placed them last semester.

There are no Wrapper Quizzes to rebuild, and no steps in this guide to redo. 🙌

8.1. A Reminder: Which Ones Are the Wrapper Quizzes

It's been a semester, so here's a quick refresher before you go looking for them.

Each proctored assessment has two entries in Canvas, and the Wrapper Quiz is the one you can spot at a glance:

  • It carries a 🚀 rocket icon.

  • Its name ends in "(Respondus)".

A Canvas assignment row showing a Wrapper Quiz: a rocket icon and the name Exam 1 (Respondus)

That Wrapper Quiz is the one your students open and the one Respondus locks down. Sitting behind it is the original Blended Teaching quiz, which is what the link inside the Wrapper Quiz launches, and where the questions and grading actually live. That's why there are two, and why the pair needs to stay together.

8.2. Update Your Dates

Copied Wrapper Quizzes keep the settings from last semester, including the dates. Setting this semester's dates is the one piece of work to do before your students arrive.

  1. In Blended Teaching, open the new version of your textbook and set this semester's Start, Due and End dates on each quiz. While you're on each quiz's Settings page, scan down to the Proctoring section and confirm it still shows Respondus LockDown Browser + Monitor.

  2. In Canvas, open each Wrapper Quiz and go to the Details tab. Set the Available from and Until dates to match the window you have just set in Blended Teaching.

  3. While you are there, check the Time Limit still suits. A good practice is to keep the Canvas Quiz time limit at least 5 minutes longer than the time set in Blended Teaching.

  4. Click Save, and confirm each Wrapper Quiz is published in your new Canvas course.

Then run the check in step 7 above on one of your Wrapper Quizzes, and you're ready for the semester.

Installing into a fresh Canvas course instead? If you are not copying last semester's Canvas course, and are installing your new textbook version into an empty Canvas course, enable proctoring on your quizzes in the new version first and then install — Blended Teaching creates the Wrapper Quizzes for you during installation. See steps 1 and 2 above.

9. Quick Grab

Instructions:

  1. Click the link below to launch your assessment. It will open in a new browser tab.

  2. Use the password below to access the assessment.

  3. Complete and submit your assessment in the new tab.

  4. Close the quiz tab to return to this Canvas page.

  5. Click the "Submit Quiz" button below to finalize your attempt.

Begin Your Assessment:

  • The Respondus password to start this assessment is: [password]

  • Click here to start the assessment: [link]

Copy this and paste it in to the relevant place:

target="_blank"

Copy this text:

library.blended-teaching.com,canvas.instructure.com,connect.blended-teaching.com,mayflower.blended-teaching.com,[Your Specific LMS URL]

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