Authoring

Questionmark Perception allows you to easily create, modify and delete questions and assessments. Windows-based authoring, which requires that software be installed on your PC, provides a powerful environment for creating simple and complex questions and assessments. Browser-based and SME authoring tools enable learning, assessment and education professionals to streamline the question authoring and content harvesting process. Tools include:

Authoring Manager

• Questionmark Perception Authoring Manager is a Windows-based application that enables training professionals, instructional designers, educators, testing professionals and subject matter experts to author questions, organize them into assessments, and store and edit them within local or remote databases called repositories.
• Specific System Requirements can be found at http://www.questionmark.com/perception/help/v5/product_guides/am/index.html

Browser-Based Authoring (BBA)

• Browser-Based Authoring runs on the Perception server and can be accessed via a standard web-browser. BBA enables authors to create many of the same question types possible with the Windows-based Authoring Manager. Authors can create questions and assessments from a distance without installing any software on their computers.

Questionmark Live

• Questionmark Live lets you easily write questions and then export them for use in Questionmark Perception. Subject matter experts (SMEs) can access this powerful authoring tool anytime, anywhere via a standard web-browser.

Questionmark Word Authoring Templates

• With Questionmark Word Authoring Templates, subject matter experts (SME) can use Microsoft Word to author assessment questions that can be imported, delivered and managed using Questionmark Perception. Once the SMEs have authored questions using Word on either a PC or a Mac, they email their questions to an administrator who publishes them into Questionmark Perception.

Scheduling

Questionmark Perception server’s Enterprise Manager software enables you to schedule individuals or groups to take assessments, send emails to participants, add and manage participants, organize participants into groups and manage privileges of participants and administrators, all via a standard web-browser.

Delivery

Since Questionmark Perception can deliver assessments to multiple platforms, there are various technical requirements depending on the delivery method.

Web Delivery to Standard Browsers

• Perception Server allows you to deploy your assessment across the Internet or an intranet to standard browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari. See the FAQ's for a list of supported web browsers.

Mobile Delivery

• Assessments can be delivered to Smart phones, PDAs, Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touches and other wireless devices.

Note : This method of delivery has not been fully tested on all devices. If you are interested in using a mobile delivery method, please contact qmp_service@usask.ca for more information.

Secure Delivery via Questionmark Secure

• For high-stakes assessments, where you are concerned about participants printing or saving the questions to disk, you can use Questionmark Secure. Questionmark Secure provides a secure environment for delivering high-stakes assessments such as tests and certification exams. Most browsers are designed to be as open and flexible as possible. But when you are delivering assessments online you need far more security than most browsers provide. Questionmark Secure locks down the participant's PC to prevent the use of print, screen capturing, and task-switching.
• Operating system requirements for Questionmark Secure:
  • Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2003
  • Questionmark Secure can only be used with a Questionmark Secure Server, an option available with your deployment of Questionmark Perception

Note : This method of delivery has not been fully tested. If you are interested in using a secure delivery method, please contact qmp_service@usask.ca for more information.

Printing and Scanning

• For maximum flexibility in delivery, users may deploy Perception's printing and scanning solution, which enables users to author assessments in Perception that participants may read and answer on paper. Participant responses can then be scanned and uploaded to Perception for scoring and reporting. This feature requires the use of the ICT OMR Service.  Contact qmp_service@usask.ca for more information.

Save-As-You-Go

• During an assessment answers can be "auto-saved" in the background or the participant can be presented with a save button. This feature is available via a standard web-browser. This "Save-As-You-Go" feature reduces frustration caused by technical failures and other distractions and allows a participant to restart an assessment from where they left off. Save-As-You-Go conforms to the requirements of the Association of Test Publishers’ Guidelines for administering computerized assessments.
  Save As You Go can be configured to:
  • Save answers on request (when the participant presses the Save button)
  • Save answers at specific timed intervals (for example, every 5 minutes)
  • Save answers on request as well as at timed intervals

Questionmark to Go

• Questionmark to Go enables remote users to synchronise from their Windows PCs to their web servers. They can then pull down new Perception assessments scheduled by an administrator, disconnect from the network and then answer questions and receive feedback offline. Once a connection to the Internet or network is reestablished, Questionmark to Go automatically uploads results to Perception server for reporting.

Windows Delivery

• Perception Publish to Windows publishes assessments to encrypted files, and participants then use the Questionmark to Go Player software to answer the questions. If you wish, participants can receive instant feedback and their answers can be stored to disk or uploaded to Perception server for reporting.

Reporting

All reporting feature of Questionmark Perception can be accessed via a standard web-browser.