The UWI Cave Hill Responds to Online Petition about use of a Lockdown Browser
12 November 2021
The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. Wednesday, October 20, 2021—The administration of The UWI Cave Hill campus has been made aware of a petition that is currently in circulation, where students are protesting using a “lockdown browser” for some courses in the Department of Management Studies. This software program is aimed at ensuring the utmost integrity of our examinations process.
The online proctoring softwareRespondus Lockdown Browseris a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within the learning management system. It is used at over 2000 higher educational institutions and is considered the gold standard for securing online exams in classrooms or proctored environments.
Students can download the software, which is free of cost, onto their laptops or desktops. The software does not activate the computer’s microphone or camera but seeks to ensure that students’ focus and activity during the assessment, remain on their examination page.
It is important to note that if students do not want to download the software on their computers, they can sit their exams on computers that are available on Campus in the Computer Labs and the Sidney Martin Library, while complying with COVID-19 health and safety protocols. The use of these computers will be subject to availability and exam scheduling.
Several programmes in the Department of Management Studies, particularly Accounting; Marketing; and Human Resources, are internationally accredited by various professional bodies. These bodies require all exams to be proctored. Failure to enforce this mandatory proctoring exposes the University to the risk of losing international accreditation for its degrees.
Online proctoring also protects programme quality and recognition standards, thus enabling students with such qualifications to benefit from worldwide acceptance of their UWI degree.
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