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Teacher Dashboard

Assessments

Assessment mode creates a secure testing environment by locking students to a defined set of websites for the duration of an Assessment. While an Assessment is running, students cannot access any sites or searches other than those enforced or allowed.

You can run an Assessment for an entire class, individual student, or for specific groups of students within a class. Live timers on the Teacher Dashboard show how much time each group has left, and if students are still working when the period ends, the Assessment continues into the next class without stopping.

Because each group can have its own timer, you can give one group more time than the others - for example, students with approved accommodations that entitle them to additional time. Place those students in their own group and set a longer duration for that group. All groups take the same Assessment with the same enforced and allowed URLs; only the duration differs. When a group's timer expires, the students in that group leave Assessment mode, and groups with time remaining continue working.

Note

Pushing out an Assessment will close all the students’ current open tabs and lock them down to the selected Assessment only.

Pushing Out an Assessment

To push out an Assessment:

  1. Click the Assessment Button button in the class action bar, or click the Student Assessment Icon button under a student's tile. The Create Assessment window opens on the Content tab.

    Create Assessment Window

  2. You have three different options of configuring an assessment:

    Tip

    You can combine multiple options for creating an Assessment. For example, load a preset, then manually add URLs or an LMS to the set of already configured URLs.

    1. Manually Entering URLs:

      1. In the Enforced URLs section on the left, enter the full URL of the web page you want to push out. Click the Add URL Button button to push out multiple sites simultaneously.

      2. In the Allowed URLs section on the right, allow the domain of the URLs by using an asterisk before and after the domain name, for example *edgenuity*, *classroom*, or *mathxl*. Click the Add URL Button button to add multiple allowed URLs.

      Important

      Some domains require additional URLs to be added as allowed URLs. Single sign-on providers are the most common example - if students sign in with Google, allow the Google sign-in domain as well as the assessment site.

      Manually Adding Assessment URLs

    2. Adding a Web App or a Quiz:

      • To add a Web App, click the Add Wepp App Button button and select an LMS environment or tool from the Web Apps Library.

        Web Apps Library

        Tip

        You can use multiple Web App presets in the same Assessment if you toggle the Allow Select Mode button in the top left. This allows you to select as many of the Web App presets as you like.

      • To add a Quiz, click the Add Quiz Button button, select an Assessment from the Assessment/Quiz Library, paste the quiz URL or code into the field, then click Confirm.

        Assessment Quiz Library

    3. Loading a Preset:

      To start from a saved configuration, select a preset from the Load Preset drop-down list. The enforced and allowed URLs, audience, and duration from that preset are applied. Refer to Assessment Presets for more information.

      Loading Assessment From a Preset Option

  3. Click the Continue Button button. On the Audience tab, select who the Assessment is for:

    1. Whole class - Every student in the class takes the same Assessment.

    2. Specific groups - Only the groups you select take the Assessment.

      For a group-based Assessment, select the groups to include. To create a group, click + Create new group and refer to Creating an Assessment Group. You can also manage groups from this screen, including adding or removing members, renaming the group, and deleting the group altogether.

      Selecting Audience Tab

    Important

    An Assessment can also be started for an individual student from that student's tile by clicking the Student Assessment Icon icon. Note that this specific student needs to be selected on the Audience tab.

  4. Click the Continue Button button to proceed to the Time tab, select a duration for each group from the drop-down list beside the group name. Duration cannot be set if you selected Whole class as an Audience option.

    Selecting Assessment Duration

    Note

    If allowed by your Blocksi administrator, the Assessment can be extended beyond the class duration.

  5. Click the Continue Button button to proceed to the Review tab. Check the summary of your configuration and click Edit beside the Content or Audience & Time sections to make changes if needed.

    Reviewing Assessment Configuration

    Tip

    To reuse this Assessment configuration, select the Save this as a preset checkbox and enter a name in the Preset name field.

  6. In the Start Options at the bottom of the configuration window, choose one of the options:

    1. Start now - Starts the Assessment straight away. This is the default option.

    2. Auto-start in the next class - The Assessment starts automatically when the class is started.

    3. Auto-start in every next class - Schedules the Assessment to start whenever a new class is started unless canceled.

  7. Click the Confirm and Start Button button.

Working With Assessments

Monitor an active Assessment, modify its URLs or duration, stop it early, and schedule an Assessment to start automatically in your next class.

Monitoring an Active Assessment

While an Assessment is running, the Assessment Button button in the class action bar appears with a green dot instead: Active Assessment Button.

While an Assessment is running for specific groups or for an individual student, an Assessment banner also appears below the class action bar with a live timer for each group.

Active Assessment Banner for Group View
Modifying an Active Assessment

You can change the enforced and allowed URLs, and add time to specific groups, while an Assessment is running. This is especially useful when students need a site you did not anticipate, such as a sign-in page or a reference tool that the Assessment site links out to.

Changes apply according to the scope you select:

  • Whole class - The updated URLs are applied to every student in the Assessment.

  • A specific group - The updated URLs are applied only to the students in that group. All other groups continue with the URLs they started with.

  • An individual student - The updated URLs are applied only to that student. Other students continue with the URLs they started with.

For the Whole Class
To modify an active Assessment for the whole class:

  1. Click the Active Assessment Button button to open the Assessment window.

  2. Add or remove URLs in the Enforced URLs and Allowed URLs sections. You can add a Web App or a Quiz, or load a preset from the Shared presets drop-down list.

    Edited Class Assessment Window

  3. Click the Update Button button to apply the changes.

For a Specific Group
To modify an active Assessment for a specific group:

  1. Click the Active Group Assessment Button button to open the Edit Assessment window.

  2. In the Add Time section, select additional time from the drop-down list, then click the Add Time Button button.

  3. Add or remove URLs in the Enforced URLs and Allowed URLs sections. You can also add a Web App or a Quiz to the existing configuration.

    Edited Group Assessment Window

  4. Click the Save Button button to apply the changes.

For an Individual Student
To modify an active Assessment for an individual student:

  1. Click the Active Individual Assessment Button button displaying student's name and remaining Assessment time to open the Edit Assessment window.

    Edit Assessment for Individual Student Window

  2. In the Add Time section, select additional time from the drop-down list, then click the TD-Add_Time_Assessment.png button.

  3. Add or remove URLs in the Enforced URLs and Allowed URLs sections. You can also add a Web App or a Quiz to the existing configuration.

  4. Click the Save Button button to apply the changes.

Tip

If you only need to change URLs without adding time, you can also click the Student_Assessment_Button.png icon under the student's tile. The Assessment window opens for URL changes only.

Stopping an Assessment

An Assessment ends automatically as follows:

  • Whole class - The Assessment ends when the class session ends.

  • A specific group - The Assessment ends when that group's timer expires. All other groups continue until their own timers expire.

  • An individual student - The Assessment ends when that student's timer expires.

You can also end an Assessment early at any point, or carry them over to your next class if allowed by your Blocksi administrator.

For the Whole Class
To stop an Assessment for the whole class:

  1. Click the Active Assessment Button button to open the Assessment window.

    Class Assessment Window

  2. Click the Stop Assessment Icon button at the bottom of the window to stop the Assessment.

For a Specific Group
To stop an Assessment for a specific group:

  1. Click the Active Group Assessment Button button to open the Edit Assessment window.

    Group Assessment Window

  2. Click the Stop Group Assessment Button button at the bottom of the window to stop the Assessment for the selected group.

For an Individual Student
To stop an Assessment for an individual student:

  1. Click the Student Assessment Icon button under a student's tile to open the Assessment window.

    Edit Assessment for Individual Student Window

  2. Click the Stop Individual Assessment Icon button at the bottom of the window to stop the Assessment.

Running Assessments Across Classes

A group or an individual student whose timer runs past the end of the period is still in Assessment mode when the class ends. Rather than ending the Assessment for those students, you can continue monitoring them in the current class or transfer them into another one of your classes and keep monitoring them there. Because a student can only be in one Assessment at a time, students already in another teacher's Assessment cannot be transferred into your class.

Important

Extending an Assessment past the class session may be disabled. Contact your Blocksi administrator if you need it enabled.

Transferring Students to Another Class

When the class ends while an Assessment is still running, the Transfer students window opens. Transferring moves the students who are still in Assessment mode into a class of your choice.

Group Assessment Transfer Prompt

In the Transfer students window, select a class from the Transfer to class drop-down list, then click Confirm transfer. The students are moved into the selected class, and you are taken to the destination class automatically so you can continue monitoring them. The transferred students appear in a separate section at the top of the class view, above the class's own students.

Transferred Assessment Class View

To leave the students where they are, click Don't move them instead. The students remain in the original class and stay in Assessment mode, and the Assessment banner and their tiles remain visible in that class even though the class is no longer running.

Note

You do not have to start the destination class to monitor transferred students. Their tiles and screens are visible as soon as the class opens, and their Assessment timer continues to run.

Students Locked in Another Teacher's Assessment

A student can only be in one Assessment at a time. If a student in your class is already in an Assessment started by another teacher, that Assessment continues to run and takes precedence in your class.

The student's tile displays the Student is in assessment, transferring to this class is unavailable overlay. The tile's action icons are unavailable while another teacher's Assessment is running.

Student in Another Teacher's Active Assessment
While the student is in another teacher's Assessment, you cannot:

  • See the student's screen

  • Modify or stop the Assessment

  • Start a new Assessment for the student

  • Transfer the student into your class

The tile returns to normal when the other teacher's Assessment ends. If the student needs to be released from the Assessment, contact the teacher running it or your administrator.

Managing Assessment Presets

An Assessment preset is a saved Assessment configuration you can reuse in any of your classes.

A preset consists of the following:

  • The enforced and allowed URLs

  • The audience - whole class, or the Assessment groups you selected

  • The duration set for each group

    Note

    Duration can only be set for specific groups.

Presets are especially useful for Assessments you run repeatedly, such as a weekly quiz on the same platform, or a standing configuration that includes a group for students with approved accommodations. You can also share presets with colleagues and import presets they share with you.

Once a preset is selected in the Load Preset drop-down list, use the following controls to rename, download, or delete it:

Edit Preset Icon

Edit Preset

Renames the selected preset.

Save Preset Icon

Save Preset

Downloads the selected preset to your computer as a file. Downloaded presets can be imported into Blocksi again, including by another teacher. Refer to Importing Presets.

Delete Preset Icon

Delete Preset

Deletes the selected preset.

Important

Presets shared by your Blocksi administrator appear in the Load Preset drop-down list alongside your own, but unlike your own they store only the enforced and allowed URLs, so you configure the audience and duration yourself.

Creating Presets

You save a preset as part of pushing out an Assessment, on the Review tab.

To create an Assessment preset:

  1. Configure an Assessment as described in Pushing Out an Assessment, then continue to the Review tab.

  2. Select the Save this as a preset checkbox.

  3. Enter a name in the Preset name field.

    Saving Assessment Configuration as a Preset

  4. Click the Confirm and Start Button button. The Assessment preset is saved to your Load Preset drop-down list.

Note

The Save this as a preset checkbox is selected by default when you select either Auto-start in the next class or Auto-start in every next class under Start Options, and cannot be cleared.

Importing Presets

You can import a preset that a colleague shared with you, or one you saved from another class. Importing is how teachers share presets directly with each other. Presets shared by an administrator appear in your Load Preset list automatically and require no import.

To import an Assessment preset:

  1. Click the Assessment Button button in the class action bar. The Create Assessment window opens on the Content tab.

  2. Open the Select Preset drop-down list under Load Preset and select + Import new preset.

    Import New Preset Option

  3. Select the preset file on your computer and confirm.

  4. Continue the configuration as described in Pushing Out an Assessment.

Loading Presets
To load an Assessment preset:

  1. Click the Assessment Button button in the class action bar. The Create Assessment window opens on the Content tab.

  2. Select a preset from the Load Preset drop-down list.

  3. Continue the configuration as described in Pushing Out an Assessment.

Presets shared by your Blocksi administrator appear in the Load Preset drop-down list alongside your own, but store only the enforced and allowed URLs, leaving you to configure the audience and timing.