I am using Bb 9.1 sp 4 after an upgrade from WebCT 4.1, and I have learned how to format questions for importing into a pool using a tab delineated text file. I have gotten that to work with Multiple Choice and Matching, but there are serious limitations to doing it this way. Namely, I can only import the questions and the answers, but not any options or categories.
This means that I have to go in and manually edit each imported question to add the appropriate category and set any options, even basic ones like the type of answer numbering and order (random or not) for each question. It is hardly worth importing the questions, since it takes almost as long to edit them as it does to format the file in the first place There has to be a better way!
I can find no documentation that would show how to add these options to the tab delineated file when I import the questions. I can also find no way to edit these options for all the questions that I use in a test or to assign a category to multiple questions at a time (would be a nice feature). If anyone knows how to do either of these things, let me know!
My other option may be to use the question export tool that I created for WebCT to create the questions and then upload them into Bb 9.1 -- however, they don't seem to work when I import them into a pool. If I create a Zip archive, it might work (the questions exported from my old classes WebCT were imported as a pool) or perhaps I could import the questions in WebCT 4.1 format when I create the test. Any advice on the best route to pursue or documentation that might provide the answers?
Hi Kendall - I don't know of a way to add the other options in a text file. If you have access to Respondus, you can set the other options in there before you upload to Blackboard.
paige
Thanks. I don't have Respondus -- I use a Mac and I'm not sure my school has a license that would work for me. However, if Respondus can import with the options, there must be a way to do it, I'm looking for the format or any advice, since I think I can probably create a file if I know the basic parameters.
Kendall - Respondus works on a Mac. There is a free trial to see if it would work for you. I'm not aware of any way to set these options in a standard text file. I believe Respondus packages it in a .dat or .res file to get into Blackboard.
NOTE: Respondus runs on a Macintosh with Windows on BootCamp or in a Windows virtual machine under VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop.
I will point out the obvious here as well.. You can use Blackboard 9.1 and develop questions inside the system. Is it as fast, no, but do you get full features, yes. I do think 9.1 is faster than previous versions when it comes to making questions.
You've got to be kidding! Bb is the slowest thing I've ever encountered at editing test questions, esp. editing or creating Matching questions. It may be an issue with Bb and Mac OS 10.5.8, but it takes me forever to load the edit window and it has to reload the whole page after adding a question or an answer. Sometimes a script on the page hangs and I get an error message (though this happens less in Firefox than in Safari). I just spent 15 minutes editing one question, and this is after I had composed the question prior to editing it in Bb. If previous versions were slower, then I'm glad I never had to use them. WebCT was a breeze in comparison, and the import features were ten times better.
That would require a) an Intel Mac, which I don't use, b) rebooting or running Parallels (etc.), c) owning a copy of Windows, d) dealing with the hassles of Windows, and e) owning a copy of Respondus. I could do it on my office Mac, if I had access to Respondus, but that's not where I tend to do this kind of work, and it wouldn't be worth the trouble.