Attention eClass Instructors,

eClass (powered by Moodle) has been experiencing periodic high load events on the server, which may affect large simultaneous quizzes. If you have a quiz with more than 50 students simultaneously attempting it, you should consider the following workarounds for better system response time:

1. Post the direct quiz URL on the board. Do this by entering the quiz and copying the URL in the form https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/mod/quiz/view.php?id=xxxxx. If your students enter this URL fully, they will be re-directed to the U of A CCID authentication page and then access the quiz directly, bypassing the Moodle home page (which can cause extra performance issues during large numbers of simultaneous logins).
2. Organize your students to stagger their logins. This means that you should have a smaller number (~20) of students logging in at a time, then wait for a minute before the next 20 students log in, etc.
3. Prepare paper-based exams as a back-up. Please contact ctl@ualberta.ca If you require assistance preparing a paper version of your online quiz.
4. Contact ctl@ualberta.ca if you plan on using the Respondus Lockdown Browser with your quiz. This plugin can contribute to performance issues during a quiz, so we encourage you to work directly with CTL if you require this feature.

Please note, these workarounds for quiz performance are a temporary solution. CTL has been working closely with our eClass hosting provider to improve the system performance on a permanent basis.

Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us at ctl@ualberta.ca.

Regards,
CTL Technology Services