An instructor setting for Respondus Monitor enables students to use MS Excel during an exam. For a complete overview of this feature, see Using Excel with Respondus Monitor.  

If you previously used the built-in “spreadsheets” tool for Respondus Monitor, you can continue to use it without any changes (although this tool is likely to be discontinued in the future). To have students use Excel instead of the spreadsheets tool, follow the instructions below.

Updating Exam Settings to use Excel

To enable students to access Excel during a Respondus Monitor exam, go to the LockDown Browser Dashboard and select Webcam + Screen, then Allow switching to MS Excel during the assessment option.  The [explain] link has more details.

Turning on the Excel option means that any “xls” or “xlsx” files previously included in your exam content will open in Excel instead of the built-in spreadsheet tool. If students don’t need to submit their spreadsheet at the end of the assessment, this may be all you need to do.  

However, if students are required to upload their spreadsheet during the exam session, you will need to utilize the file upload question type and/or settings in your learning system that enables this. The following question types allow students to upload a file:

• Canvas (New Quizzes): Use the File Upload or Essay question type
• Canvas (Classic Quizzes): Use the File Upload or Essay question type
• Brightspace: Use the Long Answer question type and select “allow learners to insert images and add attachments”
• Moodle: Use an Essay question, and select “Allow attachments” under “Response Options”
• Blackboard Original: Use a File Response question type
• Blackboard Ultra: At the current time file uploads are not possible in LockDown Browser, and any files would need to be uploaded after an exam using a process of the instructor’s choosing.

Instructors should provide clear instructions on how students are to upload their Excel files. These instructions should appear within the question that enables file uploads. Here is a starting point for those instructions:

Be sure to save your work in Excel! The default location for that file will be your Documents folder. When ready to upload the file, [add instructions appropriate for the uploading step; see previous section].

Note about iPad Users

If you previously allowed students to use an iPad with the built-in spreadsheet tool, that is no longer possible with the Excel setting. The iPad option will need to be deselected before the Excel setting can be enabled. The Excel feature is limited to students using Windows and Mac computers.