1. After many months of work reviewing and assessing online proctoring vendors, the Online Exam & Assessment Task Group recommended that SBU implement an online proctoring solution for the University. Based on their recommendation, the University secured a contract with Honorlock and the proctoring service became available for use beginning Oct. 13. 
2. The Online Exam & Assessment Task Group included a diverse and representative group of twenty-one faculty and staff from across campus. This group evaluated several different product options and benchmarked them against a list of requirements and found Honorlock to be one of the best solutions available. Honorlock proctors do not watch students continuously; rather specific behaviors trigger alerts, on which proctors follow up. Because of this, Honorlock is less invasive than other products, while equally capable of ensuring integrity in test-taking.

1. The task group selected vendors based on criteria provided by the University and faculty: 
2. Simultaneous testing for 1000+ student course 
3. Meets accessibility standards
4. Platform agnostic (can be used on Mac, PC, & Chromebooks)
5. Live proctors available 
6. Able to on-board our campus

1. After using Respondus Monitor during Spring semester, Stony Brook faculty and students experienced significant difficulties using the platform for proctoring, including:
2. Respondus does not work on Chromebooks (which the University made available upon request for remote learning)
3. Students experienced exam login delays resulting in lost time and significant anxiety.
4. Many faculty were not satisfied with the Respondus proctoring AI and asked that we identify a vendor that had live proctors available to assist and monitor exams. 
5. The download application Respondus uses was either difficult to install or caused problems with the computer operating system.


No, in order to be effective, the proctoring system must be able to monitor whether a student is navigating to other websites by being able to see the entire screen and any websites that may be open on the device.

Before using Honorlock, students should run a one-click system check to confirm that their OS, Internet speed, and Chrome version are all compatible. We confirmed with both Honorlock and the DoIT helpdesk that students reporting difficulty with their computer after installing the Chrome extension were either running an outdated OS, had outdated antivirus software, or other system issues that were not allowing Honorlock to operate properly.  If students experience difficulty before or during an exam, their on-demand live chat is available to assist.

Honorlock’s AI monitors and records the test-taking. In case of unusual activity, for example, another person entering the room, the AI will flag the situation and notify a live proctor. Once an exam session is completed, instructors may review flagged recordings to determine if there was a possible academic integrity violation.

Whereas Respondus only recorded what was viewable on the camera (the student and background), Honorlock requires that students conduct a 360-degree scan of the room. This feature was important to Stony Brook faculty to ensure that the environment was free from materials or resources that were not allowed during the exam. 

If you are using a device that isn't compatible with Honorlock, please contact your course instructor to see what other accommodations can be made.

To add the Honorlock LTI follow these steps below:

1. Go into Blackboard and go into a Content Area on your course menu.

If you need to add a Content Area, click on the "+" in the upper left hand corner of your Course Menu.

2. Once in the Content Area you can add the Honorlock LTI by click on Build Content then Honorlock LTI.

3. Enter the name and description and date/time restrictions.

4. Click Submit.

Enabling Honorlock

1. After creating the test, navigate to the Test Options Page for the exam.

2. Within the Honorlock section, there will be a button to enable the exam with Honorlock. Click Click to Enable to open the Exam Settings screen.

3. You can now enable the Proctoring Settings of your choice. To enable a setting, simply click on the box for that setting.

Yes, the system provides flexibility that can be used at the instructor's discretion, please read this Explanation of Proctoring Options that explains in detail all the options.

Yes.   Through Honorlock in your primary Learning Management System, you have the option to offer proctored exams given in ANY third party platform such as Pearson MyMathLab, McGraw-Hill Connect, and WebAssign.   For more information , look at:  https://honorlock.kb.help/faculty-exam-configuration/create-a-third-party-exam/ 

Should you require assistance, please contact Honorlock directly at: 1 (844) 243-2500

Instructors should verify with their students with disabilities if their accommodations and adaptive technologies are compatible with Honorlock. The University will still provide applicable academic accommodations for students registered with the SASC office who have online exams. Students should communicate with instructors to discuss exam accommodations.  Instructors are encouraged to review the Student Accessibility Service Center (SASC) testing and accommodations website and consult with the SASC staff to develop an accommodation plan with an alternative form of proctoring if a student’s accommodation or adaptive technology is not compatible with Honorlock.

These two tools were designed to fulfill different assessment needs. Respondus does not provide proctors.   Respondus monitor utilizes a student’s webcam and video analytics to prevent and flag possible cheating during exams. Faculty then review flags.

If you have not yet used Respondus Monitor this academic year, we ask that you plan to use Honorlock for your proctored exams.   For classes that are already using Respondus Monitor, you may continue to use it for your exams. 

Yes, you can use scrap paper and/or PDF's.

Watch this video for more information:  https://youtu.be/wPjQABtVcrg

Yes, in order for the artificial intelligence of the system to work properly, students screens must be recorded.  If you do not want your students' screens recorded, then Honorlock is not a good solution for you.   Please contact celt@stonybrook.edu and make arrangements to discuss alternative assessment.

These are Honorlock's minimum system requirements. Honorlock will work on any device that can run the full Chrome browser (including Windows, macOS, and Chrome OS). Windows-based and Chrome OS tablets should work; however, iOS and iPads and Android do not support the full Chrome browser and are not compatible with Honorlock. Honorlock requires internet access and students MUST have a web camera for online proctoring. Instructors should work with students to identify who cannot meet those requirements and find alternative solutions.

Being displaced during the COVID-19 social distancing period may put students in a situation where online proctored testing is difficult or impossible. Depending on the individual situation, students may not have access to reliable internet, computer hardware, or a private space where they can test uninterrupted. Students should communicate any limitations or obstacles they have with online proctored testing to your instructors so they can work with you. Students experiencing a financial hardship related to acquiring the appropriate technology should contact the Stony Brook Student Support Team at  (631) 632-7320 or by emailing   student_supportteam@stonybrook.edu

Yes. You are welcome to uninstall the Honorlock Chrome extension after your test is complete if you're not completely comfortable keeping it on your computer. Simply right click on the extension icon on your browser bar and select ‘Remove from Chrome’. 

You do not need to pay for Honorlock proctoring during the 2020-2021 year.

Instead of interacting with your computer at the operating system level or necessitating a software download, Honorlock only requires that you use the Google Chrome browser and install the Honorlock Chrome extension. This helps to minimize any unnecessary or perceived invasion of student privacy. Google Chrome extensions are sandboxed within the Chrome browser, and they only have access to limited operations provided by the browser. The extension is only active while you are within the Blackboard test environment. When the Honorlock extension is active, there is a flashing red indicator on the extension. If this indicator is not being shown, you can trust that nothing is actively being monitored or recorded during that time. If you still have concerns, we recommend creating a new Google Chrome person or profile to complete your testing with Honorlock. This will create a fresh version of the Google Chrome browser free of all data, and when finished, you can simply remove the extension. This can easily be accomplished by right clicking on the extension and selecting “Remove from Chrome.”

Instead of interacting with your computer at the operating system level or necessitating a software download, Honorlock only requires that you use the Google Chrome browser and install the Honorlock Chrome extension. This helps to minimize any unnecessary or perceived invasion of student privacy. Google Chrome extensions are sandboxed within the Chrome browser, and they only have access to limited operations provided by the browser. The extension is only active while you are within the Blackboard test environment. When the Honorlock extension is active, there is a flashing red indicator on the extension. If this indicator is not being shown, you can trust that nothing is actively being monitored or recorded during that time. If you still have concerns, we recommend creating a new Google Chrome person or profile to complete your testing with Honorlock. This will create a fresh version of the Google Chrome browser free of all data, and when finished, you can simply remove the extension. This can easily be accomplished by right clicking on the extension and selecting “Remove from Chrome.”

Only University personnel with legitimate educational interest in the records may have access to student data. Also key staff within Honorlock will have access, if needed, in order to provide quality control and support for SBU instructors. These individuals are bound to the FERPA and privacy requirements required by the SBU/Honorlock master service agreement.

Instructors can choose to enable this feature. Honorlock encourages the primary use of a University/College ID and this is our recommendation. However, any photo ID that has an image of the test-taker and their name on it will work for the purposes of confirming and documenting that the student that is supposed to take the exam is the student that actually authenticates into and completes the exam.

No. Honorlock does not scan home networks or monitor data from any device on the network other than the one used for testing. Secondary devices, such as phones, can be detected, but this is not accomplished by network snooping. See the questions below for more detailed information about how Honorlock tracks and monitors data and devices.

Honorlock does not access the test-taker’s network nor does it, in any way, monitor or access any secondary devices that are on the test-taker’s network. Honorlock does monitor the quality of the internet connection of the specific test-taking device to insure the quality of and to document the network connection stability during the test-taking experience. This helps to address and troubleshoot situations where the test-taker’s internet connection becomes unstable during the test-taking experience. Many other platforms (including Zoom) monitor network performance in a similar way. For a complete description of how Honorlock’s secondary device detection works, the patent information can be found here and on the Honorlock Patent Info for Multi-Device Detection.

Honorlock does not ‘intercept’ searches, nor control or interrupt any network/internet traffic from any secondary devices at any time. Honorlock also does not ‘replace’ search results; it has no more control over search results than any other company. Honorlock does utilize SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in an attempt to seed what’s called “honeypot” sites in meaningful ways. Honorlock does not, at any point, hijack any device, secondary or otherwise, to deliver the service. At no point does Honorlock have direct control over any device, secondary or otherwise, before, during or after the test-taking experience.

Honorlock does not need to, nor is it able to, monitor any activity from secondary devices during the testing period to deliver the service. It directs you to the public information available on the service as a patented technology on file with the U.S. Patent Office, links provided above. 

Honorlock in no way monitors any activity on the test-taker’s network from any secondary devices. It does interact with the test-taker’s test-taking device/computer to deliver the service as outlined above regarding internet connection quality monitoring. All of the other capabilities that Honorlock offers (webcam, audio, browser activity, screen recording, etc.) are deployed at the discretion of the Stony Brook University and its faculty and instructors to provide a secure remote test-taking environment
 

Students using their smartphones to search online resources for test questions should note that Honorlock utilizes a manual technology to detect academic integrity issues. Specifically, Honorlock hosts websites with seeded test questions that, when assessed during an examination session, sets off an action on the phone. This action is picked up during the student’s session and alerts instructors and proctors to review for academic integrity issues. Honorlock does not initiate any technologies to eavesdrop on the student’s smartphone activity either during or after an examination session. It is important for students to understand they are not authorized to use their phones during an Honorlock proctored examination.

The Chrome Web 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:

1. Webcam video, including audio 
2. Recording of desktop activity
3. Student information presented by the learning management system (Blackboard) such as student name, course number, exam name, etc.
4. Pages visited during the examination session
5. Specific student behavior that may indicate academic dishonesty, such as copy/paste into search engines.
6. Webcam and audio analysis has certain AI capabilities built in, 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 UMD personnel with legitimate educational interest to the records) to review the exam session to determine if additional action is necessary to remediate any academic integrity issues.
    

Honorlock does not employ any technologies to allow detection of secondary devices connected to a student’s local/home network used during the proctoring session. No agents or applications are downloaded to these secondary devices to initiate any type of surveillance activities. Other users connected to the local/home network during a student’s Honorlock session can process personal or confidential information concurrently without fear of the student’s Honorlock session monitoring or eavesdropping on secondary device activities. In addition, the application does not have the capability of intercepting local/home network communications from devices connected during the student’s session.

Honorlock’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) monitors the test-taking. The AI automatically generates a flag if unusual activity is detected, such as another person entering the room. If unusual activity is detected, a live proctor is notified. Once an exam session is completed, instructors, TA’s, or SBU personnel with legitimate educational interest in the records are able to review flagged sections of the recordings to determine if there was a possible academic integrity violation. 

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 for review.  If an instructor reviews the video and determines that the student did not violate SBU’s Code of Student Responsibility or no action is taken. However, if an instructor determines that the student violated the code, that instructor will follow the appropriate channels for academic honor policy violations. Students who feel wrongly accused of a violation have a channel for resolving alleged violations in the Office of Community Standards (communitystandards@stonybrook.edu or call 631-632-6705).