browser lock-down tools for essay tests, etc?

Brian Gray

I was asked to research browser tools that would lock the student's computer onto a single webpage during a test or quiz.

I looked at Respondus, but it does not appear to support Blackbaud's LMS.

Are you using something that works for you and your students?

Kathy Hannon

@Brian Gray we use Gradecam which is partnered with Respondus lockdown browser on their platform - gradecam populates into BB gradebook using a keyboard shortcut. However, we are a BYOD school which meant the students were downloading (5-10 min) the respondus software constantly - parents and/or students would remove. On school controlled devices, it was a better experience but checking out a cart became problematic with availability. We are actually looking into Exam.net that has browser controls but teachers will have to transfer grades to BB gradebook. Some are willing to do this additional step for the opportunity to have browser controls during tests.

Ed Gray

@Brian Gray Managed Chromebooks are a great option, but we only have a few for exams for students with accommodations and some for specific online AP exams. We are a BYOD school, so I have used the free Safe Exam Browser which is multi-platform (except for Chrome) and available at:

I have not yet used it with Blackbaud's LMS although I imagine that it should work. It is a small program that is quick to download and install.

Brian Gray

@Ed Gray and @Kathy Hannon - Thanks for your responses. I'm looking at Safe Exam Browser and Exam.net.

(It looks like Exam.net uses Safe Exam Browser as an option for more-secure testing on a Windows system, and their own app for macOS, iOS, and ChromeOS.)

Kari Skolik

@Brian Gray
I am looking into this for our school and wondered if you found and are using anything that works well with BB LMS.

Brian Gray

@Kari Skolik - We did not find anything suitable that has an integration to Blackbaud. We are using DigiExam.

Joshua Blice

@Brian Gray. We are also using Digiexam. Overall pretty happy with it but would love something integrated with Blackbaud.

Bill Campbell

We have been a DigiExam customer since 2019 and have been very satisfied. It is less intuitive to setup and administer than some teachers would prefer but has been very reliable. With it saving locally to a student's device multiple times minute while they are working in addition to saving online, we've not experienced any student data loss even when there were various technical problems. (Sometimes teachers and students have needed assistance in recovering student data, but it was pretty easily recovered every time my department was asked to help and can be done without IT intervention if the teacher is ready to do that.)

Also, with the support for SAML Single Sign On via Azure that we are using with a link posted on the Blackbaud Resource board, account provisioning for teachers and students has been mostly automatic and easy. Teacher in a staff Azure AD group, which we have setup for other reasons too, are automatically provisioned with the Teacher role when they sign in to DigiExam for the first time via the Resource board link. Since our Blackbaud sign in also authenticates via Azure, all DigiExam users don't have multiple accounts or passwords to deal with so it's not exactly integrated with Blackbaud (e.g. no grade passback) but at least the user login experience is pretty seamless.

Annemarie Merow

@Brian Gray
Good morning! I posted this in another discussion, but I've been speaking with Carl Nardini@ Digiexam and they plan to integrate their browser into Blackbaud this summer. I'll let you know when I hear more.

Megan Day

For anyone looking for lockdown features with Blackbaud LMS assessments, Digiexam is starting beta testing for their Lockdown tool. You can sign up for more info here.

Josceline Reardon

Has anyone heard a timeline for the Planned Lockdown Browser from Blackbaud?

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