Proctoring exams with mashme·io (Presenter)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Exam proctoring with mashme
  • Specific requirements for anonymity use case
• Preparation: create rooms/sessions
• Details to be considered

Exam proctoring with mashme

mashme platform can be used for Proctoring Exams with the hereby steps-to-follow.

In some cases, the exams need to be completely anonymous (among examinees but also to the examiners), for which additional tips are provided.

Participants can consult our article for instructions: Taking exams with mashme·io (Participant)

Specific requirements for anonymity use case

• Participants should not communicate in anyway with each other in the room before/during/after the session
• Their identities must be anonymous to the virtual room (name XX; no avatar)
  • Their names should not be revealed: “Participant/Candidate/Student XX”
  • Their profile photo should be a blank image or a standard avatar

Preparation: create rooms/sessions

1. Create the room, add users with their email and name (anonymity use case: use a generic name "Participant XX")
   • The user will take the name specified if it is the first time they are added to mashme
   • Otherwise, the assigned name will be ignored and they will acquire the previously used one
     • Admin must in this case edit the room, modify the necessary names and save changes
       • Room Management
       • When are Email Notifications sent to participants?
     • Or they can request the Participants to modify their names upon first login:
       • How do I change my user name?
2. OPTIONAL: Create the session (choosing to notify participants, if you want to send an invitation)
   • Session Management
   • When are Email Notifications sent to participants?
3. For anonymity use case: edit the room you just created, export the participants list (.csv file), delete all existing participants (not necessary to delete them one by one: changing the room layout removes all) and save changes
   • Participants will not be able to access the room:
     • it will disappear from the list in their hall of rooms
     • they will receive an M206 error message if they try to access it using the room link (obtained, for example, from the session invitation)
       • Participant gets M206 error when trying to login into a session
   • However, they will still be able to access the platform (https://app.mashme.io/) and perform the test to check devices and connection (https://test.mashme.io/) once they are logged in
     • If they encounter any issue, the test contains self-help steps to troubleshoot, or they can contact support for assistance before the session
     • The test can be carried out without being connected to the platform, but the information it provides will not be complete (i.e., support won’t know which user has carried it out)
     • Check related articles at Test Portal
4. Send a notification to all the participants informing that:
   • they have been added to the platform
   • they must have received:
     • an email with access credentials (in case they were new to mashme)
     • an email for the session invitation (if session was created and notified)
     • if users do not receive these emails (sent by the platform from contact@syncrtc.com), either because their mail manager is blocking them or because the company servers are quarantining them (and they do not even reach the user’s spam folder), they can contact us to provide them with a new password or the link to the room
       • How can I recover/reset my password?
       • When are Email Notifications sent to participants?
   • recommend that they log into the platform and run the test (the link is also included in the invitation email) to check devices and connection prior to the session, under the same conditions in which they will take the exam
5. For anonymity use case: 30' before the session, edit the room, enter all the participants through the Multiple Input option using the previously downloaded .csv file and save changes
   • If you want any of the Participants to have the role of Remote Presenter, you must assign it before saving changes, as this information is not included in the .csv file
6. Launch the room
   • Request all participants to turn their cameras on, so that they can be invigilated from the videowall
   • Make visible all files that the Participants will need to download for the exam
     • How do I change the visibility of a file? (hide/show content)
   • Once they have downloaded them, you can screenshare a countdown with the time left
     • Screen Sharing tool (Presenter)
7. Additional tips for anonymity use case:
   • Block all microphones to prevent people speak and multiplex in the “Current Speaker” video box
     • Online People Panel (Presenter): people connected & moderation tools
     • Note that in some scenarios you may ask to open them to be able to check they are not cheating
       • How do I start my camera?
       • How do I speak to the room?
   • To avoid the “Room Streaming” video box opening in the participant's view when launching, you can previously turn the rear camera off
     • Alternatively, once room is launched, you can close the browser window sitemap=room_cam, that opens minimised on the server (depending on the org. configuration)
     • Classroom Streaming video feed on the Participant view - Administrator
   • If participants need help during the exam, they can use the chat with Presenters or raise their hands
     • Chats: general vs private
   • If someone accidentally writes in the Room chat, the history can be immediately cleared using the tablet in room
     • Clear chat history
   • Participants can open the Presence View and see who is connected and if they have camera or microphone open, but they will not be able to know which participant is who, since they will not have an avatar or their real name
     • Online People Panel (Participant): see people connected
     • For privacy reasons, users emails are not shown in this panel, not even in the Presenter view in the tablet; they can only be consulted in the Administration Panel (admin credentials necessary)
8. For anonymity use case: once exam is over, ask the participants to leave the room
   • When room is empty: edit it, remove all participants (so they can no longer access and interact with each other) and save changes
9. Close the virtual room
10. You can request the session analytics report from the Analytics Portal. For anonymity use case: re-add the participants to the room using the .csv file, request the report, delete the participants again
    • The reports include the ID of the participant, as well as their assigned name and e-mail. The downloaded files have .csv format, which is easily editable in any spreadsheet application (excel, sheets, etc), so it is possible to eliminate quickly and easily the columns related to personal data before sharing the reports
    • Regarding the management of confidential data, these reports can only be requested from the Analytics Portal by the administrator; they will receive an email in their associated mail account, containing a URL that will only download the file if they are registered on the platform with the administrator credentials used to request it
    • For further info, check our following articles:
      • What is the Analytics Portal
      • How to download Session Reports from Analytics Portal

Details to be considered

• mashme does not need a "registration" process as such from the participants side; the first time a member is added to a room in the organisation (in any role), the platform automatically “registers” them
  • They will receive an email with their credentials (email, password)
    • When are Email Notifications sent to participants?
  • They will have access to the platform at https://app.mashme.io/ and to all the room/s they belong to (either using the link provided in the invitations or selecting them from the list in the hall of rooms)
  • If they try to access a room they have been removed from(using the link, as it will not appear anymore in their list of rooms), they will receive an M206 error message
    • Participant gets M206 error when trying to login into a session 
  • If they try to access a room that has been removed/deleted(using the link, as it will not appear anymore in their list of rooms), they will be redirected to the hall, with no message
    • Edit a room 
  • If they are removed from all the rooms they belonged to, they will still be able to log into the platform with their credentials (but their list of rooms will be empty)
• Note that it is not necessary to assign an Assistant to the session:
  • All moderation actions can be done from the Presenter's (in room and Remote/s) Online People panel (this prevents Presenter and Assistant from duplicating them)
    • Online People Panel (Presenter): people connected & moderation tools
  • In case of adding an Assistant, the participants would have, in addition to the class chat, two independent private chats: a private one with the Assistant only and a shared one with the Presenters (in room and Remote/s), which could confuse them
    • Session with Assistance: Participant's experience
• Therefore, we recommend to create a session WITHOUT an assistant and WITHOUT Remote Presenters, and to control the session from the physical room itself; this way:
  • you will be able to see and control all participants from the videowall
  • you will be able to moderate and resolve doubts from the tablet: un/block microphones or cameras, answer private chats, delete room chat, etc.