FAQ Examination with Zoom
Frequently asked questions and answers for you as a teacher or examiner who will be conducting an exam using Zoom. These questions and answers concern the setup of the examination, students with compensatory support, equipment and technical problems, and what to consider before and during the examination.
Question compilation
Last reviewed March 3, 2025.
To get to the questions, scroll down the page or press on the question in one of the lists in this compilation.
Equipment and technical difficulties
Last reviewed March 3, 2025.
What do I do if there are technical problems during the exam?
The Zoom responsible person, examiners or meeting hosts contact support directly by phone at 08-790 66 00. State that support is needed during an ongoing exam to receive the fastest possible help.
A student has technical problems and disappeared from Zoom, what can I ask the student to do?
If the technology fails, students are advised to try to reconnect with Zoom and to complete the assignment if possible. Then there is the opportunity to pass the student, possibly after supplementary questions or an extra meeting in a breakout room during the examination.
Who is responsible for ensuring that the student has the right equipment for the exam?
It is expected that students have the necessary technical equipment. Primarily, students should have Zoom on their phone and secondarily on their computer.
What do I do as an examiner if a student lacks the necessary equipment to complete a remote exam using Zoom?
If a student lacks the equipment required to complete the exam, you as an examiner must offer the opportunity to take the exam in a computer lab on campus. In circumstances that prohibit presence on campus, students will be referred to later exam times.
When can I as an examiner decide that technical problems are considered an interrupted or invalid examination?
Should the technology fail, the examiner can deem the examination invalid. In cases where the examiner deems the exam or parts of it invalid, the students should quickly be offered a re-exam date within a reasonable time.
The examiner can also contact students randomly during the assessment and ask about the answers as part of the examination. This is especially helpful in the event of shorter technical errors.
I suspect that a student's technical problems are an excuse for cheating, is that enough grounds for a report of attempted misleading?
No. However, if the student is having technical difficulties, it may form the basis for a report of an attempt of misleading in combination with the deviation report from the invigilator or other circumstances that the examiner may notice during assessment.
Setup of the examination
Last reviewed March 3, 2025.
How does GDPR affect examination with Zoom?
Information regarding Zoom and GDPR can be found on the following link: Zoom and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) .
Do I have to use Zoom for a home exam?
As the examiner, you are quite free to decide how the exam should be designed. The recommendation is mainly to examine in forms that do not depend on Zoom. Ask your Director of First and Second Cycle Education (GA) if you are unsure about your alternative or adjusted examination. Under the intranet pages about Examination , you will find information and tips on different forms of examination.
Do I as an examiner need to be available during the exam?
Yes. Just like with a regular exam, you as an examiner must be available to answer any questions. Read more about examiner responsibilities on the pages about Examiner's role at exams with Zoom presence .
What is the difference between Zoom presence and Zoom monitoring?
Zoom presence is when students are on Zoom during the examination to enable communication and for ID checks. Zoom monitoring is an attempt to monitor students during the examination as if they were in an exam hall, which has limited effectiveness. Read more about Zoom presence instead of Zoom monitoring .
Why is Zoom presence recommended instead of Zoom monitoring?
Zoom monitoring increases students' stress and the technical requirements without being an effective way to combat cheating. Zoom presence is less sensitive to, for example, bad internet connections, toilet breaks and uses resources more efficiently than Zoom monitoring. Also, the examiner can carry out shorter progress meetings to reduce the risk of the student using unauthorized aids or collaborating during the examination.
Read more about Examination with Zoom presence .
When can I use Zoom presence during examination?
Zoom presence may be used in those cases when Zoom is considered to be a suitable method by the examiner.
When can I use Zoom monitoring during examination?
KTH has chosen to strongly limit the use of Zoom monitoring and at the moment it will not be used.
How do I use Zoom presence during examinations?
When examining with Zoom presence, the student writes the exam in any undisturbed place while at the same time being available on Zoom for communication with the examiner or the teacher on duty.
How you conduct an examination with Zoom is explained on the page Examination with Zoom presence .
Before and during the examination
Last reviewed March 3, 2025.
How do I help students prepare and to avoid common problems before an exam with Zoom?
It is strongly recommended that students are given the opportunity to test and practice submitting an assignment or quiz before the examination. This allows your students to test everything they will need to do during the examination without stress, which usually identifies the most common problems. Most commonly, students have technical problems, for example, that they cannot log in to Zoom or that the program needs to be updated. If they discover this well in advance of the examination, IT support will have time to help them.
For registered students with access to the course's Canvas room, it is easy to create a space to practice there. You may also use the examination room in Canvas for practice assignments and to communicate with examinees before the exam.
Note! Be very careful to unpublish all actual exam information if you use the examination room for practice and communication. Please check that everything is unpublished by entering the student's view and looking around the room.
What information should I as an examiner give to students before the examination?
The examiner informs students about what applies before each examination. You need to be clear about what applies specifically to your examination. You can find a detailed overview of what information students need before the examination on the page Information to communicate to students .
How do I best contact students who are going to take an exam?
If students are in the exam room, you can send them messages via their Canvas inbox. You can also send different messages to different sections of the exam room, which makes it easy to send different information to students with compensatory support. Read more about how to send a message to everyone in a room in Canvas (community.canvaslms.com) .
If you are sending emails to students, remember to use the BCC line so that the students' email addresses are hidden.
Why are students recommendeded to use Zoom on their mobile phones?
It is much easier for the invigilators to read the social security number on the students' ID documents if students use Zoom on their mobile phones instead of the webcam on their laptop. The recommendation comes from several tests that have been done on this, where the mobile camera has been shown to give by far the best image.
How do I deal with late arrivals?
Late arrivals are usually not handled for examination with Zoom. Students arrive on time for the exam or do not participate in the exam.
How do I deal with bathroom breaks during examinations with Zoom?
During an exam with Zoom presence, the student informs the meeting host that they will deviate from the camera for a short time so that time for the absence can be noted.
The recommendation for a monitored exam with Zoom is to divide the exam into smaller parts, with predetermined breaks. The students will then hand in their answers after each part is done and can therefore leave the computer during the break.
Should students with ordinary writing time sit through the full duration of the ordinary writing time?
It depends on the design of the exam wording. If students stay in the Zoom session throughout the writing period, it can counteract unauthorized cooperation between students. However, it is preferable if you can design the exam wording so that students can finish whenever they want without risking unauthorized collaboration.
What do I do if the student does not participate in Zoom but still hands in the exam?
The students submission are not to be assessed. The exam is deemed to not have been completed correctly. It is important that the teacher compares the list of attendants with the handed in exams.
Students with compensatory support
Last reviewed March 3, 2025.
How do I, as an examiner, handle students with compensatory support in Zoom?
You are recommended to allocate students with compensatory support (support from Funka) to their own group in Zoom with their own meeting host throughout the exam. If you divide your exam into several parts, each part should be extended.
Regular routine applies to handling them in Canvas and what support is offered. Read more about Funka's recommendations regarding support during examination .
Can students with extended exam time start earlier than regular examinees?
No. Before the exam, the majority of students are not present in Zoom, so there is a risk that information will be spread between students in an unintended way.
Can a student with extended exam time submit earlier?
Yes. All students can upload at the end of the ordinary exam, even students with extended exam time can upload their solutions and leave the zoom meeting.
How do I give extended time on an exam that is divided into multiple parts?
Students with extended exam time should have extended time on each part of the exam.