Modes of writing COMC 2020

Teachers may choose from three modes in which their students may write COMC 2020:

1. Print option
Printed exams are delivered to the school and written by students under supervision at the school. Written exams are then returned by courrier.

2. Digital Delivery option
Exams are delivered to the school electronically (by email) and are printed by the teacher. Students then write the exams under supervision at school, and the written exams are returned by courrier.

3. Online option
Due to Covid-19, it may not be possible for students to write the exam at school. In this case, teachers may arrange for students to write remotely, provided that both teachers and students have access to the required technologies. This entails the following:

• Students writing remotely must have Internet access as well as electronic devices capable of displaying questions and scanning written answers.
• Teachers must provide an email address for each student writing remotely no later than October 22. You can provide the email addresses of your students through the Teacher Portal. Log into your school account here and select "Enter emails for COMC 2020 (English or French) online students" under the "Tools" box.
• Teachers must arrange to supervise their students writing remotely throughout the exam, using Zoom, Google Meet or some other video technology by which they can watch and communicate with the students.
• Students will receive an exam access link by email shortly before the exam, but must not begin writing the exam until their supervising teacher gives the signal.
• Once the exam has begun, students will be able to access exam questions online using the Crowdmark platform. They will write their answers on paper. At any time during the exam, or immediately after the exam, they may scan their answers to the questions and upload them to Crowdmark. After all answers are uploaded, the student completes their exam submission to Crowdmark.
• Teachers must certify that they supervised each student throughout the duration of the exam. Any student not supervised in this way becomes an unofficial participant and is not eligible for awards.
• The proctoring process for the online exam is described in detail here.

If writing the competition online, exams must be held at the following times:

October 29, 2020 in Canada and the Americas:

• Pacific Daylight Time (PDT): 9am
• Mountain Daylight Time (MDT): 10am
• Central Daylight Time (CST): 11am
• Eastern Daylight Time (EDT): 12pm
• Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT): 1pm
• Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT): 1:30pm

Elsewhere in the world, the exam will take place on October 30, 2020, and such exams (if written online) will be considered unofficial.

The cost for the COMC is the same for all three modes, and when ordering the teacher only needs to chose the number of exams. The circumstances of schools and students may be somewhat fluid this fall, and the teacher has until October 22 to specify (through the teacher portal) how many students will be writing by each mode and to supply email addresses for any students writing online. The default is the Print option.

In order to ensure that the process for online exams goes as smoothly as possible, students will be requested to complete a test submission during the week leading up to the exam. This involves setting up their Crowdmark account, accessing a single (non-mathematical) question, writing an answer, scanning and uploading it. If they complete this process successfully, they will be prepared for the process of writing and submitting the COMC exam.