What is a lockdown browser – and why use one?

Where lockdown browsers are used

As more universities move exams from paper to screen, one question comes up again and again: how can you be sure a laptop is used only for the exam? A lockdown browser is the most common answer. Students start it instead of their normal web browser when they sit a digital exam, and for the duration of the test their laptop becomes a controlled exam device. When the exam ends, it returns to normal.

The term is used generically across the sector. Well-known examples include the open-source Safe Exam Browser and Respondus LockDown Browser, and several assessment platforms – WISEflow among them – have their own built in.

How does it work?

The details vary between products, but most lockdown browsers do some or all of the following:

• Run in full screen so that the student cannot switch to other windows or applications.
• Block other programs, including messaging, screen-sharing and remote-access tools.
• Restrict internet access to the exam only, unless the institution has approved (whitelisted) specific websites.
• Block access to local files and functions such as copying in text from outside the exam.
• Detect attempts to work around it, for example by running the exam inside a virtual machine.

Why do institutions use lockdown browsers?

The main reason is to make digital closed-book exams possible. Often this means bring your own device (BYOD) exams, as few universities have enough computer rooms to examine large cohorts on their own machines, and paper exams are hard to scale and slow to mark. But even where institution-owned computers are available, a lockdown browser is usually used as well: exam papers are distributed and answers submitted online, so the computer must be connected – but only to the exam. Either way, the lockdown browser gives the institution confidence that the device cannot be used to reach unauthorised material or to collaborate with others.

What a lockdown browser cannot do

A lockdown browser controls the device, not the room. It cannot stop a student using a phone, a smartwatch or notes on the desk, and it cannot see who is sitting in front of the screen. That is why it is designed to be used together with human invigilation, not instead of it.

It is also not the same as online (remote) proctoring, where students are monitored at home by webcam, microphone or screen recording. A lockdown browser used in an invigilated hall involves no such monitoring.

Finally, it depends on students’ devices: old operating systems, managed laptops and some accessibility software can cause problems if they are not checked for compliance in advance.

How does WISEflow approach it?

In WISEflow, the lockdown browser is an integrated part of the assessment platform rather than a third-party add-on. Exams that use it run as a FLOWlock flow, in the same system that handles planning, marking and results. Our understanding goes a little further than device control alone:

• It is built for invigilated, on-site exams – one part of a secure exam set-up, together with invigilators, clear rules and well-designed assessments.
• Institutions decide what is permitted. Approved websites can be opened inside the locked environment, and built-in tools – such as a camera for photographing appendix material, a code editor, a LaTeX editor and a drawing tool – can be enabled where the exam calls for them.
• Students should not lose their work. If the network drops during an exam on a computer, students can save an encrypted offline backup and upload it when the connection returns.
• Invigilators stay in control. Participant and invigilator passwords control when students start and let invigilators support individual students in the room.

It is available for Windows, macOS and iPad, and students can try it out before the exam.

What should institutions consider?

• Assessment design: which exams benefit from a locked environment, and which are better served by other formats?
• Devices, network and power: check student devices early, have loan laptops ready, and make sure the venue has stable Wi-Fi and enough power sockets for students’ laptops.
• Preparation and accessibility: give students guidance and a practice exam, and make sure students who use assistive technology are catered for.

A lockdown browser is not a solution to academic integrity on its own. Used well, as part of a considered exam set-up, it makes secure and fair digital exams on students’ own devices a practical reality.