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Which settings should I choose: lightning or precise, in person or remote?

Written by the TestFLE team.

In short

The mode sets the timer: in lightning mode, one minute per question and 35 minutes at most; in precise mode, no question is timed. The setting decides what happens when the student leaves the page: choose “Remote” for a student who takes the test at home.

Who this is for, and what you need first

Who this is for
Teachers who schedule a session or open an attempt, and school administrators, especially in online schools.
What you need first
  • The right to open tests, given by your school’s administrator.
  • A class session to schedule or an attempt to open for a student.

The steps

  1. Open the window that creates the access: “Schedule a class session…” in the menu of a class, or “Open a one-time attempt…” in the menu of a student.
  2. In the “Mode” block, choose “lightning” or “precise”. The sentence under the choice recalls the duration.
  3. In the “Setting” block, choose “In person” or “Remote”. There too, a sentence explains the choice.
  4. Tick “Show the button to skip a question” if students may skip a question. Leave the box empty so that they answer every question.
  5. Confirm the window.

These three settings are found in the three access windows: the scheduling of a class session, the individual opening (“Open a one-time attempt” or “Open unlimited”) and “Edit the session”. The scheduling steps are detailed in How do I schedule a test session for a class?.

The three choices to make

The window always offers the same starting values, for a class session as for an individual opening: lightning mode, “In person”, box for the skip button unticked.

  • The mode. Lightning mode limits each question to one minute and the test to 35 minutes. Precise mode times no question but, in a class session, the test stops at the end time of the session.
  • The setting. In person, a student who leaves the page has their test blocked until you unblock them. Remotely, they resume on their own and their exit is counted.
  • The button to skip a question. A skipped question counts as a wrong answer. You can tick or untick the box during the test: the change applies from the next question.

To choose quickly:

  • A class gathered in one room, a test within the lesson: lightning and “In person”, the values offered.
  • Students who take the test at home: “Remote”, in lightning or in precise mode.
  • A student whom the timer bothers: precise, with a wide enough time slot for the session, or an individual opening.

Going further

Understanding the settings and special cases

Lightning mode: one lesson, a test that ends

Lightning mode suits a test that has to fit into a lesson: it never goes beyond 35 minutes. Each question lasts one minute at most, and the next one appears on its own when the minute is up. When a question has a recording, the minute only starts at the end of the recording, or at the latest three minutes after the question appears.

At the end of the minute, the screen acts for the student. If an answer was selected, it is submitted as if they had clicked “Next”. If nothing was chosen, the question counts as a wrong answer, whether the box for the skip button is ticked or not.

A lightning test already started is not cut off at the end time of a class session: it ends by itself, within its 35 minutes.

Precise mode: time to think

Precise mode times no question. It also asks for more answers in each skill before concluding: the test lasts longer, but each level rests on more answers.

Time is therefore limited in another way. In a class session, the end time is the only limit: a student who starts at 9:40 in a session that ends at 10:00 only has 20 minutes. That is often too short in precise mode. Plan a wide time slot, or open the test to the student individually. The end time of an individual opening only prevents a test from being started; it does not interrupt a test already started.

At the end of the session, in precise mode

At the end time of a class session, no student can start the test any more, and the precise tests still in progress stop. They stop in the same way when you click “Close now”. The students then see “The session is over. Here are your results.”

The level is calculated from the answers already given if the student has given at least fifteen. Below that, no level is published. The session report then shows “Not computable”, with the number of answers given, and the student reads “Your test stopped too early to give a result. You will be able to take another one.” This test does not count as an attempt: you can have the student take it again.

In person: when the student leaves the page

The test is blocked as soon as the test page is no longer in the foreground: change of tab, minimised window, locked screen, another application. The student sees “Your test is paused.” and “Please call your teacher.” The block is held by the server: it survives a reload of the page and a new sign-in, and only your action lifts it.

In the live view, the row of the student changes to “Blocked” and an incident appears under “To handle now”. You click “Unsuspend”: the student resumes at the same question. In lightning mode, the time spent blocked counts neither in the minute of the question nor in the 35 minutes. You can also cancel their test; What should I do if a student is blocked during the test? details both actions.

So choose “In person” only if you can act during the session. A blocked student whom nobody unblocks cannot finish.

Remote: an exit that is counted

Nothing is blocked. The student resumes on their own, as many times as they leave, and a yellow banner reminds them to stay on the page. In lightning mode, the time keeps running during the absence. At the end of the minute, the answer already chosen is submitted, or the question counts as a wrong answer; the 35 minutes, for their part, keep running.

You find the exits in their results and, for a class session, in the live view (“3 exits” next to the state of the student). From four exits, the results add the note “Session interrupted several times; results to be read with caution.” No incident opens to be handled: remotely, there is nothing to unblock.

The case of online schools

If your school runs all its tests remotely, choose “Remote” for each class session and each individual opening. For you, the default choice, “In person”, has a precise consequence. A student who changes tab sees “Your test is paused.”, and their test waits for you to unblock it, whether you are available or not.

If an opening was created “In person” by mistake, unblock the student first, so that they resume their test. Then, if the opening appears in the “Calendar” (it must have an end date), click it and choose “Change the times”. In the “Edit the session” window, switch the setting to “Remote”. A student who has already started keeps the settings they started with: the correction only applies to the tests started afterwards. How do I take the test at home? explains to families how to prepare the device and what their child sees if they leave the page.

The student never sees the words “in person” or “remote”: they recognise the setting by the sign they meet, the pause screen for a test opened in person, the yellow banner for a test opened remotely.

Changing the settings afterwards

Until the end of the session, “Change the times” lets you change the mode, the setting and the box for the skip button. A student who has already started keeps the mode and the setting they started with. The box for the button is an exception: it is read again at each question. When the button is turned off and a student still tries to skip, they read “The button to skip a question has been turned off for this session. Answer the question to continue.”

During the session of a class, the settings of the session apply to all the students in the class, even those who have an individual opening; How do I schedule a test session for a class? gives an example.

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