Activate SMOWL
To activate SMOWL, you should go to the activities panel.
Once inside, select the activity in your course where you want to activate SMOWL. By default, they will appear deactivated.
Clicking on configure opens a panel that allows you to activate and configure SMOWL according to the requirements of that activity.
Enabling monitoring will allow you to configure different SMOWL services in a personalized way.
In Blackboard, activities are enabled externally to the SMOWL LTI tool.
Once SMOWL is activated in an activity, it will be marked in green within the activities panel.
Configure SMOWL
Once monitoring is active, you can modify how you want to monitor your users.
Activating a specific tool enables the associated filters. These filters are differentiated into four categories (low, medium, high, and custom) based on how strict you want to be in monitoring.
By selecting a custom configuration for your filters, you can choose what to consider an incident and what not during the activity.
Severity Level: The RED circle with a white X is used to indicate "Not allowed"
Webcam Alerts according to detected Incidence
Behavioral incidents
Incorrect user: The image will be flagged as "Not allowed" if a person other than the registered user is detected (the user does not match the registration images).
Nobody in front of the camera: An image where no person is present (no one in front of the camera) will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Wrong light/position: An image where the user is in a position that does not allow for proper user monitoring or where there is insufficient or excessive lighting (poorly lit) will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Suspicious behavior: The image will be flagged as "Not allowed" when the user exhibits suspicious behavior after a previous incident, indicating that the issue may persist. For example, multiple people have been detected in one screenshot, and later the user is seen talking to someone off-camera.
Other tab: Behavior will be flagged as "Not allowed" when an activity is only monitored by camera, and SMOWL indicates that the user has switched tabs and left the exam page.
More than one person: image where more than one person is partially or fully visible in the camera will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Webcam covered: Photographs where the camera is covered, obstructing proper monitoring, will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Banded elements: Photographs where the user appears in the camera with headphones, a mobile phone, or other unauthorized electronic devices during the activity will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Not even one correct image: If at least one image is missing that is required to validate monitoring, the event will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Technical incidents
Webcam rejected: Events where the user has not granted browser permission for camera monitoring during the activity will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Webcam block: Events where the user is accessing the activity without a camera connected to their computer will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Unsupported browser: Events where the user has accessed the activity from a browser not supported by SMOWL will be flagged as "Not allowed"
Configuration problem: Events where SMOWL has detected a problem with the camera configuration will be flagged as "Not allowed"
No webcam: Events where the camera is being used by another application, preventing SMOWL from performing adequate monitoring, will be flagged as "Not allowed"
The level of severity is the RED circle with the white X as “Not allowed”
CM alerts according to detected incidents
Allowed actions
Web browsing: It will mark as Not Allowed the actions in which during an exam the user navigates outside of his activity (the websites that the user visits during his activity will be recorded).
Multiple screens: It will mark as Not Allowed the use of several monitors.
Background programs: It will mark as Not Allowed all the tools that are being executed with the computer in the background, without the user interacting with these programs in the exam.
Virtual machine: It will mark as Not Allowed the actions in which the user has used a virtual machine when accessing the activity.
Commands: Mark as Not Allowed actions such as, every time the user uses any of the prohibited commands such as "copy/paste" or "screenshot".
Early closing: Mark as Not Allowed actions such as closing SMOWL CM before delivering the exam results.
Virtual webcam: Mark as Not Allowed actions such as use of virtual cameras.
Allowed programs
Text editor: Mark as Not Allowed open programs for creating text documents, such as Microsoft Word or Office.
Mail: Mark as Not Allowed open email management programs installed on the device, such as Outlook.
PDF reader: Mark as Not Allowed open programs that allow opening or editing files in PDF format, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, among others.
Communication: Mark as Not Allowed open programs designed to make personal or group calls/video calls such as Skype, Zoom, or Discord.
Pentesting: Will mark as Not Allowed the programs opened for the security analysis of a device such as Burp Suite or OWASP ZAP.
Database: Will mark as Not Allowed the programs opened for database management and/or reading, such as HeidiSQL.
File system: Will mark as Not Allowed the programs opened for Tools to manage the files of a device, the most common being Finder and Windows Explorer.
Slide viewer: Will mark as Not Allowed the programs opened for making and reading presentations such as Microsoft PowerPoint.
Remote control: Will mark as Not Allowed the programs opened that allow remote control of a device, such as Teamviewer or Anydesk.
Virtual machines: Will mark as Not Allowed the programs opened that allow the use of an operating system within another as a virtual machine, such as Virtualbox or Vmware.
Open source office suite: Will mark as Not Allowed the programs opened for free and open source office software.
Spreadsheet: Will mark as Not Allowed any open spreadsheet programs such as excel, numbers...
Virtual webcam: Will mark as Not Allowed any open programs that allow you to use an external device, such as a smartphone, as a computer camera. This can be found in programs such as OBS Studio.
Media player: Will mark as Not Allowed any open programs such as local or streaming music players such as iTunes or Spotify.
Screenshoter: Will mark as Not Allowed any open programs that allow you to capture the screen live from a device, such as OBS Studio.
Code editor: Will mark as Not Allowed any open programs of Code Editors within an operating system.
Remember to save all the changes you make.
Configure a Mock activity
If you want to enable SMOWL in a test or simulation activity before a real activity, you can mark the monitoring in test mode.
This simplifies SMOWL monitoring actions and does not affect your license consumption. We will only take an image in the activity, allowing your users to familiarize themselves with our system without generating unnecessary noise.
Once it is active as a test, it will be marked in the activities panel.
Bulk activity configuration mode
Multiple activities can be configured at once by selecting this option.
This option allows you to select all activities or click on the desired ones. It is useful for enabling/disabling the same configuration for multiple activities (that have no previous results).
The character limit in an activity, the displayName field cannot exceed 100 characters in length