When students have to complete tasks in Trelson on a Chromebook, it is done in something called Kiosk mode. Kiosk mode in Google Chrome is a feature that makes it possible to run the browser in a limited, full-screen mode. In this mode, the browser is locked so that the user cannot access other apps or settings on the computer. A browser is, for example, Chrome or Edge, i.e. what you click on to start the internet. Kiosk mode is the mode where the student completely logs out of their Chromebook and goes to the "Apps" button at the bottom left of the student's computer and logs in.
This prevents the student from accessing anything else on the computer other than Trelson and the resources you added to the task as long as the computer is in kiosk mode.
As a teacher, you must be aware that it is possible for students to intentionally leave the kiosk mode.
They can either "Log Out" via the button in the upper right corner visible in the view where the student's data is or they can simply restart the computer.
That students deliberately choose to log out or restart is not something that a testing tool can prevent. However, Trelson can help the teacher draw attention to the above cases. There are four things to consider:
1. When students are logging in, walk around the classroom and make sure all students are logging in. If you are an invigilator for many students at the same time, you need to monitor the student view in the teacher dashboard and make sure that it says "open" before handing out the exams. You also need to keep track of who is absent so you know which exams should not be opened. Alternatively, absent students are removed from the exam so that the invigilator knows that everyone's exam should be open.
2. Monitor the student view via the teacher's dashboard in Trelson.
First, you need to make sure that it says "open" for all students who will write the exam. There you can see the status of all students added to the exam. If someone closes the exam to log out, it will be visible there since the status changes from "Open" to "Closed". In the case where they restart the computer, it will say “Network Connection Lost”. Of course, this can also appear if you have a weak network and it is actually the case that the connection was lost!
In this view, you also see the number that are open or have not started.
3. The third thing is for the teacher to enter a PIN code to resume the test and a PIN code to submit the test.
This means that no student can leave the test unnoticed, search for answers on the Internet, and then resume the test without the teacher noticing. In that case, the student will not be able to enter the exam again but must ask the teacher for the code. Entering PIN codes is a must to be completely on the safe side and prevent fraud.
A student can click the red icon in the lower right to close the exam. This is done if, for example, the student needs to take a break. In the teacher's dashboard, the status then changes to "Closed". The student can continue writing again when they receive the PIN code from the teacher to resume the exam. If you haven't entered a PIN here, it's fairly quick for a student to enter and exit the exam.
Kiosk mode on Chromebook is the safest way to take exams. The combination of a properly managed Chromebook and the locked-down environment combined with running the exam in kiosk mode is safe and there is no known way to bypass Trelson.
We emphasize the importance that the teacher secures the test in the form of PIN codes and monitors the status in the teacher's dashboard.
Even if the student somehow managed to bypass the management and install inappropriate software on their Chromebook, the software would not be accessible when starting Kiosk Mode. In that mode, it is no longer the student's account on the computer that is used, but the computer is started in a completely separate mode where only Trelson is running.
If you follow the above instructions and make sure you set up and use PIN codes, you can rest assured that your students have not been able to bypass the locked mode to cheat.
What we see is a lot of students who, before the exam, have used Chat GPT and memorized texts and included supporting words on classic cheat sheets. We also see a lot of mobile phones that were used during tests. The school and the teachers are responsible for mobile phones and cheat sheets not being present during an exam.