That Backspace “Error”
Recent email and phone dialogues pointed to an apparent problem within the Educator system. When students were working in an exam and hit the BACKSPACE (Windows) key or the DELETE (Mac) key when their cursor was not inside a text box, they would be “thrown out” of the exam. This apparent bug not only caused the working student a need to start from scratch; it also created additional headaches for the teacher. If the student had been in one of the many single-entry exams, then the teacher had to reset the exam in order for the student to gain entry again. Was this is an inefficient Educator bug? Actually, No!
Dialogue with Dan Gomoll, our VP of Learning Management Systems Operations, taught me something I had never known. The BACKSPACE or DELETE key functionality is actually a browser navigation shortcut! That’s right. Why not try it yourself right now? Go to another site or two. When you hit the BACKSPACE or DELETE (Mac) key, you will navigate in reverse! We’ll wait for you right here.
A check on Microsoft’s Knowledge Base for Internet Explorer confirmed what I had learned.
from the Microsoft Knowledge base – article 306832
The same proved true with a check on Firefox shortcuts and Chrome as well.
Another Internet search revealed countless tales from random Internet travelers who were frustrated by this “feature” built into modern browsers. The most annoyed were those unfortunate victims who had been filling in forms or indeed taking exams. We just cannot fix native browser behavior now, can we? We did, however, do the next best thing. We’ve added multiple warnings and even a pop-up to hopefully spare some students and teachers unnecessary work and annoyance.
Beginning this Friday, when a student enters a single-entry (take only once) exam, the following warning will appear BEFORE the student can enter the exam:
If the exam is timed, that will then be followed by a second notification to the student as follows:
Having passed through those checkpoints above, this warning will now appear on top of the exam page:
Are we good so far?
So, we have issued statements of warning to the student, but we have also heard, “Some students don’t read.”
Now what?
We decided to make it a bit more difficult for students to “accidentally” exit from exam pages. Again beginning this Friday, when attempting to leave one of these single-entry exams without submitting it, a student will see one of these warnings from the four major browsers:
Internet Explorer
Safari
Chrome
Firefox
PLEASE NOTE: This warning will NOT appear in an Opera browser.
Choosing to leave the exam page after all these initial warnings and the admonition for having all work lost in the event of escape might just do the trick. It is our hope on the Educator team that these waypoints toward their goal will help students avoid this browser pitfall. Everyone should know to never hit the backspace key (outside a text box) in your browser unless you want to travel to the previous page. We’ll have to wait and see what everyone thinks, but it should save teachers and the help desk from some of the trouble of resetting those single-entry exams. What do you think?
Fixing the backspace issue is a great help! Thank you for the attention. I would also suggest another change. In the most recent upgrade, a send and delete key was added at the top of the email page. Is it possible to put it at the bottom? Normally, I tab to go to the send button. It is at the bottom. It is counter-intuitive to have to scroll to the top of the screen to press the send and delete key. I would love to have it at the bottom so when I tab, it is one of my options.
#1 – We’re happy you appreciate our efforts so far.
#2 – Our tech team will review your request and respond.
Regarding suggestions … we will soon be setting up a discussion board where teachers and instructional leaders can respond to ideas such as yours.
Your observation makes sense, and we’ll be back!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is a wonderful add to students and teachers and hopefully will save time, stress and answers!!
We’re glad you like it!
One key question we ask ourselves is, “Will this improve efficiency?” You have answered that question for us.
Thank you.
AWESOME!! I am thrilled for this update. Just yesterday, I had to reset 5 different tests because of the backspace issue. I have another request about the email … we used to have a “next message” button in case we didn’t need to reply to an email. After the latest email changes, once you click on an email, you have to go back to the inbox to get the next message. Thanks for listening to us all!!
It makes the team VERY happy when you are happy.
Glad to hear it, and make sure to visit often.
Your suggestion will be brought to the Educator team, and we’ll see what can be done.
Listening to you is step one, so keep us posted on your thoughts.
It is so EXCITING to have you all help us out!!!!! When we saw some of the changes from staff conference come true, I literally celebrated the feeling of “Wow!!!! THEY LISTENED!!!!”
You all ROCK!
Thank you.
We are at your service here.
This sounds like it could potentially save students and instructors lots of headaches. Hope it works!! I really appreciate the thoroughness of the warnings. It’s great to know you are seeking our input for advancements – Thanks!
After about 10 years of working with FLVS, we have really learned a great deal.
It’s our hope as well that this helps reduce those headaches.
The journey begins one step at a time, right?
And you are very welcome.
Thank you! This enhancement is certainly going to benefit both the student and teacher and greatly appreciated.
Awesome!
Thanks for also setting up the blog! Love it!
We greatly appreciate your feedback!
Keep visiting, and please keep letting us know what you think.
This is PHENOMENAL!! With our new Segment Exam policies, this will save some grief, frustration, and improve our service to our students. This really will allow us to spend more time doing what we love…teaching
. Can we get an email notification when the discussion board opens up for future suggestions?
Thanks for the comment!
We are on the same page here … “improve service to students.”
When the discussion boards open up, I GUARANTEE that you will be notified.
And finally, keep doing what you love. In the words of Albert Schweitzer,
Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
YESSSSSSSSSSS…that’s what I’m talking about! The number of exams I’ve had to reset because ”I just hit the backspace button” Thanks
Huzzah! This will make it so much harder for students to accidentally leave.
This is great!
This sounds terrific! Thanks for working on this issue for our students and teachers!
Thank you thank you! Keep the update emails coming! Love it!
I am totally thrilled! Thank you so much for the specific feedback the students will receive (the one that REALLY lets them know they are exiting the exam). This is an enormous change you have implemented. Also, the fact that we feel like we are a part of it is immeasurable!
Just want to say I am VERY excited about the “back” notification. This is going to alleviate so much stress. THANK YOU!!!!