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"I want to do online testing with my students using [such-and-such system]. Is there a way to make it so they can't go to any other website while they're testing?"What they're asking me for is a "lock-down browser", similar to what we use in California for SBAC testing. It presents the test in full-screen mode, without toolbars or tabs or any way to access anything else on the computer without exiting the testing session, which would notify the teacher. There are commercial counterparts available, but our district does not purchase any of them, and we are unlikely to do so in the future.
The concern from teachers seems to be that if students are taking a test on a computer or tablet, they could cheat by looking up answers on Google or some other site, or communicate covertly with each other during the test. Given that a commercial lock-down browser is not in the near future for our district, here are some strategies to address concerns about cheating on online tests.
1) Walk around the room. How do you prevent cheating when students are taking a pencil-and-paper test? You watch what they are doing during the test. You can do the same thing if students are testing on a computer. Remind students that they should have only one window open and one tab open in the browser. It's pretty simple for you to spot anything else open by looking at the taskbar or tab bar. This was my strategy when having my students take tests with Google Forms. The only cheating problem I had was old-fashioned: one student looking over at another's screen.
2) Write "non-Googleable" questions. If you are writing your own questions, try to write higher-level questions without answers that are easily found on Google. If students can look up the answer online, why should they have to memorize that answer just to give it back on a test? Questions at depth of knowledge 3 or 4 are typically much more difficult to answer with a simple and quick Google search.
3) Search your own questions beforehand. How do you know whether your questions are "Googleable"? You have to try it out yourself. Try a few keyword searches related to your test or individual questions. Also search for the entire question within quotes. Less-sophisticated internet searchers typically just type in the entire question, "asking" Google like it's Siri or some other personal assistant. If you find quick answers, think about how you can rewrite your questions.
4) Let them use Google. If your test questions require higher-order thinking, students may need resources and additional evidence to support their claims. Give them a task that requires them to pull together information from multiple sources, and let them find the sources as they can. Then you don't have to worry about keeping them from going to other pages; in fact, you want them to!
5) Replace "tests" with other types of assessments. There is nothing sacred about closed-book tests. If students can demonstrate their learning with some other type of project, presentation, video, or writing, let them! An authentic assessment is worth more than some artificial multiple-choice test.
