Monitor
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What is the Monitor area used for in Inspera?
Whilst a test is open to students, there are some actions that can be taken using the 'Monitor' module within Inspera. During any centrally-supported, summative Inspera exams, the Inspera Digital Exams Team will review the Monitor tab for anything requiring attention. If you have any questions about the Monitor function, please contact the Inspera Digital Exams Team via Digital.Exams@newcastle.ac.uk.
There is guidance available for all of the functionalities in Monitor in the Inspera Help Center. Some of the most commonly used options are listed below:
- Open for resubmission: this can be used if a student has submitted in error and needs to amend their answers.
- Submit on behalf of candidate if a test window has ended but a student has not submitted their exam, it is possible to submit on their behalf.
- Monitor candidate progress: this will allow you to identify who has submitted and who has not engaged with a practice test. Note: the student number is the only identifying information brought into Inspera.
The Inspera Digital Exams Team have created some guidance around how you should use monitor if you are hosting your own formative exam (or any exam not set up by our team). You can check out the Reviewing Monitor Area of Inspera guidance for more information.
If you need to open a formative assignment (such as a mock or practice Inspera digital exam) for resubmission, you can follow the instructions in the expandable.
How do I re-open a submission and allocate extra time on a formative assessment?
If student needs additional time or their attempt to be reopened once the exam has been submitted it is possible to open for resubmission’ an Inspera test. Any colleague who is a teacher on a Canvas course is able to click through the Canvas assignment link to the Inspera exam in that Canvas course in order to complete these steps.
Remember to ensure that the Canvas assignment link is still available, i.e. the 'until date' has not passed.
1. Click into the exam link in Canvas (found in Assignments).
2. From the deliver screen for the test click on ‘monitor’.
3. Locate the student by searching for their student number (ID Column) and select the student by clicking into the box to the left of their student number. You will then click on ‘Resubmission’.
4. Select ‘allow candidate to resubmit’, apply the appropriate settings and then click ‘update’.
5. You can now advise the student to re-attempt.
Allocation of Extra Time for Students in Inspera
How is extra time managed in Inspera Digital Exams?
For centrally supported in-person Inspera exams, the Digital Exams Team will handle student extra time entitlements. The Digital Exams Team receive extra time information from the Central Exams Office who work with the Student Heath and Wellbeing Service (SHWS). If a student's SSP does not reflect any extra time entitlements, the Digital Exams Team will not be aware of this.
Students with extra time will be advised of their extra time by invigilators within the exam venue. If students have questions about their extra time during their exam, they should raise their hand and speak to an invigilator.
For non-centrally supported exams where invigilation is not provided by the Exams Office, or if using Inspera for practice exams, Module Teams should apply extra time for students. You must do this before the exam starts. Check out the expandable below for details on how to apply extra time for in person exams.
How would I assign extra time in a formative mock Inspera Digital Exam?
If you need to allocate extra time for students in a formative mock or practice Inspera exam, you can follow the instructions in the expandable. The process of allocating extra time takes place within the Monitor module of Inspera.
How do I allocate extra time for my students?
The following steps need to be completed prior to the exam's scheduled start time.
Scenario: If you are running an in-person mock exam with a duration of 1 hour exam from 10:00-11:00 we recommend that you keep both your Canvas and Inspera exams open for 3 hours past the end time (14:00). This means that if students have extra time requirements or technical issues on the day, the majority will be captured within the 3 hours. Students should be prompted to submit their exam at their scheduled end time. If there are instances where students require additional time to that provided in your buffer, you can use the instructions below to apply extra time:
1. Access the Inspera exam from the Canvas assignment in the Canvas course. You must be a teacher on the course.
2. Select 'view all' candidates from the test screen.
3. Search for the student using their student ID.
4. Click into the tick box to the left of the student ID and select 'individual end time' from the menu that appears.
5. Make the changes/apply the extra time as required and select 'done'.
6. You must ensure the end time for any individual student is also changed on the Canvas assignment area. Please see: How do I add or edit details in an assignment? for information.
If you have any questions, please contact Digital.Exams@newcastle.ac.uk.
NOTE: If you are hosted a timed take home exam in Inspera, please contact the Digital Exams Team for guidance on how extra time allocation differs in a timed take home exam.
I can see students are showing in Monitor as 'online' but the exam has not started yet. What does this mean?
Students will access the Canvas assignment point approximately 20 minutes before the exam start time in order to get logged into Inspera ready for the exam starting at the scheduled time. This means that students will be logged into the Inspera platform prior to the exam start time and will show as being 'online'. Please note that they will not be able to access the actual exam until the scheduled start time. It is only once you see 'minutes spent' update to actually minutes that the students are accessing their exam.
There are some warning messages showing in Monitor. What does this mean?
For any summative centrally-supported Inspera Digital Exams which are set up by the Inspera Digital Exams Team, we will check the monitor area during assessment periods for any potential issues. For example, if there is an error when submitting, we may need to manually submit the exam on behalf of the student. If this is the case, we would contact the Module Team to let you know that we have done this.
If you are running a formative Inspera exam and notice any error messages following your exam where you would like further information, please do contact Digital.Exams@newcastle.ac.uk.
Can I have access to the 'view' in Monitor to check for any flagged problems?
The Inspera Digital Exams Team have a 'view' created within the monitor area which allows us to identify any problems for a student during an exam. We will monitor this for any centrally supported summative Inspera exams taking place during assessment periods.
If you are hosting your own formative exam and would like to be able to monitor this, please contact digital.exams@newcastle.ac.uk and a member of the team will be able to share access to the 'view' which allows you to do this. You will be able to do this for any exams where you have clicked the grey load button in the Canvas assignment and accessed the exam via the Deliver area.