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Exporting a Test/Question Bank to Blackboard
To export a test/question bank:

1	Build or open a test/question bank.

2	Choose Export from the File menu.

3	Set the location where you want to save the exported file.

4	Choose Blackboard 5.x (.zip) for the file type, enter a filename (e.g., demo), and click the Save button.

5	Enter a question pool name and a description.

     The Question Pool Name is the name displayed in Blackboard’s Pool Manager.  Choose a name that will be helpful to you in working with the questions.  For example, you could use Chapter 1.  The name can be a maximum of 244 characters.  The Description is optional and allows you to provide additional information about the questions.

6	Select the formatting option.

    Normally, you will use the HTML option.  However, there may be instances when the other options may be more appropriate.  For more information on the other choices, click here.

7	Enter a directory (or folder) for the test/question bank images.

IMPORTANT:  Make sure that the folder name is unique for this question pool.  The Directory Name is used to store images that are required by questions in the test or question bank.  The name you supply should be unique for the test or question bank you are exporting.  If you use the same name for multiple tests or question banks, images may be overwritten when the file is imported into Blackboard.  In this case, the questions in the existing question pool or quiz will show the wrong images.  If you are exporting the same test or question bank multiple times, you can save disk space on your Blackboard server by using the same Directory Name for images each time you export.  If none of the questions in your test/question bank contain images, the directory name you provide will be ignored.  However, you must still supply a name.

NOTE: Due to current limitations imposed by Blackboard, there is no way to delete image files from the Blackboard server once you have imported a question pool.  The image files will persist on the server even after the question pool or quiz has been deleted.

8	Click OK to export the test/question bank.

     As part of the export process, ExamView compresses all of the files into one ".zip" file.  This makes it easier to import the questions into your e-learning platform.  The next step is to import these questions into Blackboard.

Notes:

•	Blackboard does not support all of the ExamView question types.  The export feature maps those question types to a corresponding Blackboard question format.

-	True/False and Modified True/False map to True/False

-	Multiple Choice and Yes/No map to Multiple Choice

-	Numeric Response and Completion map to Fill-in-the-Blank

-	Matching maps to Matching

-	Short Answer, Problem, Essay, Case, and Other map to Short Answer/Essay

•	For the latest information regarding the export utility check out the Support area on our web site www.examview.com


Introduction

Using ExamView you can export tests and question banks to Blackboard 5.x.  This feature gives you the flexibility to create tests in ExamView and then deliver them online via Blackboard. You can also set up your e-learning platform to automatically store the test results into your online gradebook.

The steps to export a test/question bank and use those questions online are listed below.  Click one of the links for more detailed instructions.

- Export Questions from ExamView

- Import the Questions into a Blackboard Assessment Pool

- Create a Quiz

If you experience problems with the export/import process, see the troubleshooting tips.


Importing Questions into Blackboard
Uploading and Importing Questions into Blackboard

1	Login to the Blackboard server.

2	Click the Courses tab.

3	Click on a course name.

     When you import the questions, they will be associated with the course you choose here.

4	Click the Control Panel button.

5	Choose the Pool Manager assessment option.

6	Click the Import Pool button.

7	Type the name of the ".zip" file created by the export feature, or click the Browse to select the file.  Then select the Submit button.

     If the import operation is successful, you will see a message that says "Pool Import Completed for <course_id>."  Click the OK button to return to the Pool Manager screen.  Your new question pool will appear in the list.


Troubleshooting

If you have problems exporting/importing questions, refer to the information provided below.  For the latest information regarding the export utility check out the Support area on our web site www.examview.com.

The following information describes situations where content exported from ExamView may be modified to fit the constraints imposed by Blackboard.

•	Blackboard does not support uploading a quiz directly.  Instead, you must export a test from ExamView, upload the questions, then reconstruct the quiz on the Blackboard server after importing the questions.

•	Blackboard does not support the concept of a narrative (a common piece of information shared by multiple questions).  During export to Blackboard, ExamView copies the content of each narrative to every question that refers to the narrative.

•	Blackboard does not label Multiple Choice answer choices while ExamView uses the letters "a - e."  Answers such as "both a and b" will be somewhat unclear when imported into Blackboard.

•	Each Matching question must have an answer choice.  ExamView supports Matching questions that contain a picture or other content in place of individual answer choices.  In this case, ExamView automatically creates choices named "choice a", "choice b", etc. for these Matching questions.

•	Blackboard does not support question information fields (e.g., difficulty code, reference, keywords, etc.)  Consequently, ExamView does not export the question information.

•	Blackboard imposes a 4000-character limit for questions. If you exceed the limit, you will receive an error message while attempting to import the question pool into Blackboard.  If you do receive an error message, the import operation will continue, but the contents of one or more questions will be truncated.  You can use Blackboard’s Modify Pool screen to delete those question(s) from the question pool.  Or, you can return to ExamView, shorten the question content, and repeat the export operation. Note: The 4000 character limit includes all text as well as the formatting commands that you do not see.  For example, the HTML commands to turn bold on/off are included in the character count.

•	Some questions may appear to be empty when you view the list of questions in the Modify Pool screen.  This is due to a limitation in the current version of Blackboard such that only the first 100 characters appear in this mode.  If a question includes substantial formatting at the beginning of the item, the preview appears to be blank.  If you click the Preview button for the question, the entire question displays correctly.

•	The question pool name does not support special characters such as em-dash or smart-quotes. These characters are translated to -- or " characters.  Other special characters may be deleted.

•	Once a question pool has been imported into Blackboard, any image files that were imported with the question pool remain on the Blackboard server even if you delete the question pool.  This is a limitation in the current version of Blackboard.  A system administrator with access to the file system can remove the image files by deleting all .jpg files in the following location:

/usr/local/blackboard/docs/courses/<id>/<course_id>/ppg/examview/<dir_name>

(Linux systems only)


Creating a Quiz
To create a quiz:

Follow the normal procedures for creating a quiz or survey using the Blackboard Assessment Manager feature accessed via the Control Panel.  Question pools that you import from ExamView can be used just like question pools you create directly with Blackboard.


Blackboard Formatting Options

When you export ExamView content to Blackboard, can you choose one of four formatting options.  The best option to choose will depend on the type of formatting required by the questions in your test or question bank.  The four options are:

1. HTML -- Maintains as much formatting as possible.  Supports fonts, tables, images, etc.

2. HTML without any fonts -- Maintains all formatting except font face and size settings.  The font used to display each question will depend on the settings specified by Blackboard and/or your browser.

3. HTML without default fonts -- This is a combination of the first two options. With this option, ExamView does not set the initial font unless you set a new font other than the default font.

4. Text only -- Removes all formatting.  Fonts, tables, images, etc. are not supported.  Any content that appears inside of a table is not included.  Use this option only if you have very simple questions with little or no formatting requirements.

In most cases, you should use the first option ("HTML").  However, due to several Blackboard limitations, there may be situations where one of the other three options would be more appropriate.  For example, Blackboard allows a maximum of 4000 characters for each question.  If your questions contain a lot of formatting, the HTML required to maintain the full formatting may exceed the 4000-character limit.  In this case, the question is partially truncated when imported into Blackboard.  If this happens, you can reduce the amount of HTML by choosing the second option ("HTML without any fonts").  If the question is slightly over the 4000-character limit, this will likely reduce the HTML so that it does not exceed Blackboard’s limit.

Here’s another example.  On certain screens (e.g., when selecting questions for a quiz or survey), Blackboard shows just the first portion of each question.  Due to a limitation with Blackboard 5.x, the invisible HTML formatting codes are counted as part of the question content.  As a result, you may only see the first few words (or no text at all) for each question depending on how much HTML formatting is required.  To get around this problem, you can reduce the amount of HTML formatting by choosing option #3 ("HTML without default fonts").  In most cases, this will avoid generating HTML formatting for fonts at the start of each question, which will allow you to see more of the question text.

If you plan to edit your questions after they have been imported into Blackboard, you should use the fourth option ("Text only").  Due to problems with the way that Blackboard 5.x handles HTML, you could end up with unusable questions after making edits.  To avoid this situation, you should not edit content exported from ExamView using any of the first three formatting options.