Unassisted Online Examinations DIY-BYOD

With the introduction of the Bring Your Own Device recommendation (BYOD) for new students from HS23 onwards as well as the planned BYODs obligation for new students from HS24 onwards, examinations can be conducted as Do It Yourself – Bring Your Own Device examinations (DIY-BYOD examinations) on students’ mobile devices.

DIY-BYOD examinations are Written Examinations that are conducted on students’ private mobile devices. Like paper-based examinations, DIY-BYOD examinations take place under supervision and on ETH Zurich premises.

The implementation of DIY-BYOD examinations is the sole responsibility of the main examiner(s). They are conducted independently without on-site support by LET or IT-Services. ETH IT systems such as Moodle may be used for DIY-BYOD examinations. Support requests for the IT systems operated by ETH are handled via as part of the usual support services. For pedagogical support, please contact . For organizational and regulatory advice, please contact the Examinations Office .

Examinations on centrally managed infrastructure as part of the ETH Online Examinations service remain available through an online application. Please find further information on how to apply here.

I want to conduct a DIY-BYOD examination. Is this allowed?

At ETH Zurich, all written examinations may be conducted as DIY-BYOD examinations even before the BYOD obligation, provided all students have access to a laptop (see below). The examiners are responsible for the entire examination process.

Examiners are free to choose the examination mode (e.g. Open-Book) as well as a suitable examination system (e.g. Moodle) as long as both comply with ETH regulations, ETH data privacy regulations, and Swiss law.

Not all students will immediately have their own device. The introduction of the BYOD obligation in Autumn Semester 2024 for new students means that it will take several years until all students at all levels have their own device.

Can students be expected to use their own laptops for a DIY-BYOD examination?

ETH is planning to make BYODs compulsory for first year students (BSc, MSc, continuing education) per Autumn Semester 2024. This student obligation also applies to examinations. Before the obligation, examination participation with their BYODs is voluntary for all students.

Examiners are strongly advised to have a sufficient number of spare computers available for students without a BYOD or with a malfunctioning device.

Where can I get spare computers for my DIY-BYOD examination?

There are several ways to do this:

Your degree programme or department may already have laptops that you can use as spare devices
Your department's IT support group or IT services group (ISG) may have laptops that you can use as spare devices
external pageProject Neptun, part of the Student Discount Foundation (SSD), rents out laptops
Various companies in the Zurich area or throughout Switzerland offer computer rental services

Examiners are advised to organise the required spare devices as early as possible and to configure and test them according to the chosen examination scenario.

Where and what kind of help can I get when conducting a DIY-BYOD examination? What are my responsibilities?

Due to the nature of DIY-BYOD examinations, LET, IT-Services or the examinations office will not be able to provide any on-site nor project-based support, technical or otherwise, for these examinations. The examiners alone are responsible for the technical feasibility, organisation, and implementation of their examinations as DIY-BYOD. If you need help with specific questions, please proceed as detailed below:

I want to conduct a DIY-BYOD examination with Safe Exam Browser and Moodle. How do I proceed?

To conduct DIY-BYOD examinations with SEB and Moodle please follow the examiner and student guides below. Furthermore, you will need a course on the ETH Exam Moodle where you can set up your exam. Creating such a course will become available through eDoz during 2024. In the meantime, please contact who will create the course for you.

Guide for examiners:
https://moodle-app2.let.ethz.ch/mod/book/view.php?id=997576

Guide for students:
https://moodle-app2.let.ethz.ch/mod/book/view.php?id=997593

Important:
To facilitate a smooth exam experience, please:

follow the guides precisely and step by step.
conduct multiple trial sessions of the setup with your students during the semester. You might do this in mock exams, formative quizzes, or course exercises well in advance of the final exam.

I have a question regarding a Moodle question type (or another question regarding some ETH learning environment)

Please contact

I have a question regarding examination didactics

Please contact . For more information: https://ethz.ch/en/the-eth-zurich/education/educational-development/guidance.html

I have a question regarding some external learning/assessment tool

Please contact the external company responsible for the tool for support.

I have a question regarding Safe Exam Browser

Please consult the online support materials available here: external pagewww.safeexambrowser.org

I have a question regarding ETH examination regulations and/or data privacy

Please contact the examinations office:

I have a question about the rooms for my Session examination

Please contact the examinations office:

How do I make it all fit together and ensure everything runs smoothly on the examination day?

We strongly recommend you do a trial run in a mock examination where you test the setup with your students. Plan the mock examination at a sufficient time interval before the actual examination. Consult with colleagues, your department’s teaching specialist, or study coordinator. In view of possible device failures or similar technical complications that cannot be resolved on site, it is furthermore recommended to have spare devices available for students as a contingency plan.

Allow students 15 to 30 minutes preparation time for taking a seat, starting their BYODs and logging into the examination system. Do not start the examination until all students are ready. For persistent problems, the following procedure may help: (1) restarting the exam browser or examination software, (2) restarting the entire device, and finally (3) switching to a spare device.

In case of problems during the examination, you can proceed as described above. In addition, note the time when the problem is reported and after the problem has been solved. In this way, you can then grant the lost examination time individually.

Unfortunately, LET and IT-Services cannot provide any project-based or on-site support for DIY-BYOD examinations. In order to familiarise oneself with the DIY-BOYD procedure, it is recommended to first use DIY-BYOD examinations with technically more simple setups.

How can I block access to additional resources (websites, software, files, system functions)?

Using a suitable lock-down technology, such as Safe Exam Browser, for DIY-BYOD examinations can be of great help in preventing students from accessing unwanted resources such as websites, programs, files, or system functions. It cannot however replace on-site supervision.

When deciding on the use of a suitable lock-down technology, remember to factor in whether and what kind of additional resources you want to make available to students during an exam.

I want to use centrally managed ETH devices for my DIY-BYOD examination.

Centrally managed ETH devices run in a special configuration for the ETH Online Examinations service and are not available for DIY-BYOD examinations. If you want to use centrally managed ETH devices for your examination, please contact the service or fill in the online application form. Please find further information on how to apply here.

What deadlines apply to new DIY-BYOD examinations?

Since DIY-BYOD examinations do not require support from LET or IT-Services, there is no need to apply for DIY-BYOD examinations.

Examiners inform students about the BYOD examinations in the course catalogue in the field ‘additional information on mode of examination’ no later than at the beginning of the semester, e.g. with the following text: "BYOD examination: To participate in the examination, please bring your personal laptop with a fully charged battery and the current version of Safe Exam Browser".

So far, I have conducted my examinations using ETH's Service Online Examinations. Will this change?

Unfortunately, due to limited resources, there is no automatic guarantee of continuity with regard to support from the service Online Examinations.

Applications as well as the existing examination portfolio are evaluated every semester and assessed according to the available capacities in the service Online Examinations. It is therefore possible that the support provided by Service Online Examinations for your examination may be given lower priority or may even have to be discontinued.

It is also possible, you will be asked to conduct your examinations as a DIY-BYOD examination in lieu of support from the Online Examinations service - especially in the case of examinations with only few students or in higher semesters. Upon request, a one-time start-up aid for the BYOD-DIY mode may be provided.

Are there regulations for storing DIY-BYOD examinations?

The same rules for backup and archiving apply as for paper-based exams.

Does the right for viewing of the examination apply to DIY-BYOD examinations?

Students have a right to view their scored and graded DIY-BYOD examination according to ETH regulations, same as for paper-based examinations.

If all students have their own computer and Safe Exam Browser, can I conduct my examination at home?

No, this is not possible. Securing the examination devices only technologically is useless. If the students are not supervised, then the help of, for example, other people present or the use of other devices such as tablets or mobile phones effectively cannot be prevented. Declarations of independence or honor codes may only be adhered to by honest students. Highly selective examinations such as session examinations may not be conducted unsupervised and for all other performance assessments, if conducted at home, any resources must be permitted.

Most students are honest. Rules, whose compliance cannot be checked or enforced, penalise the honest students.

Which regulations have to be considered when conducting DIY-BYOD examinations?

All ETH regulations as well as Swiss law (notably regarding data storage) apply and must be adhered to - including but not limited to: