In-class pop quizzes (online) and how to moderate them I teach an undergraduate course in thermodynamics. In class pop (surprize) quizzes account for about 10% of the grade. I use canvas for my in-class quizzes (and to collect homework assignments, start discussions).

The class room I teach in doesn't have computers so when I set up an pop quiz on canvas, I generally let the students out of class during the last 10 minutes to log in to one of the several campus computers to take the quiz.

However, I know that our computers aren't top notch and one can easily spend about 5-7 minutes just logging in and another 2-3 minutes launching a web browser to access canvas. 

Given these technical issues (that can't be sorted out because of a lax IT department) I generally keep my quiz open for about 9 hours. This also takes into account the other classes that my students may have to rush in to right after mine which might prevent them from attempting the pop quiz until later that day.

Isn't this unfair to students who take the quiz immediately? By keeping my quiz open for 9 hours, it takes away the surprise component of it substantially. Is there a way I can do this without having to have quizzes on paper and in-class?

Should I just be mean and keep my quiz open for only the 20 minutes or so at the end of my class?



Edit: I was thinking about this and I thought of a couple of things that I'd like to add:


One way to nullify this is by announcing that there would be a quiz in the next 3 days. That way, the students will try and learn and not just haphazardly flip through their textbook as I assume they would if it were a true pop quiz.
I could tell them that the examinations which account for 70% of the grade will be tough and it would be sensible to be honest with pop quizzes.
Borrowing from Zenon's comment below, why not mix multiple choice questions with single valued answers with only 1 attempt?
Given the limitations of the material of the students and at your disposition why do you do a quiz on internet? You can be assured that students talk between themselves. I think that you should simply do the quizz in class with pen and paper to be really fair. 

If you have a large number of students, you could do most of the quizz as multiple choice questions and use a device (scantron?) to correct them automatically. As a complement you could have a few questions with one word answers.