Re: [seul-edu] Online Test System

["Daniel P. Kionka" <dkionka@blueneptune.com>]

Doug Loss wrote:
> 
> On Sun, 30 Jan 2000, rnd@sampo.karelia.ru wrote:
> 
> > On Sat, 29 Jan 2000, Stephen Quam wrote:
> >
> > >I noticed that there is lack of an online test/evaluation systems for
> > >Linux. The system I have in mind would administer multiple choice tests
> > >over the web, and grade them automatically.
> >
> > The goal of QZB project is almost exactly as  specified  above!
> > Unfortunately, I have not enough time to move forward.
> > About QZB (design thoughts):
> >
> Roman and Stephen,
> 
>    Perhaps you two should talk about merging these efforts.  If they're so
> similar the whole idea should probably be one project.  You might also want
> to talk on the quiz software task group about this.  They have a separate
> mailing list (quiztg) which you can join by sending a message to
> majordomo@seul.org with "subscribe quiztg" in the message body.  Dan
> Kionka, what do you think about taking Stephen's idea and Roman's design
> thoughts and all working together toward something like this?  David Moore,
> this sounds to me like something that would make a very nice inclusion for
> AUC.  Let's see where it goes.


I think integrating into a system like AUC is the key.  The problem is
not a lack of online test systems, the problem is that everyone makes
their own little system and it sits there.  No one takes it the next
step.

I have not done much with the quiz project for a while, but what I did a
year or two ago was search for existing systems.  My (terribly out of
date) web page is http://cvs.seul.org/~dkionka/quiz/ .  There were a few
that were good candidates for using or enhancing, but I never got around
to it.

After talking to teachers I found out that they would never use anything
like this anyway.  For me as  a software engineer, it is nothing to set
up a web site with CGI scripts and a password file with all the
students, but a normal teacher would not.  Not only does it have to be
easier to set up, it has to take care of all the other issues.  e.g.
enrollment, grading, discussion groups, bulletin boards, email,
glossary, etc.

The most popular online instructional system today seems to be WebCT. 
It has all the classic classroom features including testing, and the
price is very reasonable.  It runs on Linux, too.  I just started my
second semester of using WebCT for an online Java class I am teaching. 
It has raised my expectations for what a quiz system must do.

I know this goes against the Unix philosophy of programs that do one
thing and do it well, but Unix programs are written for other
programmers.  Instead of writing yet another quiz program -- that only
programmers can use -- let's get an existing quiz program integrated
into an online learning environment.

Dan Kionka