BYOD-Exams

In this guide you will learn how to conduct a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) exam with your students on campus at the University of Konstanz. In a BYOD scenario, students use their own laptops (or comparable devices) within the university WiFi to take an online exam:

online exams no longer have to be written in the university's computer labs.
fewer university devices are needed, there are no overlaps and fewer bottlenecks in bookings
students have a more familiar environment and better sense of security when using their own computers

BYOD exams are generally written using the Safe Exam Browser (SEB).

SEB creates a secure exam environment on the student's computer for the duration of the exam.
only the corresponding exam content can be edited with the device on ILIAS.
copying of own files on the computer is prevented
research on the internet is blocked.

1. Planning BYOD exams

For planning and room reservation we recommend this order, which is also followed by the sections in this text:

Determine the time needed for the exam
Clarify the availability of supporting personnel (e.g., auxiliary staff).
Check whether your students can meet the minimum technical standards.
Decide which rooms you would like to use for your exam
Check the availability of the desired rooms and of substitute devices.
Reserve the rooms at the room scheduling department.

1.1. Time planning

In addition to scheduling the exam, please also consider other preliminary considerations. Determine the allowed writing time in advance and add extra time for delays, technical problems, compensatory measures, etc. In addition allowed writing time, allocate a buffer of about 15 minutes before and after. This is where the process is explained, replacement devices are handed out, if necessary, note paper is distributed, and students log into the systems. At the end of the allowed riting time, every substitute device has to be collected again.

1.2 Personal support

Clarify the availability of support for your BYOD exam (e.g., auxiliary staff). You will receive additional personal support from us as follows:

You always have a personal contact for any topic related to your exam.
We clarify all questions you might have together with you, regarding your BYOD exam and workin with the Safe Exam Browser
We support and advise you on all topics concerning the preparation of exams in ILIAS.
At least one trained member of the e-learning team will be present during your BYOD exam for technical support.
If you do not have a personal contact yet, please feel free to mail us at digitale-lehre@uni-konstanz.de for general organizational and technical questions, and please write to ilias-support@uni-konstanz.de for ILIAS questions.

1.3. Technical requirements

The private devices of the exam participants must meet certain minimum requirements in order to use the Safe Exam Browser (SEB):

Windows 8.1 or Mac 10.11 operating system, or higher.
Screen size of at least 13.5 inches
Use of the SEB is not possible on devices running Linux, Chrome, or Android
Devices must have at least 3 hours of battery life for a 120-minute examination
Devices must be equipped with a working WiFi adapter
If students are unable to meet these standards, the KIM will provide substitute devices.

Notes on the use of the SEB:

It is theoretically possible that the operating system can be damaged in the event of a power failure while running the SEB in exam mode.
Therefore it is very important that students can guarantee the appropriate battery life
The participants need an entry password to open the SEB and to get to the ILIAS exam platform.
Closing the browser can be done either automatically after submitting the exam in ILIAS, or again by an exit password
These individual access passwords are stored in a start file - we provide this file for your students
With the start file and the entry password the students can start the SEB

IMPORTANT: Ask your students if their devices can meet the minimum standards for a BYOD exam (see above).

Chromebooks can be used as substitute devices under the following conditions:

the ILIAS examenvironment is used.
no software other than the SEB is needed on the devices (such as text editors for writing essays, as an upload task in ILIAS).

Inform your students about the SEB program and that an installation is necessary in order write the exam. The installation files can be downloaded directly from our Installation of the Safe Exam Browser page. Here your students will also find additional short installation instructions.

1.4 Recommended exam rooms

In general, all rooms with a strong enough WiFi signal are suitable - for larger groups, the lecture halls in the R-building are particularly suitable. For smaller groups, the seminar rooms which you are already using, may also be suitable. Please also check the following overview of suitable rooms for online-exams. If you are unsure, please contact us directly (digitale-lehre@uni-konstanz.de).

Room Places Type Delivery of Chromebook replacement devices by the KIM. ! Note

~~A600~~ ~~701~~ ~~Audimax~~ locked.

R712 243 Lecture hall Bio/Ch yes

R711 242 Lecture hall Ph yes

~~A701~~ ~~Lecture Hall~~ locked

R513 177 lecture hall Math. yes

R611 168 Lecture hall Ch yes

M629 150 Lecture hall yes

~~A703~~ ~~Lecture Hall~~ locked

D434 112 seminar room no

~~A704~~ ~~107~~ ~~Lecture room~~ locked

~~A702~~ ~~105~~ ~~Listening room~~ locked

C336 100 seminar room no

C425 100 seminar room no

E404 100 Seminar room no

G300 100 Seminar room no

C230 90 Seminar room no

R512 84 Physics lecture room yes

R511 79 Bio/Ch lecture hall yes

P603 69 Lecture hall ja

M627 68 Exper. Lecture Hall

G309 60 Seminar room no

C423 54 Seminar room no

ZT1202 54 Seminar room no

M628 52 Exper.lecture room yes

P1138 50 Seminar room no

D432 48 Seminar room no

M630 47 Seminar room no

F426 46 Seminar room no

G307 46 Seminar room no

G421 46 Seminar room no

Y311 46 Seminar room no

C427 42 Seminar room no

F429 36 Seminar room no

D436 34 Seminar room no

E403 34 Seminar room no

G308 34 Seminar room no

D522 32 Seminar room no

ML630 32 Seminar room no

D247 30 Seminar room no

F428 30 Seminar room no

M901 29 Seminar room no

G306 28 Seminar room no

H308 28 Seminar room no

H309 28 Seminar room no

M701 28 Seminar room no

G304 26 Seminar room no

L829 26 Seminar room no

F423 24 Seminar room no

M631 24 Seminar room yes

P812 24 Seminar room no

P912 24 Seminar room no

Z1003 24 Seminar room no

C426 18 Seminar room no

D435 18 Seminar room no

M801 18 Seminar room no

M1001 18 Seminar room no

M1101 18 Seminar room no

G302 16 Seminar room no

P1012 16 Seminar room no

1.5. Checking room availability and substitute devices

Here you can check if the rooms you would like to use are available (no registration required!):

Overview of current room occupancy: http://134.34.26.182/roomresrrm/

Once you have found a suitable exam room, notify us of the number of required substitute devices on your exam date, so that the equipment can be reserved for you.

Please submit a reservation request for a BYOD-Exam using this form:
https://www.uni-konstanz.de/lehren/beratung-hilfsmittel-service/digital-unterstuetzte-lehre/formular/

Please note that we can only deliver the substitute devices (Chromebooks) to the rooms, where a delivery option is explicitly mentioned in the table above (in section 1.4). If you want to use other than these rooms, you will have to organize and carry out the transport of the Chromebooks yourself. For each way with one mobile Chromebook cabinet you should expect about 45 minutes, we will hand them over to you at the entrance of the N-Library.

1.6. Room reservation for your exam

If you cannot or do not want to use the rooms that might already be reserved for you by your department (within the scope of the usual event planning of the departments), please get in touch with your department first. Clarify whether they can reserve the rooms you would like to use for you - or how room reservation requests for online-examinations are to be registered at your department in future. If this is not currently possible, please reserve the rooms you would like to use directly and send an e-mail to the room scheduling department, after having checked the availability, as described above (section 1.4):

Reservation request : Lehrraumvergabe@uni-konstanz.de

2. Preparing the exam

2.1 Using the ILIAS exam platform

It is recommended to conduct your BYOD exam in combination with an exam course on the ILIAS exam server. This is secure in terms of examination regulations and archiving of the examination results. To do this, proceed as follows.

Step 1

We set up a course on the ILIAS exam platform for you, after you have informed us about your planned examination.

Instructions and hints on how to conduct online-exams with ILIAS can be found here: https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/teaching/advice-aid-resources-service/digitally-enhanced-teaching/online-exams/

Step 2

Create your exam on the ILIAS exam platform - we support you and give advise on creating tasks and exams.

See also the corresponding instructions: https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/teaching/advice-aid-resources-service/digitally-enhanced-teaching/instructions/

Ideally, you have your exam prepared on the platform four to six weeks before the examination date, so that we can carry out a final check for you - i.e. whether the exam is realistically designed in terms of writing time, the overall conception, regarding the use of the question types.

Set a password for entering the exam mode on the ILIAS exam platform

2.2 Practicing procedures and infrastructure mock exam

It is strongly recommended to conduct a BYOD mock exam, especially if you or your students have not yet taken an exam in this format. A mock exam is useful for the following reasons:

Students can familiarize with the ILIAS exam platform and the SEB.

Students who use the ILIAS exam platform for the first time, will have to complete their profile information initially.

3. Conducting the exam

Provide your students with the starting file for your BYOD exam in time before the exam. For this purpose, you can use your existing ILIAS course folder or a mailing list. Advise your students to download the starting file and to have it ready on their own devices on the day of the exam.

Before the exam begins

Verify student identites using registration lists, student IDs with photographs - logging into the ILIAS exam platform with the student account credentials is no proper identity check.

Inform the students about the procedures before the exam starts.

Ask students to turn off their phones, set them to flight mode, and tell them to stow them away to their bags.

To eliminate any chances of phone usage, you should also ask students to move their bags (including phones) to the front or the sides of the room.

Point out that students should close the screen halfway when they leave the seat during processing, e.g. for going to the toilet.

Do not tell your students the starting password for the SEB and your exam on the ILIAS until they are in the exam room - make it visible in the room (on the board or whiteboard).

Start of the exam

The student...

...opens the SEB with the start file and the entry password and gets to the exam ILIAS.
...logs in with firstname.lastname and the account password and gets to the exam
...logs into the exam by password and processes the exam

During the exam

In case of technical questions or problems, students can and should report immediately at any time.

Record these cases with the mention of time, problem description and type of problem solution, also with time information

End of Exam

Students click on End Test in ILIAS to end the exam and cannot edit the exam thereafter.

Only after submitting the exam in ILIAS, students are able to close the SEB via a button and unlock their device.

4. Evaluation, post-exam revision, make-up dates

Please refer to our documentation on how to use the exam ILIAS:

https://www.uni-konstanz.de/lehren/beratung-hilfsmittel-service/digital-unterstuetzte-lehre/anleitungen/

In case of objections from students regarding hardware or software errors, please contact us immediately so that we can review the case with you.