For educators who like to create their own assessments, platforms like Google Forms have been a godsend. 

Unfortunately, these technologies also come with their own challenges.

How do you ensure reliable results while limiting online distractions and cheating? Many schools have resorted to expensive and clunky classroom management software to help monitor behavior while students engage with technology.

Google now has a better solution. Locked Mode, a new feature in Google Forms and Classroom, allows educators to lock down the testing environment on school-managed Chromebooks. 

This ensures that tech-savvy students can’t take screenshots or search for answers online. Here are four tips to ensure that you’re getting the most out of Locked Mode.

MORE FROM EDTECH: Check out how technology can help teachers mitigate bad behavior in the classroom.

How to Turn on Locked Mode in Google Forms or Classroom

If you already have a quiz or test created in Google Forms, go to Settings, then Quizzes to turn on Locked Mode from a school-managed device. 

If you’re starting from scratch, select the option for Quiz Assignment when creating a new item in Google Classroom. 

This will also attach a blank Google Form to your assignment and provide an option to turn on Locked Mode right in Google Classroom.

Manage What Students See in Google Forms’ Locked Mode

When students start taking your quiz, they will be asked to enter Kiosk Mode. This locks down the Chromebook so that the quiz takers can access only the current tab containing the quiz. 

If a student closes the quiz before submitting the answers, you will be notified via email. This helps stop students from looking at the quiz questions before attempting the assessment. Once students submit their answers, they will leave Kiosk Mode. 

MORE FROM EDTECH: See how one Texas school tackled their one-to-one chromebook program.

Automatically Grade Assessments

Google Forms allows you to assign point values to questions, automatically grade some question types, and individually grade longer response questions to send results to Google Classroom. 

This year, Google has continued to improve the grading process in Google Classroom by including a new Gradebook option to help analyze quiz results all in one place. This will save time and ensure reliable results by having Google Forms automatically grade your assessments.

Can’t Access Locked Mode? Try These Alternatives

If you don’t see the Locked Mode option in Google Forms or Google Classroom, talk to your organization’s IT department to determine whether it is an option for you. 

There also are other options to try if you want to lock down an online testing environment. Check out Respondus LockDown Browser, Securly or Windows 10’s ability to create a test link to provide a secure testing environment.