We may encounter a situation where an exam is organized in a computer lab at our institution and we want all students taking it to be physically present there. We also want to prevent one student from being physically present, opening the exam, while another student from a different location actually takes the exam.

Blackboard offers the possibility to add IP ranges in administration that can then be selected in the exam settings. This way, only connections from the allowed IPs will be able to take the exam.

To configure the allowed IP range, go to Admin Panel > Courses > Course Settings > Grade Security Settings and click Add Profile.

Fill in the name of the range and set the filtering rule for the IPs.

Once the ranges are configured, the instructor can edit the exam settings and select the location from which students will connect.

By selecting the name of the filter added in administration, access to that exam will be limited to the specified IP range.

Other measures we can take to minimize (but not eliminate the risk of) impersonation are to allow only one attempt on the exam and to force the exam to end. These two options are recommended in a controlled environment, but if students are taking the exam using Wi-Fi (possibly at home or on their mobile devices), limiting to one attempt and forcing the exam to end will result in many students being unable to submit the exam: if there is a brief connection drop, Blackboard will interpret that the exam must be closed and will not allow reopening.