Helpful resources
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Teach On, Dornsife! (Dornsife faculty)
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Zoom and Blackboard (ITS)
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Blackboard and Respondus (ITS)
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Blackboard, Respondus, and Turnitin (ITS)
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Accessibility and accommodations (OSAS)
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Zoom recordings, Respondus, FERPA, and student privacy
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Zoom and security
Traditional, timed exams
Conducting exams in Blackboard
Types of questions
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Multiple-choice/fixed-answer questions
- Automatically graded by Blackboard
- Instructors can randomize question order and/or answer option order to reduce likelihood of student collaboration
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Problem sets requiring handwritten problem-solving
- Students manually write down their process and answers, and then submit photos of their work
- CET suggests Adobe Scan as a free mobile app students can use to capture their work and assemble into a PDF they then upload to Blackboard
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Short-answer/essay questions
- We don't recommend using Respondus LockDown for writing-heavy exams (see "Optional tools for proctoring exams" below)
Optional tools for proctoring exams
Zoom (synchronous/live)
A detailed step-by-step guide is available from ITS: go to Selecting Assessments, scroll down, and click to expand the section "Administering or Proctoring an Exam in Zoom."
Respondus LockDown Browser
Respondus LockDown Browser is a locked browser that you can require students to download and use to take your Blackboard exam. When students take your Blackboard exam in LockDown Browser, they are unable to go to other URLs or access other applications or documents on their computer. They are still able to access applications and documents on other computers and devices, however.
Caution: we do not recommend requiring students to use LockDown Browser for writing-heavy exams. This is because if students have unreliable internet, even a brief interruption in the connection could result in irrecoverably losing a good chunk of their work if it wasn't saved or submitted yet. The workaround is to have them type into a word processor, and then copy/paste their work into Blackboard, which is not possible if LockDown Browser is active.
Respondus Monitor (asynchronous/recorded)
As of Jan 26, 2021, the University has discontinued the use of Respondus Monitor due to fairness and privacy concerns.
Respondus Monitor is an add-on function purchased by ITS for use with LockDown Browser. It records students through their webcam and mic while they are taking your Blackboard exam in LockDown Browser.
Equity considerations
If you intend to use monitoring, whether live or recorded, for an exam, give your students notice as soon as possible so that you have ample time to address any issues or concerns they raise, such as limited technology availability or concerns about recording consent.
Barriers for students may include:
- An unreliable or slow internet connection, or no connection at all
- An older, slower computer, a shared computer, or no computer at all
- The lack of a disruption-free private space
- The lack of a webcam
Oral presentations
Synchronous/live presentations
A major advantage of live presentations is that students can receive feedback and critique in real time from fellow classmates and from you. You can also ask presenting students to clarify or expand on topics as needed.
Screen share
If students are using presentation slides, they should have the presentation file already open on their screen before they can select the file when they click on Screen share in Zoom.
If the presentation includes audio, make sure the student selects the checkbox for Share computer sound in the bottom left corner when they are selecting which screen to share.
If students get a warning when they click on Screen share that reads "Only the host can share in this meeting," simply go to the student's name in your Manage participants list, click on More, and select "Make Co-host." The student will now be able to share their screen (you can remove co-host privileges once they have completed their presentation).
Spotlight video
In Zoom, hover over the thumbnail of the student presenter's video, and click on the … icon in the upper right corner. Select Spotlight video (if the option does not appear, ask the student presenter to turn their video on). This will make the student presenter's screen the focus for all participants.
Moderating Q&A
If the student presentation is followed by a brief Q&A, it can be a kindness if you as the instructor take on moderating duties, as students may be unaccustomed to taking questions and feedback in a synchronous online setting. Establish in advance how you want students to express that they'd like to ask a question or offer critique:
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Raise hand + unmute mic
- Have students click on Raise hand, and when you call on them, they can unmute their mic and speak
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Chat
- Have students use the group chat to type and send their question to Everyone (rather than only to the student presenter)
- This may be the preferred method if you have large classes and need to adhere to strict timelines
Group presentations
Group presentations in Zoom are very similar to individual presentations. The primary difference is that, if students are using presentation slides, while typically all students should take turns speaking during the presentation, there should be just one student in charge of using Screen share to show and advance presentation slides.
Prerecorded presentations
If the feedback/critique component of the presentation is less essential for your class, or if a student misses class on the scheduled presentation date(s), instead of live presentations you can have your students submit a prerecorded presentation, whether they record it as a Zoom meeting of just themselves or using other videocapture equipment/video editing tools.
Zoom delay in recording availability
If you have a firm deadline for submission, let students know that if they are going to use Zoom cloud recording, which removes the need to upload their video separately from recording it, the link to their cloud recording won't be immediately ready for them to submit to you. Most Zoom recordings should be available within 24 hours, but students may experience longer delays depending on how many other users are recording on the Zoom platform.
An alternative to Zoom cloud recording is asking students to do a Zoom local recording, upload the file afterward to YouTube, Vimeo, or Google Drive, and share the link with you. If the video is under 100MB, students can also upload their file to Blackboard.
Final papers and project deliverables
These are primarily asynchronous methods of assessment. Students can upload assignments directly into Blackboard, keeping in mind that the file size limit for uploads is 100MB. For larger files, students may want to instead upload their file to Google Drive and share the link with you.
Turnitin
Through Blackboard, papers can be uploaded into Turnitin where they will be compared against existing student papers in the Turnitin database. This service is licensed by USC to check paper originality and identify potential occurrences of plagiarism.
To learn how to use Turnitin, go to https://blackboardhelp.usc.edu/instructors/, scroll down to "Assignments and Tests." Click on Turnitin to expand the list of available tutorials.