QW 3.5 Alpha Update with New Features
I've updated the Question Writer 3.5 Alpha download today with some new features. I'll describe them briefly today and in more detail as we work towards a Beta and finally a full release. The new features are all for the Professional Version and are all located in the quiz settings,
i) Feedback only for incorrect questions
ii) Force attempt at each question before showing 'Next' button
iii) Remove the back button from all question pages
iv) Allow an overall negative mark from a quiz
v) Add a date to the user-printable report
Posted by Alexander at 5:51 PM, July 2, 2009 | QW 3.5 Alpha Update with New Features| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
Forest Template
The forest template included with Question Writer 3.4 has some problems that mean it can't be applied properly. If you're having difficultly with this template and want to use it, you can
download the updated template from here. You'll need to unzip it before use.
Posted by Alexander at 7:10 AM, June 28, 2009 | Forest Template| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
QTI for Pearson VUE
I have today updated the Question Writer 3.5 Alpha with a new feature - Publish QTI 1.2 for Pearson VUE. This exports your questions in a QTI format specially constructed to ensure compatibility with the Pearson VUE QTI compiler.
All of the question types except for the sequencing question type are supported but most of the quiz options and settings are not.
I'm trying to gauge interest in interoperability with other tools for future development so let me know if you're trying out this feature and whether you'd like to see deeper integration with existing tools, or new tools supported.
Download the alpha trial version to experiment with it. You'll find the new option in the publish menu.
Posted by Alexander at 7:09 PM, June 23, 2009 | QTI for Pearson VUE| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
Question Writer 3.5 Alpha
Question Writer 3.5 is still very much a work in progress. However, I wanted to get an early version out for testing and discussion.
So here's an Alpha of Question Writer 3.5 for download.
'Alpha' means it is not feature complete and the features are not fully settled. Use the latest stable version (Currently QW 3.4) for any serious work - the Alpha is for testing and guidance. You'll also need to uninstall your current version of Question Writer to try it out.
What's New? (Professional Edition)
1. Allow Spelling Errors in Fill-In-The-Blank questions. A very big drawback to FIB questions is having to identify the exact characters that a user must type in to get a question right. This new feature allows you to award full or partial marks to students who come close enough.
You can also specify how close.
The default setting is 30%, meaning 3 errors in a 10 letter word or 1 in a 4 letter word.
An error is either
i) Wrong letter (Necessery)
ii) Missing letter (Necesary)
iii) Extra letter (Neccessary)
iv) Two letters switched around (Recieve)
v) Where case-correct answers are required, switching the case of a letter is also marked as a single error. (washington)
You can still define multiple correct answers, and the one with fewest errors compared to the student's answers will be used.
2. Revamped Import from Text Format
The Text format import has been completely revamped. You can now define correct and incorrect feedback, add images in the question, and title metadata is correctly imported too. Also, if there is a problem with the import format, you'll get more details on what went wrong to make it easier to correct.
3. Export to Text Format
QW 3.5 allows export to the Text Format too. This is helpful if you need to find out how to format your questions for import or to export your questions for use in another system. Respondus in particular can import this kind of text format - let me know if you have success with other software too. n.b. The text format just includes the raw questions - none of the theme, properties or sections.
Do please let me know your thoughts on the new features - if you find a problem while you're using the Alpha, do please report it, including the version number in the About box so I know where to look.
Posted by Alexander at 1:38 AM, June 22, 2009 | Question Writer 3.5 Alpha| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
Start and Finish Times
Question Writer Tracker now supports start and finish times for quizzes.
Set a start time and no-one will be able to start the quiz before this time. Set a finish time and no-one will be able to start the quiz after this time. If the finish time occurs while a user is taking a quiz, they will be able to complete the quiz and the results will be recorded.
Posted by Alexander at 5:20 PM, June 5, 2009 | Start and Finish Times| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
Question Writer 3.4
Question Writer 3.4 is now available for download.
It supports a new QTI 1.2 export feature that allows you to export questions and tests for use in other systems.
Three new languages are also supported - Italian, Swedish and Norwegian. That brings the total number of languages supported to 12.
Various other minor issues are addressed in the new release including improved importing images from a network drive.
Posted by Alexander at 1:01 PM, May 18, 2009 | Question Writer 3.4| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
Flatten Sections
There's a new option that you can apply to sections - section flattening. Use it when you want to group questions for organizational reasons, but don't want to create different logical sections in your quiz.
If that sentence doesn't make any sense, here's a short tutorial video which covers randomization, sections and section flattening.
Posted by Alexander at 12:53 AM, May 7, 2009 | Flatten Sections| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
Publish as Flash 8
One way to improve the quality of images in your quizzes is to publish as Flash version 8. Flash renders images in a clearer, crisper way when version 8 files are used in place of version 6 files. Users of the Standard edition now have this option too with the latest Question Writer 3.3 release.
Posted by Alexander at 6:43 AM, May 5, 2009 | Publish as Flash 8| Comments (0)| TrackBack (1)
Disable Essay Feedback
Question Writer doesn't automatically score essay questions so the feedback for these questions is limited to a single piece of text, written in advance. With QW 3.3, you can now also switch off this feedback page altogether with the new option located in 'Other Labels'.
Posted by Alexander at 5:44 PM, May 4, 2009 | Disable Essay Feedback| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
Change the Text Size
Each theme in Question Writer has its own text sizes - one size for the title text and one size for the body text. These sizes can seem too large if you have a lot of text for each question, or too small if you have short questions.
QW 3.3 gives you more control over these - there's now an option to override whatever values are in the theme with your own text sizes.
Posted by Alexander at 3:49 AM, May 1, 2009 | Change the Text Size| Comments (0)| TrackBack (0)
