Respondus Review Summary

Summary of Usage Data and Trends

Usage data for Respondus LockDown Browser from the past three years was collected in November 2025. The data includes faculty, student, and course section usage for at least one exam using LockDown Browser, along with the subset that also used Respondus Monitor.

In the tables below, values are shown as Lockdown Browser / Monitor. The first number represents usage of LockDown Browser, and the second number represents usage of Respondus Monitor. For example, 100 / 30 indicates that 100 faculty used LockDown Browser, and 30 of those faculty also used Monitor during that term.

This format is used consistently across the following tables:

• faculty users
• student users
• course sections

A separate table reports the total number of exam sessions recorded using Respondus Monitor. These counts reflect individual proctored exam sessions, not unique users or courses. Data marked with an asterisk reflects partial‑term data, as fall 2025 figures were collected before the end of the semester.

Faculty Using Respondus LockDown Browser / Respondus Monitor

Students Using Lockdown Browser / Respondus Monitor

Course Sections Using Respondus LockDown Browser / Respondus Monitor

Respondus Monitor Proctored Exam Sessions (total recorded sessions)

*Data was collected in November 2025, prior to the end of the semester.

Description of Current Usage

Usage of Respondus LockDown tools continued to strengthen from 2023 to 2025, with significant growth in 2024 across faculty, students, and course sections. In 2025, overall Browser usage dipped slightly, while Monitor usage continued its upward trend, indicating increased reliance on proctored exam environments. Importantly, the fall 2025 term was not complete at the time of data collection, which explains the lower figures in that period—particularly for Monitor sessions—despite record-high usage in spring 2025. Taken together, the data reflects sustained institutional adoption of Lockdown tools and a gradual shift toward greater use of the Monitor feature, even with seasonal and timing-related fluctuations.

Faculty Survey

To gather faculty input for NIU’s online learning tool review process, a survey was distributed in fall 2025. Faculty who had installed any of the evaluated tools in at least one Blackboard course during the previous year were emailed a direct survey link, while additional access was provided through the CITL website. The survey was open from November 17 to December 3, 2025, and was sent to 400 faculty members who collectively represented users of Respondus (LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor), VoiceThread, and Yellowdig. In total, 101 faculty completed the survey—97 via email invitation and 4 through the CITL website. Respondents completed only the tool sections relevant to their teaching.

A total of 332 faculty members who used LockDown Browser were surveyed; of these, 55 had also used Respondus Monitor. Thirty‑three faculty members completed the survey, and 25 of those respondents had used Respondus Monitor for at least one exam administered using Respondus.

The survey focused on five areas: usage patterns (how long and in how many courses each tool is used), reasons for use (such as academic integrity, engagement, or multimedia needs), perceived effectiveness (including ease of use, reliability, and instructional impact), challenges and potential alternative tools, and the overall importance of each tool, including whether NIU should renew its license.

Survey Response Summary

Most faculty have at least a year of experience using Respondus, and they primarily rely on it to maintain academic integrity and support proctored testing. Both LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor are mainly used for major exams. Overall sentiment is positive—most faculty find Respondus reliable, secure, and easy to set up, though fewer believe students find it easy to use. Respondus is viewed as essential or helpful by most respondents, and the majority recommend renewing the license.

For a detailed breakdown of the survey results see Respondus faculty survey results.

Feedback and Comments

Overall, faculty view Respondus as necessary for supporting academic integrity; however, when asked about limitations or challenges, several noted significant usability, accessibility, and software-compatibility limitations that impact students. Several faculty also expressed doubts about its effectiveness in deterring cheating.

Licensing Cost

NIU purchases an annual license for Respondus LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor. The campus-wide license for LockDown Browser allows unlimited use across the entire institution at no cost to students. The license also includes 200 Respondus Monitor seats each year.

Respondus Monitor is a companion product to LockDown Browser and cannot be used independently. Seats for Respondus Monitor are counted by student usage: one seat equals one student who uses Monitor for at least one proctored exam in a course. If Monitor is used for multiple exams within the same course, that student still counts as a single seat.

Recommendation

A secure proctoring solution is essential at NIU to support academic integrity, meet accreditation expectations, and ensure that programs with state licensure or certification requirements can administer legally compliant exams. Many of these programs must verify student identity and maintain controlled testing environments, which cannot be achieved without a reliable proctoring tool.

While Respondus is not a perfect tool, it continues to be a strong option because it is already implemented campus‑wide, familiar to faculty and students, and capable of meeting the security needs of both online and in‑person assessments. While no tool eliminates all challenges, Respondus provides a consistent, institutionally supported solution that prevents the financial burden from shifting directly onto students—important given the high cost of most commercial proctoring services. Maintaining Respondus ensures NIU can provide equitable, compliant, and secure testing without requiring faculty to adopt or manage their own individual tools.