Getting Started with Examity
Examity usage is billed per hour for each student's session and the rate varies by the security level (i.e. Live Proctoring costs more per hour than Live Authentication+ Audit). Additionally, we pay for the entire estimated time of the exam, not just the amount of time the student uses. Distance Education has a limited budget for Examity usage. For these reasons, we ask faculty to please be judicious with their usage and exam set up so the funds are distributed throughout the fiscal year.
Key Points
Here are some key points about Examity online proctoring of which both you and your students should be aware (see Communicating with Students):
- Examity usage is billed per hour for each student's session and the rate varies by the security level (i.e. Live Proctoring costs more per hour than Live Authentication+ Audit). Additionally, we pay for the entire estimated time of the exam, not just the amount of time the student uses. Distance Education has a limited budget for Examity usage. For these reasons, we ask faculty to please be judicious with their usage and exam set up so the funds are distributed throughout the fiscal year.
- Students are unable to see in Examity which security level you have chosen. Please tell them this so they know what to expect during proctoring.
- Students must contact Examity directly for support while they are testing. Refer to our Examity Support page for contact information.
- The Chrome browser must be used when taking any Examity proctored exam. As part of the proctoring process, students will install the Examity Chrome browser extension.
- Students' computers/technology will need to meet minimum requirements. They should run the Examity platform system check (opens new window) on whichever computer they will use to take your exam.
- Examity uses room scans which are conducted one-on-one with the proctor. Students should be encouraged to discuss any concerns with you.
- Students must set up an Examity profile (their info, photo id, security questions, etc.) which is used for identity verification. It is recommend that students set their time zone to automatic when setting up their profile.
- Students will be asked to show an APSU student or government issued photo ID.
- Students must schedule exams at least 24 hours in advance. Any exceptions must be approved by the instructor as a "Scheduling Exception" in Examity for the specific exam and student.
- Students can begin their proctoring session up to 15 minutes early and they can be up to 30 minutes late for a scheduled exam session before they will lose their time slot.
- Students need to submit/complete their D2L Quiz or third-party exam first before closing the proctoring session.
- After proctoring concludes, faculty should review the identity verification information provided by each student and the results of student testing sessions. It is ultimately up to the faculty to decide if there were any instances of academic misconduct. Examity is there to help you make an informed decision.
Guides
Security Levels
You have two choices for security levels in Examity. Please note, Examity is in the process of changing the names of their security levels so you may see various terminology. Refer to the table below for naming and feature guidance.
Current Name
Former Names
Features
Automated Practice
Not Applicable
For student practice purposes only; allows students to experience Examity and online
proctoring and to test their technology; utilizes auto authentication and auto proctoring
Live Authentication + Audit
Live Standard or Level 2
Live authentication, live review of exam recording, flagged violations with video,
and human audit
Live Proctoring
Live Premium or Level 3
Live authentication, live low-ratio proctoring, real-time on-screen support, immediate
intervention, flagged violations with video, and human audit
Security Level Details
Live Authentication + Audit
The Live Authentication + Audit security level begins with live ID authentication and a 360᷾° sweep of the room and workstation, ensuring any unauthorized materials are removed before testing can proceed. Once complete, the proctor will leave the session. Although a human proctor is not present, the exam session will be recorded from start to finish, and the Examity software will monitor the exam for any unusual activity. Upon exam completion, an Examity proctor and auditor will review both the authentication process and proctoring session. The recording and data will then be released to the instructor's dashboard.
Live Proctoring
The Live Proctoring security level begins with live ID authentication and a 360᷾° sweep of the room and workstation, ensuring any unauthorized materials are removed before testing can proceed. The live proctor oversees the entire session, from authentication to test completion, and are able to provide interactive support in real-time if necessary. The exam session will be recorded from start to finish. Upon exam completion, an Examity proctor and auditor will review both the authentication process and proctoring session. The recording and data will then be released to the instructor's dashboard.
Examity Best Practices
- Set up all exams at the beginning of the semester and notify students to schedule as soon as possible. This will help ensure they have their choice of proctoring sessions.
- Provide a practice exam. Please refer to the Practice Exam tab above.
- Consider providing an exam window of two or more days. This gives students more options of proctoring sessions and allows them some time to reschedule if they did encounter an issue connecting with a proctor. Additionally, it spreads out technical issues so that anything that would impact the entire class can be identified and resolved before the majority of students test.
- It is best to provide the "student" link when completing the exam link field in Examity. Select the profile image and then "View as Student." Navigate to the exam in student view. Select the exam title from the Quiz List. Once on the summary page that lists the Quiz Details, copy this URL and paste it into the "Link to access exam" field in Examity. Please note, the auto exam creation feature, if utilizing, will complete this step for the instructor.
- You must protect your exam with a password in D2L. Without a password, students can bypass proctoring. Students will never see the exam password. The proctor will enter the password for them.
- Provide detailed and specific special instructions as need. Here is are Examples of Special Instructions for Proctor and/or Students.
- Review student identity verification and proctoring analytics. Examity will flag issues/incidents, but, ultimately, the instructor must make determinations on academic integrity. Exam proctoring information stays in the Examity portal for 30 days and then it is deleted. Additionally, red flags are maintained for one year and can be requested from Examity if needed after the 30 days.
D2L Setup
Please contact Distance Education at online@apsu.edu or complete this online form to request assistance (opens new window). We will review your needs and help you implement the necessary tool and best settings.
After the tool is added to the course initially or the course is copied, the instructor must:
- Access the Examity Online Proctoring link in D2L to connect their course to Examity. Some basic course information (course, instructor, and student names) will import into Examity immediately.
- Setup the exams. Please see the "Auto Exam Creation" and "Manual Exam Creation" tabs on this page for details.
Accessing the Examity Online Proctoring link in D2L and setting up exams within Examity must be done for each course, each semester.
Note: within Examity, do not use the "New Course" or "New Test-Taker" buttons. These features are for other uses of Examity and are not applicable to our integration within D2L using single sign-on. To add a course to Examity, add the Examity Online Proctoring link to that course in D2L and then access the link to connect the course.
Auto Exam Creation
Examity can auto-import exam information (exam name, date range, duration, link, and password; not exam questions/answers) overnight from the D2L Quizzes tool. It does not work for third-party exams (like McGraw-Hill) since those exams are not built in the D2L Quizzes tool. Use the manual exam creation process for third-party exams.
To use the auto-import feature:
- Access your Examity Online Proctoring link in the D2L content area to connect the course to Examity. Even if the quizzes and Examity links are copied from another course or sandbox, the instructor still needs to click on the link in the new course to establish the connection. If you do not have the link in your course, please contact Distance Education.
- Complete the entire exam/quiz set up in the D2L Quizzes tool as you normally would.
The following is required for auto-import:
- Ensure there is a Start Date and End Date entered, both are required. A Due Date is optional.
- Add the keyword(s) ‘Examity’, ‘proctor’ and/or ‘proctored’ to the D2L quiz title. Exams that include at least one keyword will automatically import/update in Examity every night.
- Auto-import processes overnight.
- After import, the exam security level and rules must be set for each exam within Examity. Exams will default to Live Authentication + Audit with the standard rules and are immediately available to students for scheduling. Instructors should review these defaults to ensure it meets their needs or make adjustments.
- Moving forward, all changes to the exam information (exam name, date range, duration, link, and password) need to be made in D2L and allowed to process overnight. Making changes directly in Examity to an auto-imported exam will break the connection and the information in Examity will no longer update/match D2L. Deleting the exam from Examity will not repair the connection as it will not auto-import again.
- After proctoring, review student proctoring analytics. Examity will flag issues/incidents, but, ultimately, the instructor must make determinations on academic integrity. Exam proctoring information stays in the Examity portal for 30 days and then it is deleted. Additionally, red flags are maintained for one year and can be requested from Examity if needed after the 30 days.
Manual Exam Creation
- Auto exam creation is not required. Exams can still be added manually to Examity. The manual exam creation process must be used for third-party exams.
- Do not use any of the auto-import keywords (‘Examity’, ‘proctor’ or ‘proctored’) in the D2L quiz titles for exams added manually. The exam will auto-import from D2L and cause duplicate exams in Examity.
- Exam information is added manually in Examity under the Exams menu. Exams cannot be added from the exams list under the Courses menu. That is simply a list of exams already associated with that course.
- Passwords must match between D2L and Examity and can not be longer than 20 characters.
- It is best to provide the "student" link when completing the exam link field in Examity. Select the profile image and then "View as Student." Navigate to the exam in student view. Select the exam title from the Quiz List. Once on the summary page that lists the Quiz Details, copy this URL and paste it into the "Link to access exam" field in Examity. Please note, the auto exam creation feature, if utilizing, will complete this step for the instructor.
- Review student proctoring analytics. Examity will flag issues/incidents, but, ultimately, the instructor must make determinations on academic integrity. Exam proctoring information stays in the Examity portal for 30 days and then it is deleted. Additionally, red flags are maintained for one year and can be requested from Examity if needed after the 30 days.
Practice Exam
Automated Practice exams allows your test-takers to get comfortable with Examity and practice the set up process before starting their actual exam. No video or flags are stored and the exam will not be audited.
How to Create a Free, Automated Proctoring Exam to help students acclimate to Examity
Student Exceptions
Course Accommodations
Course accommodations is a feature that allows the instructor to make specific allowances on a student by student basis by providing notes the Examity proctors and auditors can review. For example, a specific student is permitted to use scrap paper, take a bathroom break, etc. Course accommodations apply to the entire course in Examity (i.e. all exams for that course). When entering the Course Accommodation, enter one, save, and then save again. Don’t leave the page before saving the second time.
Scheduling Exceptions
Scheduling exceptions is a feature that allows the instructor to make exam window (date and time) exceptions for students on a per exam per student basis.
- In most cases, a scheduling exception in Examity means the information also needs to be added to the D2L Quiz as a Special Access permission. For example, an instructor wants to allow a student to test one day longer than the rest of the class, this information needs to be added as a scheduling exception in Examity and a special access permission in D2L so that both tools allow the student to test outside the previously set exam window.
- Similarly, students given “Special Access” in D2L need to have this information entered into Examity as a Scheduling Exception. The information will not automatically import from D2L.
Students must schedule exams at least 24 hours in advance. Any exceptions must be approved by the instructor as a "Scheduling Exception" in Examity for the specific exam and student. If the 24 hours does not exceed the current exam window, set the start date/time as the earliest time the student can test and set the end date/time to match the regular exam window. This will ensure the student can test within 24 hours or through the remainder of the normal exam window if there was a need to reschedule.