Can students use Lockdown Browser on Chromebooks or iPads?
Yes! In order to use Lockdown Browser on a Chromebook, the student will install a Chrome extension. When they navigate to the LDB download page, the site will automatically detect which operating system they are using and direct them to the right installer (Windows, Mac or ChromeOS).
To use LDB on a iPad, students will download the Lockdown Browser app from the app store.
For Lockdown Browser only, instructors do not need to configure any settings to allow the use of iPads of Chromebooks.
However, for Monitor, "allow students to use iPads" is not enabled by default, and must be enabled in settings. The screen recording feature in Monitor is not available for iPad.
Can students use Lockdown Browser on mobile phones?
No.
Can Lockdown Browser be required for Canvas Assignments or Discussion Boards?
No, Lockdown Browser can only be required for Canvas Quizzes.
If you are interested in having students use Lockdown Browser to complete a writing assignment, you could create a Canvas Quiz that only includes Essay-type questions. This is only recommended for writing assignments that are intended to be completed in one sitting.
What is Respondus Monitor? Do we have access to it at FSU?
FSU does not hold a paid license for Respondus Monitor. Through our license for Lockdown Browser, our institution has access to limited number of free "seats" for Monitor. If you are interested in using Respondus Monitor for your classes, you must contact the Education Technology Office (eto@framingham.edu) to determine if there will be enough seats for your students.
Monitor is essentially an extension of the Lockdown Browser environment that adds additional features, primarily recording a video of the test-taker while they are completing the exam/quiz. In order to use Monitor, the instructor must first enable Lockdown Browser. It is not possible to use Monitor only, without LDB.
Can Lockdown Browser be required for assessments created on publisher platforms (McGraw-Hill, Pearson, etc.)?
In general, no. There are a small number of products that directly integrate with Lockdown Browser including Cengage WebAssign (but not Mindtap), McGraw Hill ALEKS (but not Connect or other McGraw Hill products), Hawkes Learning, and Pearson MyLab (but not other Pearson products). In 2026 an integration with WileyPlus was announced for Fall 2026. If you use one of these products that has a direct integration, please contact the vendor for assistance with set up.
If you use a product that does not offer a direct integration, there are two possible workaround options:
- Export the quiz/quiz questions from the publisher platform and import into Canvas to create a Canvas Quiz.
- Create a Canvas Quiz with no questions, and link out the publisher activity. There are very specific settings that must be configured in order to use this method.
These two workarounds are described in detail here: Using Lockdown Browser with Publisher-Based Assessments
Does Lockdown Browser prevent cheating?
No. There no technology that can prevent cheating or guarantee test security. You should consider Lockdown Browser a tool that makes cheating on online tests more difficult, not impossible. Lockdown Browser prevents the student from opening additional webpages, documents, or applications on the device which they are using to take the test. Additionally, it prevents them from taking screenshots, or copying and pasting text from the test, or printing the screen. Crucially, it cannot prevent a student from having a second device open. In class, this could be a mobile phone or smart watch. At home, it could be a second computer right next to the first one.
Furthermore, technologies, including browser extensions, are constantly being developed to circumvent products like Lockdown Browser. Therefore, Lockdown Browser should be considered simply one element of plan for more secure exams.
Under what circumstances is Lockdown Browser most effective?
Lockdown Browser is most effective when used for Canvas Quizzes that are administered in a proctored environment: either a timed, in-class assessment or a a "take home test" that must be taken under supervision.
In any other scenario, it is simply too easy for test-takers to access additional devices, resources, or even other people that could provide unauthorized assistance for tests.
Some instructions may consider that using Monitor is "an additional layer of security" for take-home tests but keep in mind that Monitor also does nothing to prevent a student from using a second device or other resource, it merely provides an opportunity to collect evidence that a violation occurred.