Best Practice: Using Vision Pro during exams

The Netop Vision Pro student module is a software package that is installed on student computers and can be set up to always run on student computers. Teachers using Netop Vision Pro, the computer where the Netop Vision Pro Teacher module is installed, in a classroom have full control on the student computers as long as the computers are running and have network access.

Note: If the person operating the computer has no administration rights the Netop Vision Service and Process can be stopped by Windows; therefore, in order to prevent this change the Windows forced shut-down properties.

Monitoring Students

The first measure teachers will take to ensure that nobody is using inappropriate means during an exam is to monitor what the students are actually doing. Just like the normal monitoring of the students to ensure that they do not leave the room or use not allowed resources, teachers will also monitor the students' computers and this is where Vision Pro comes into play.

Vision Pro allows teachers to see the thumbnails of the student computers and in case something suspicious is going on they start Live View by simply double-clicking a thumbnail or from the toolbar. In the thumbnail view, teachers would also see if a student has left the Vision Pro class, for example, due to the machine shut-down or no network connection. As previously mentioned there is no way that students could leave the class and still work on the computers. The thumbnail would turn immediately grey and teachers should check what is going on.

Besides monitoring students via the thumbnail view, Vision Pro offers also the detail view which makes it easier to see what filters and policies are applied and also which is the active application. This may help to detect irregularities.

Furthermore, Vision Pro includes a special tool, Classroom Monitor, which can also be used to effectively monitor student computers. With Classroom Monitor teachers can customize the number of thumbnails they are monitoring at the same time and also define how fast advance from one thumbnail to the next is.

The fact that the student computers are monitored and students are aware of that is a very important measure to avoid fraud attempts.

Limiting the Applications

Kiosk Mode enables teachers to limit the applications which can be used during an exam. If teachers start applications in this mode students are allowed to use only the applications that teachers start; they cannot open any other application or resources from the operating system. This is a very effective way of locking down normal workstations to special examination tools, where only certain applications are running.

Limiting or Blocking Internet use

In many exam situations it might be very necessary to block students' internet access, grant limited access to certain resources or block access to specific sites. With Vision Pro, teachers can control student access to the web so that students can only use it when appropriate during exams. Teachers can block internet access entirely, or create resource lists or blocklists. Furthermore, is it possible to apply different policies for different groups and it is also possible to combine different policies. This makes Vision Pro a very powerful tool for controlling internet access – also in an exam situation.

Note: Vision Pro fully supports blocking web access on Internet Explorer, Mozilla, and Chrome.

Distributing Files

Vision Pro can be used to distribute all necessary files for examination on student computers prior to the exam and even during the exam.

Managing the Computers for Exam Preparations

With Vision Pro student computers can be powered on automatically; students can also be logged in remotely by the teacher, the teacher can log off users and restart machines. This can help teachers prepare the location for the exam.

Requesting Help

The Vision Pro Chat can be easily set up to allow students to request help during exams. It might be more convenient for teachers to answer the question directly via chat without physically going to the student's desk.

Taking Control of Machines

If students need assistance during the exam or teachers notice something suspicious, teachers can use the remote control function to take full control of any student computer in the class.

Using Blank Screen and Block Input

Vision Pro allows teachers to make sure that all students start and finish exams at the same time by blanking the screen and blocking input.

Using Vision Pro Learning Center

Vision Pro includes a comprehensive, cloud-based service that enables teachers to create exams outside of class and run exams while in class or assign exams to students to take outside of class hours. In combination with the other functions mentioned above, it is possible to run and monitor an exam exclusively using Vision Pro functionality. Combined with all the other functions of Vision Pro like screen transfer etc. Vision Pro can help organize and control the exam.