Smart Exam Monitor (SEM) is a 3rd-party external tool that allows instructors to proctor online exams remotely that can now be setup and used in Canvas. SEM can be used for remote proctoring a variety of assessment activities in Canvas such as quizzes and Assign2. Different SEM sessions can be created within courses for different offerings of exams (see Recommended practices below). It can also be used as a monitoring tool for other web-based activities.

SEM uses the student's webcam and microphone to confirm their identity and then record them during a remote exam attempt. Their onscreen activity is also recorded and the system intelligently monitors for suspicious activities. It is authorized under the UofA's Security and Privacy policies.

System requirements for using SEM:

• Google Chrome browser
• Desktop or laptop computer (i.e., Windows, MacOS)
• Chromebooks are supported, but iPads and tablets are not, i.e., no Apple iOS or Android devices, etc.
• Please note: SEM does NOT function reliably with the LabConnect software provisioned in most on-campus computer labs. Instructors should arrange for a different proctoring mechanism in those environments.

Determining whether to use SEM:

Guidelines for delivering remote exams

SEM known Issues, system limitations, and recommendations

Enabling SEM to deliver a quiz:

1. First, make certain that Quizzes are not visible in your course settings:

2. Create either a Classic Quiz or a New quiz.
3. Be sure to set a password for the quiz as students can open the quiz from the Grade book and bypass SEM.

Note: In Classic quizzes, you can set a password in the quiz settings. In a New quiz, you can set a password in the Build > Settings while adding questions.

4. Copy the quiz URL, e.g., "https://canvas.ualberta.ca/courses/292/quizzes/5645"
5. Once you have created a quiz, create an item in a module, and add the Smart Exam Monitor LTI to it.
6. Choose External Tool:

7. In the configuration dialog, scroll down to select ‘Smart Exam Monitor’, then click Select:

Note: You need only provide a quiz name. The quiz availability should already have been set in the quiz settings.

 8. Check the box ‘Load this tool in a new tab’.
 9. Save the Module.
10. Once you have saved the module, click on ‘Load <quiz name> in a new window.’

Configuring SEM:

Now that you have added the SEM activity to your quiz module, you can add SEM sessions to it.

1. Click the '+ New Exam Session' button.

2. Complete the fields:

• Exam Title (required): Visible to students when session is toggled available.
• Description (required): Visible to students when session is toggled available. Create a brief or generic description for students.
• Exam Instructions (required): (Visible to students when session is toggled available. Write any special instructions or leave a generic statement.
• Exam password: Visible to students only after the SEM session start time is reached. Enter the password set in the activity SEM will launch. The password will be hidden until SEM reaches its start time where students are given a button to copy the password or copy/paste it from the screen. Enter the password EXACTLY as it is set in the activity and be sure there are no leading or trailing spaces.
• Date/Time/Duration Details: The date and start must be filled out completely, but the Time Zone setting should be ignored (all exam start times assume Mountain Daily or Standard time offset).
  • Any SEM session that is toggled 'Open to students' (see below) will allow them to complete the SEM setup on their device. Once complete, they will see a timer counting down until the Start time is reached at which time a Launch button (if an Exam URL is entered) will appear for them.
  • The start date and time MUST match EXACTLY with the quiz activity (as in this example) or occur AFTER the quiz is open and available to students in eClass.

A SEM session that 'launches' a closed or hidden quiz will cause confusion for students as they will not be able to open their exam and may not realize they need to refresh the quiz launch page after the actual start time in the quiz settings is reached.

• Rec Duration (hrs): This specifies the maximum number of hours that SEM can record up to (i.e., this is NOT the same as the quiz length setting).

This number should be your longest anticipated time for any test taker, including any accommodations plus 30 to 60 minutes for potential issues. For example, if you have a 60-minute exam with a 2x time accommodation, you should set the recording duration to 3 hrs.

Students can add time if they require longer monitoring by clicking the Add Time button in the SEM tab. They can also disable the monitoring once their exam is complete by closing the SEM browser tab.

Exam Types (monitoring presets):

• Open Book: For any eClass quiz where students are permitted access to course materials, online textbooks, or other resources.
  • Default toggles for this option:
    • AI Monitor (On)
    • Monitor Audio (Off)
    • Monitor Desktop (Off)
  • Closed Book (Full Screen) - recommended: For any eClass quiz or activity. These settings offer the highest security as they will force students into a full-screen browser view. Any attempts to leave the exam browser tab will be flagged.
    • Can be used to launch Crowdmark, Exam.med, Assign2, and static exam files hosted somewhere
    • Default toggles for this option:
      • AI Monitor (On)
      • Monitor Audio (Off)
      • Monitor Desktop (On)
        
        
  • ExamLock: For use with ExamLock
    • The popular use case for using this combination: Prevents desktop screenshots during exams and provide exam continuity in case of internet disruptions.
    • Default toggles for this option:
      • AI Monitor (On)
      • Monitor Audio (Off)
      • Monitor Desktop (Off) - ExamLock will handle this operation.

Monitoring options:

The monitoring options determine (pre-set by the exam types above but still editable) what automatic flagging models are enabled:

• AI Monitor: model uses the student webcam feed to identify and flag:
  • Use/presence of cell phones, laptops or other electronic devices
  • Other people in the room
  • Students who leave the testing area
• Monitor Audio: model alerts for ANY audio activity (i.e., students communicating with one another). The system attempts to transcribe audio where possible. Monitor Audio should be disabled if the exam will display audio or requires a student to speak aloud.
• Monitor Desktop: model will monitor and flag any navigation away from the exam or any Allowed sites. (Do not override the toggle to On for Open Book exams).

• Exam URL: Entering a URL will give students a Launch button in SEM when the start date/time is reached. This URL can be anything you want students to immediately start with. The URL must begin with http:// , https:// , etc.
• Start Exam Template: not required for eClass
• End Exam Template: not required for eClass
• Allowed sites: Add any URL a student can visit during an exam. e.g., Library, PDF files in your eClass course, and certain external URLs. Leave these fields blank if only the quiz is permitted.
  
  Note: You must add https://canvas.ualberta.ca to "Allowed sites" or SEM will flag Canvas quizzes as "Suspected disallowed site":

3. Save when complete.

Once the exam session is saved, you may click "Open to students." Students can begin the SEM setup process and start the SEM monitoring (along with the "Launch" and "Copy Password" buttons) during the time specified in the SEM session settings.

The session will have Edit and Proctor buttons available.

Recommended practices: 

If you have AR and time accommodations or otherwise wish to deliver a quiz to students at different times of day, you can schedule when or for how long course sections may take a quiz.

Note: Canvas course sections may refer to sections created automatically by Bear Tracks, e.g. if your course combines LEC A1 And LEC B2. 

In cases where students need to be accommodated, multiple SEM tool links can be added to a course. 

As an alternative to manually toggling sessions 'Open to students' shortly (or an hour) before the exam start time, it is possible to set different start, end, and duration times in a Canvas quiz. Start by going to the Assign section at the bottom of your quiz setup, and instead of assigning the quiz to "Everyone," X it out and assign the quiz to as many or few sections and individual students as you wish:

You can set up multiple start and finish times as you wish by clicking +Add below the Assign interface:

To avoid confusion, it is recommended that you be explicit in the name, description, and instructions in your SEM sessions:

• We recommend that you create SEM sessions with no more than 600 students using them. If there are more than that, when you proctor exams, it may take a very long time to process proctored videos. You should then make multiple SEM sessions for students to take the exam, perhaps separated by last name (e.g. last name starts with A-M session and last name starts with N-Z section).
• As the quizzes and assignments section in your course are hidden, students cannot bypass the SEM process with one exception:
  • Students can open the quiz from the gradebook, so it is imperative that quizzes have passwords to ensure students don't accidentally access a quiz without initiating a monitoring session.
• Course links to the quiz will also not allow students to access it. The hidden quiz will not appear in the Calendar.
  
  

With all these items configured, once an exam start time is reached students will be ready to launch their monitoring session: