Honorlock

Honorlock is compliant with FERPA. Honorlock cannot use student data in any way except to carry out their services by proctoring online exams. Please see: https://honorlock.com/blog/how-does-honorlock-protect-student-privacy/ for any questions.

• All students should be prepared to show their photo ID.
• Sit at a clean desk or table (not on a bed or couch).
• Students should be appropriately attired.
• Lighting in the room must be bright enough to be considered "daylight" quality. Overhead lighting is preferred; however, if overhead is not possible, the light source should not be behind the student.
• Ensure your desk or table is cleared of all other materials.
• When prompted to do a room scan, be sure to include your work area. Make sure to do a complete 360-degree rotation of your room, then show your workspace. Partial scans and/or failure to show your workspace may be flagged during the proctoring review.
• Make sure your laptop is fully charged, or keep the charger within arm’s reach.

The following items/actions are not permitted

• No writing visible on a desk or walls.
• No websites besides accessing your exam and the Honorlock proctoring extension should be used or opened while taking a proctored exam.
• Close all other programs and windows on the testing computer before logging into the proctored test environment.
• Make sure music/televisions are not playing in the background.
• Communication or assistance from others is not permitted during a proctored assessment. Exceptions: contacting Honorlock support or your institution’s help desk.
• No other persons except the test-taker should be in the room during testing.
• Using a phone or any electronic device other than your test-taking device is not permitted.
• Remain visible in the web camera during the entire duration of the exam.
• Leaving the room during the testing period is not permitted.
• You must not take the computer into another room to finish testing (the exam must be completed in the same room in which the “Exam Environment View” is completed).
• Headphones or smart watches are not permitted.
• Dual monitors are not permitted.

• Desktop computer or laptops are preferred. The software may work on some Chromebook devices.  Assessments should not be taken on mobile devices such as phones.
• Webcam and microphone installed on your laptop or desktop computer
• Google Chrome/Firefox is the required browser for testing in Honorlock.
• How to download and install the Chrome Extension:
  https://honorlock.kb.help/install-the-honorlock-extension/

Yes. After completing your test, you are welcome to uninstall the Honorlock extension.

Instructors make the final assessment about whether suspected cheating has taken place during an exam session. Only students engaging in unusual activity during an exam are flagged and reviewed. No action is taken if an instructor reviews the video and determines that the student did not violate LSSC academic honor policy. However, if an instructor determines that the student violated the academic honor policy, that instructor will follow the appropriate channels for academic honor policy violations. 

The Chrome browser extension allows Honorlock to interact with the student and the exam content during the exam. This includes launching the webcam window and interacting with student behavior within the exam. During the exam, the following data is captured, analyzed, and stored: 

• Webcam video, including audio
• Recording of desktop activity 
• Student information presented by the learning management system (Canvas), such as student name, course number, exam name, etc.
• Pages visited during the examination session
• Specific student behavior may indicate academic dishonesty, such as copying/pasting into search engines. 

Webcam and audio analysis have built-in AI capabilities, such as detecting the presence of zero, one, or more faces in the camera, one or more voices, etc. This AI will generate a “flag,” prompting the instructor or Honorlock proctor to review the exam session.   

The AI automatically generates a flag if unusual activity is detected, such as another person entering the room. There is no live person watching the student during the entirety of the exam, though Honorlock proctors can "pop-in" during the exam for technology related issues or suspected breaches of academic integrity. Once an exam session is completed, instructors (or LSSC Testing Center proctoring staff) can review flagged recordings to determine if a cheating incident may have occurred.

Only essential staff and proctors within Honorlock will have access to data to proctor, provide quality control, and support for LSSC instructors and Testing Services. Those accessing student data are bound to the FERPA and privacy requirements.

Proctored testing enables the college to ensure the academic integrity of assessments and to comply with federal regulations that require colleges offering online and distance education to verify student identity. Traditional face-to-face classes that aren't conducive to testing in the classroom typically rely on testing facilities for live, in-person proctoring of exams. 

Online proctoring offers an alternative to in-person proctored testing. This is a common practice of online courses and is used by colleges throughout our state college system and the nation. Though instructors may use various alternate assessment strategies, they may also rely on online proctoring to ensure the security of tests offered to online students in different locations.

Online proctoring helps prevent academic honor violations such as: 

• Use of a false identity, 
• Unauthorized collaboration,
• Use of unauthorized materials, and 
• Copying or distributing test items to others.