LockDown Browser, created by Respondus, is a secure web browser application that is used by Winthrop University and other institutions of higher learning to prevent cheating during exams. Despite the company’s claims that “LockDown Browser is the ‘gold standard’ for securing online exams in classrooms or proctored environments,” it does not hold up to scrutiny. The program is invasive, unreliable, prone to glitches and does not prevent cheating.
Lockdown Browser has been seen as a solution to cheating in an educational environment now dependent upon online learning and testing. When launched, the browser closes all other running applications in the background of your computer, and roots itself into your computer files. It is then able to monitor activity on the computer and enable the video camera and microphone to record.
Lockdown Browser and software like it operate in a similar way to trojan computer viruses. While running, they maintain complete control over the computer and are vulnerable to hacking or program manipulation.
The idea of handing that much access to your personal computer to a computer application like Lockdown Browser is very unsettling. It is also unsettling that Lockdown Browser uses facial recognition software and students are not given the option to opt out of being recorded while taking an exam.
Tools like the ability to monitor computer activity and even webcam recording feel superfluous when one considers the reality that many students own more than one computer, a laptop or a smartphone. A careful positioning of the camera right and a nearby smartphone are all that is necessary to cheat while using Lockdown Browser.
A student could easily claim they were doing scratch–work or reviewing permitted notes when questioned why they kept looking down so often, should the professor even catch these subtle gestures. Without the definitive proof of cheating that could more easily be produced in a classroom environment, it is nearly impossible to prove a student was cheating. At best, Lockdown Browser slightly impairs the student’s ability to cheat.
It may be reasonable to believe that having some tool to inhibit cheating, no matter how effective, is better than no tool at all. But Lockdown Browser also fails in another way, making it significantly harder for students to take exams. It is very slow to use, frequently crashes and is prone to technical errors and glitches.
Lockdown Browser is an underwhelming and underdeveloped application that receives overrated praise. It should be imperative to educators and universities to find an alternative application that actually prevents cheating and is easier to use.
It is unfair to force students to use clunky software that is invasive and could potentially crash and ruin their grade. Students are feeling more pressure than ever in the current educational system and do not need further technological problems to contend with. Better software alternatives should be considered.
Photo by Wren Brooke
