There is no need to panic if a student loses their internet connection during an ongoing exam. Trelson is built to handle this and saves the student's work locally on the device.
How does it work?
As the student writes, the text is saved every 20 seconds. If the internet disappears, Trelson continues to save the work in the device's hidden memory. As long as the student does not restart the computer or clear the web history, the work remains there.
Step-by-step: If the network is disconnected
- Let the student finish writing: The student can continue writing just as usual even without a network.
- Reconnect during the exam: If the network returns while the student is still in the exam, all work is automatically uploaded to the cloud immediately.
- If the exam time expires without a network:
- A box appears where the student is prompted to call a teacher.
- The student gets three attempts to submit. If it fails, choose to close the exam/app.
How to submit the exam when the network is back
Once the student again has a stable internet connection, follow these steps to "empty" the local memory and submit the exam:
| Step | Action | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Use the same device | The work is saved specifically on the computer the student used. |
| 2 | Extend exam time | Teachers must extend the end time in settings so the student can re-enter. |
| 3 | Open the exam again | Once logged in, the local work syncs to the cloud immediately. |
| 4 | Submit | The student clicks "Submit" as usual. |
Summary for the student
"Keep writing, it's being saved on the computer. Just close it when you're done, and we'll open it together later when the network is back so we can submit it."
Back up option
If a student attempts to submit their exam and the submission fails—such as when hitting submit with no network connection—a backup export feature is automatically enabled. Please note that this shortcut will not function until a submission attempt has officially failed.
Once a submission failure occurs, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+O. This will generate a JSON export and open a "save-as" dialog, allowing you to save the work externally. In an exam setting, this is typically done using a USB stick to ensure the student's work is secured outside the local system before any troubleshooting or power cycling occurs.
Technical explanation for administrators
Trelson stores data on Google Cloud Platform servers. Data is stored locally first, then synchronized every 20 seconds. Note: Trelson uses App Cache for this storage. This cache remains unless the device is factory reset or the "Clear user data on logout/restart" policy is active on Chromebooks.