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ExamNode Staff & Course Portal

System Check & Practice Quiz

1. Overview & Purpose

Section titled “1. Overview & Purpose”

When an exam is provisioned with webcam proctoring enabled (--proctor), local_examprovision automatically creates a second activity in the same course alongside the real exam: “System Check & Practice Area.”

This directly addresses a recurring support problem: students discovering camera/microphone/browser issues for the first time during their real, timed, one-attempt exam. The System Check quiz gives them a safe place to fail early, with unlimited attempts and zero grade weight.

2. What Gets Created

Section titled “2. What Gets Created”
Setting Value
Name System Check & Practice Area
Attempts allowed Unlimited (0)
Grading Highest attempt, but not counted toward any course total
Password / subnet restriction None
Browser security None (-) — it’s a practice environment, not the real lockdown
SimpleProctor Enabled with the same interval/blur settings as the real exam, so students see the identical HUD and permission prompts they’ll see for real
Questions Q01: 15-second practice video (“tell us your favourite movie”), Q02: one throwaway MCQ

It is created automatically as part of the same provision_exam.php / web service call — no extra flag beyond --proctor is required.

Terminal window
php local/examprovision/cli/provision_exam.php \
  --code=ICT302 \
  --name="Final Exam" \
  --oralbookends \
  --proctor

3. Why a Separate Quiz, Not Just a Warning Banner?

Section titled “3. Why a Separate Quiz, Not Just a Warning Banner?”
  • Real permission prompts, not a mock-up. Browsers only prompt for camera/microphone access in the context of an actual getUserMedia() call on a real page — a static instructions page cannot trigger or verify this.
  • Catches environment-specific failures. Corporate laptops with camera access locked by IT policy, browser extensions blocking WebRTC, or an app already holding the camera (Teams/Zoom) will all fail identically in the System Check quiz as they would in the real exam — but with zero consequence.
  • Unlimited attempts remove exam-day panic. A student can fail the System Check quiz, close Teams, refresh, and retry as many times as needed, days in advance.

4. Operational Guidance for Unit Coordinators

Section titled “4. Operational Guidance for Unit Coordinators”
  • Tell students explicitly (in the unit outline, LMS announcement, or exam instructions) to complete the System Check quiz at least 24 hours before their exam window — see the Invigilation Checklist.
  • The System Check quiz is low-stakes but still visible in the gradebook as an ungraded/zero-weight item — if your gradebook aggregation is strict, confirm it is excluded from category totals.
  • If a student reports hardware failure on exam day, point them to the System Check quiz first as the fastest way to confirm whether the fault is their environment or the real exam/network.
Section titled “5. Related Guides”