Exam Support (Big Blue Button)

Exam Support (powered by Big Blue Button) is an online communication tool accessed from your subject navigation menu in the LMS. Exam Support enables an instant one-on-one text-based interactions between students and teaching staff during an online exam to address exam content related queries.

Exam Support sessions will be created in subjects up to 90 minutes before the commencement of the exam.

If you choose not to use the Exam Support tool for exam scheduled by the Exams Office, you must make it clear to your students in an LMS Announcement how you can be contacted for the first 45 minutes of the exam for content related exam queries.

Teaching staff availability

From the commencement of an exam, teaching staff are expected to be available during the first 45 minutes to answer exam content related questions. If a student has a question after this time students are advised to contact 13MELB (136352).

Teaching staff are expected to post any exam corrections/clarifications via an LMS Announcement in the respective subject, and be available by phone for the duration of the exam in case of any further enquiries from the examinations office.

Important notes for Exam Support

  1. Students and staff can join Exam Support as soon as it is active. Students are advised to only access the tool if they have exam content questions and contact 13MELB (136352) for technical related issues.
  2. Use Private Chat only to communicate with individual students to address their exam content related questions.
  3. Use Announcements in your subject if you need to communicate to all students. Do not use the Public Chats or Shared Notes features, as not all students will access Exam Support.
  4. Students are unable to type in Public Chats and Shared Notes.
  5. While staff members have access to all active students, students can view and message staff only.
  6. Students cannot use their microphone to speak to teaching staff. Staff members are advised not to use their microphones for support as voice interactions can be heard by all participants.
  7. Do not remove the ‘No Reply’ user from the User list. This user keeps the session active and the support information present, in the instance all staff and students leave the meeting.
  8. Do not end the meeting when it is in progress. This will conclude the Exam Content Support and cannot be re-activated.

Joining Exam Support

On the day of the exam, a notification email is sent to staff and students when the Exam Support session is activated (up to 90 minutes before the commencement of a scheduled exam), inviting you to join Exam Support in your relevant exam subject.

  1. Navigate to the relevant subject in the LMS.
  2. Click Exam Support in the subject navigation menu.
  3. Click Join to enter the ‘in progress’ Exam Support tool. Exam Support opens in a new tab.
  4. From the pop-up screen, select Listen only or x to close the pop-up screen.
  5. It is important to keep the Exam Support tab open in your browser. If you leave the session you will lose any messages you’ve written or received. If you enter the tool again, previous messages will be unavailable and you will need to start afresh.

Students cannot use their microphone to speak to teaching staff. Staff members are advised not to use their microphones for support as voice interactions can be be heard by all participants.

Joining Exam Support

Responding to a student

Messages from students appear under Public Chat with a number to the side of their name (indicating the number of messages they have entered in the interaction).

  1. Click the student’s name in the Messages section to view the private chat.
  2. Enter a response in Send message to and click the arrow to send.
Responding to a student

Important notes:

  • You can close the chat by clicking the x icon on the top right. This removes the private chat from the Messages section, until a new message is received from that student.
  • If the student has left the Exam Support area, you may be unable to respond. You can click the x icon in the top right to remove the private chat.
  • Should the student re-join Exam Support the student will need to re-start a new private chat. Previous private chat information may be lost.
Student has left the meeting
Student has left the meeting

You are unable to save your student interactions. Please take screen shots to save any messages.

Enabling your notifications

  1. Click the 3 vertical dots icon in the top right corner of the screen.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Toggle the Audio Alters for Chat and Popup Alters for Chat to ON.
  4. Click Save.

If a student sends you a private message an alert will chime in the browser if you are working in a different tab.

Enabling notifications

This guide was last updated 09 May 2022.
Please report any errors or omissions in this guide by submitting an LMS support request.

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