Exam Laptop Configuration

HeightsCollege
New Contributor II

We are a K-12 school looking to have some laptops available for exam use. This has two phases.

Initial Requirements

Replace our current ageing unmanaged windows devices with managed macos devices to match the rest of the 1-1 Mac program in the school.
- No spell check or grammar checking.
- No browser access (effectively no internet access to user)
- Ideally Single App mode to lock to TextEdit or similar.

This small fleet are currently only used for students requiring assistance during a paper exam. e.g. Struggle to write - allow typing. Read questions out loud etc.

Future

Have students OWN devices locked to allow them to complete testing. I know this is possible with SafeExamBrowser and we are using that in other areas. SafeExamBrowser also requires the testing to be completed online.
Would love to be able to lock a student to Word or TextEdit when completing an essay for assessment.

Basically looking for Single App Mode on MacOS. I would be interested how other school are creating an "Exam Mode" for their managed student devices. Is everyone now just doing online exams and we are in the "paper" age still.

1 REPLY 1

agungsujiwo
Contributor

@HeightsCollege I have good news for you,
Here are the Single App Mode settings for TextEdit and Word apps :
1. Computers > Create Configuration Profile.
2. Add Restrictions > Applications >
Screenshot 2024-11-18 at 09.04.47.png
check ✓ "Restrict which apps are allowed to launch" at the bottom

3. Allow Apps:
         The user can always launch these
Add > TextEdit app

agungsujiwo_0-1731895672288.png

Add > Microsoft Word app in "Allow Folders:"

agungsujiwo_1-1731896317513.png


before that, you have to create an "Microsoft" folder, Move Word into the "Microsoft" Folder
(you can add other apps into the Folder, which you want to allow)
Path: /Applications/Microsoft
Screenshot 2024-11-18 at 08.16.37.png
4. Add Scope > Target Device.
5. Save.

Here’s a more polished version of your instructions:

  1. Disable spell check and grammar checking before pushing the profile.
  2. Avoid connecting to Wi-Fi during profile setup. Use an Ethernet cable instead, especially if you plan to activate Single App Mode, as users won't be able to enable Wi-Fi while in this mode.
  3. If you need to remove the Single App Mode profile, ensure internet access is available by connecting via an Ethernet cable.