Anytime proctoring of online exams is available in Canvas through Honorlock.
This article covers:
Honorlock provides on-demand proctoring services that let students take online exams whenever, without pre-scheduling. Instead of in-person proctoring, Honorlock records the screen and video of the student taking the exam. Honorlock is available 24/7, and all that is needed is:
- A private space to take the exam. Honorlock is designed for private, remote use: It is not compatible with campus computer labs because they lack webcams and are public spaces. Honorlock requires a webcam and will flag it as potential cheating if people are visible or heard in the room. Students can bring a laptop to campus if they need Internet access, but must find a private space to take their exams.
- A photo ID
- A newer computer (or Chromebook). Students can visit the Honorlock Support Website and scroll down to verify that their equipment meets system requirements.
- A working webcam & microphone
- A stable internet connection
- Google Chrome Browser
- The Honorlock Chrome Browser Extension
Students experiencing trouble meeting the minimum technology requirements should use the SEU Student of Concern/Conduct Form to contact the university for help.
Remember to include a link to the Student Instructions for Using Honorlock in your course and assignments. These instructions include information on minimum requirements, privacy and how to use Honorlock. Students can receive support from Honorlock via chat and email through their Support website.
You can create online exams for proctoring by Honorlock using Canvas quizzes or third-party exam systems such as MyMathLab, ALEKS, Pearson, and McGraw-Hill.
You can lock down the exam so students can’t access other resources on their computers or leave it open so they can contact you with questions. Either way, the computer screen will be recorded. If you lock web browser access, you can designate web pages or sites that students can access.
Honorlock offers 24/7 support to instructors through its Support website, where instructors can LiveChat with Honorlock support staff, call +1 (844) 243-2500, or email support@honorlock.com. Honorlock also offers detailed instructions for instructors in the Honorlock Knowledge Base.
- Note: Please reach out directly to Honorlock for support using this tool.
If you are interested in formal training, Honorlock hosts regular webinars using Honorlock in Canvas and with 3rd party tools. Register online for a webinar. These live sessions are valuable for instructors to learn how to use Honorlock for online proctoring. St. Edward’s faculty can also access the recording, slides, and resources from past Teaching Support events about Honorlock from the Index of All Teaching Support Events.
Honorlock is already integrated with Canvas, eliminating the need for individual setup. To use Honorlock, you must use Quizzes in Canvas or any third-party platform such as Pearson MyMathLab, McGraw-Hill Connect, and WebAssign.
Step 1: Create a quiz in Canvas
If you've already created your Canvas quiz, you can skip this step.
We recommend allowing extra time (5-10 minutes) for the exam to allow troubleshooting for potential issues. Honorlock reports that the average wait time for LiveChat help is 2 minutes.
Step 2: Enable Honorlock by adding it to your course menu
You will need to enable Honorlock in your course menu before you can use it.
- Go to "Settings" in your course menu.
- Click the "Navigation tab."
- Scroll to the bottom of the list until you find Honorlock
- Click the 3 vertical dots to the right of Honorlock and select "Enable."
- Click "Save."
The Honorlock menu item will appear as the last item in your Canvas course menu before Settings.
- Note: Students will not see this link. They can access Honorlock only through an enabled quiz or third-party exam.
Step 3: Set up requirements for Honorlock for each quiz
After clicking Honorlock in the course menu, you may be prompted to authorize the application. Select the quiz to be proctored and enable Honorlock. Input student instructions and proctor guidelines. Students will see the “Student Instructions,” and proctors will see the “Proctor Instructions.”
Complete instructions for enabling Honorlock for a quiz, and an explanation for all of the settings, can be found in this instructor guide, Using Honorlock with Canvas.
If using a third-party platform, see instructions to Create a Third-Party Exam.
Honorlock User Group
St. Edward’s faculty members have created a living document of Instructions for Instructors based on their experience using Honorlock. Feel free to use these tips and contribute your own. You can also search Canvas Commons for Honorlock resources, like sample modules, to help students prepare to use Honorlock.
Add Honorlock Requirement to Your Syllabus
Ensure Honorlock is listed as a course requirement in your syllabus, and introduce the technology early in your class. Here is the text for the recommended syllabus language about Honorlock.
Create a Practice Quiz
We highly recommend you create a short quiz to practice so you and your students can see how Honorlock works. The practice quiz also lets you verify students have the technology needed to use the tool. Note that using the “Add Practice Exam” function in Honorlock will allow students to experience Honorlock without making the video available to the instructor afterward. While this is a good way for students to get used to the experience, we also recommend that instructors offer a low-stakes quiz for both students and instructors to practice so that instructors can view the video and ensure that students are using the tool correctly.
Room Scan Rules
For “room scan rules,” see the Honorlock Overview Student Module located in the Canvas Commons (go to Canvas Commons, filter for resources from St. Edward's and search for “HonorLock Overview - Student Module”). These instructions include video examples of good and bad room scans, so students know what they should be showing.
Here is sample email language for students who do not complete the room scan correctly: “Your room scan was insufficient. Failure to comply with the exam rules can result in no credit for an exam. You will receive credit for this exam provided you follow instructions for ALL subsequent exams, and the score you received on this exam is not an outlier from your other scores. Please be careful in the future to follow all of the exam instructions carefully."
See the Instructions for Instructors for more tips and advice from the St. Edward’s University community of Honorlock users, including advice regarding students completing work on paper and uploading it.
Click the HonorLock link in your course menu, find your exam and click "Results." You can see what time a student started and ended proctoring. Additionally, click "View Session" to see the videos of their room scan, ID scan, webcam, screen recording, and a loose transcript of any spoken words. HonorLock will automatically flag any timestamps that it views as suspicious.
These videos can be downloaded, allowing you to jump to a specific time in the video. Honorlock stores information for 12 months and then purges that data. Instructors should download videos they may need after that time.
See How to View Your Honorlock Results for detailed instructions.