ExamView: Using Blackboard Learning Management System with ExamView

NOTICE:  EXAMVIEW END-OF-LIFE ANNOUNCEMENT

As of June 30, 2024, ExamView will officially reach its end of life.

Please be advised that after ExamView’s end-of-life date of June 30th, 2024, we will no longer be providing updates, security patches, or technical support for any version of ExamView. Our obligations to maintain or support ExamView will cease as of this date. Continued use of ExamView post end-of-life may expose you to increased security vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, and potentially reduced functionality. To avoid these risks and ensure uninterrupted service, we encourage migrating to EchoExam, which is designed to offer superior security, compatibility, and a range of advanced features that align with current technological standards. For questions click here.

Blackboard 6.0 - 9.0 Question Support

The export feature maps ExamView question types to the closest corresponding Blackboard Learn 9.1 question format. A summary of the question type mapping is shown in the table below.

A summary of ExamView question information supported when exporting to a Blackboard 6.0-7.0 and Blackboard 7.1-9.0 server is shown below.

*Depends upon selected export settings.
 

Exporting a Test / Question Bank for Blackboard 6.0 - 9.0

Question banks or tests can be exported to a Blackboard-formatted file for import into the LMS. For users of Blackboard 6.0-7.0, the exported file will be in a form of a question pool whether exported from an ExamView test or question bank.

The Blackboard 7.1-9.0 format, however, exports an ExamView test as a test file that is imported using Blackboard's Test Manager. Question banks exported for Blackboard 7.1-9.0 are formatted as a question pool just as in the older Blackboard format. An advantage of the newer Blackboard 7.1-9.0 export format is support for some question information fields. 

1. Create or open a test / question bank.
2. Click File from the menu bar, mouse over Export, and select either Blackboard 6.0– 7.0 or Blackboard 7.1-9.0.
3. Select the save location, enter a file name and click Save. The question content is saved as a ZIP file.
   • Take note of where the file is being saved as you will need to locate it later when uploading to the Blackboard Pool Manager or Test Manager.
   • For the PC version, the file is not saved until the Export to Blackboard wizard is completed.
4. Enter a question pool or test name. You may also enter 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 Test Name is the name displayed in Blackboard’s Test Manager. This option is only be available when exporting from an ExamView test to Blackboard 7.1+ format. The name can be a maximum of 244 characters.
   • The Description is optional and allows you to provide additional information about the question pool or test.
5. Select the formatting and feedback options.
   • HTML - Maintains as much formatting as possible. Supports fonts, tables, images, etc.
   NOTE

   In most cases, you should use the HTML without default fonts option to simplify the HTML as much as possible without losing important formatting. However, due to several Blackboard limitations, there may be situations where one of the other three options would be more appropriate. For example, Blackboard 5.x 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.

   • HTML without any fonts - Maintains all formatting except font and size settings. The font used to display each question will depend on the settings specified by Blackboard and / or your browser.
   • 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.
   • 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.
   • Select the appropriate Feedback option if your questions include rationales or feedback. Otherwise, select None.
6. 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 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.

   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.

7. Click OK to export the test / question bank.

Next Steps

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 upload these questions into Blackboard.

Uploading Questions into Blackboard 6.0 - 9.0

To upload questions into Blackboard 6.0 - 8.0 or Blackboard 9.0 follow the steps below.

How to upload question into Blackboard 6.0 - 8.0...

1. Log in to your Blackboard server. The My Institution page appears.
2. Click the desired course name from the My Courses box. The Courses page appears.

   When you import the test or question pool, they will be associated with the course you choose here.

3. Click Control Panel from the Tools panel on the left. The Control Panel page appears.
4. Click the Pool Manager link for all Blackboard 6.0-7.0 files or for question banks exported to Blackboard 7.1-9.0 format, from the Assessment box. For tests exported to Blackboard 7.1-9.0 format, click the Test Manager link. The Pool Manager or Test Manager page appears.
5. Click Import. The Pool Import or Test Import page appears.
6. Click Browse to select the file.
7. Click Submit. If the import operation is successful, you will see a message that reads "Pool Import Completed for ."
8. Click OK to return to the Pool Manager or Test Manager screen. Your new question pool or test will now appear in the list.

How to upload question into Blackboard 9.0...

1. Open your Blackboard course.
2. Scroll down to the Control Panel section on the left, select the Class Tools, and then the Test, Surveys, and Pools option. The Tests, Surveys, and Pools page appears.
3. Click the Tests link on the Tests, Surveys, and Pools page. The Tests page is displayed.
4. Click Import Test on the Tests page, and the Test Import page is displayed.
5. Click Browse for Local File to select the file.
6. Once you have located and selected the test you wish to import, click Open to attach the file in Blackboard
7. When the selected file name is displayed on your Blackboard window, click Submit.
8. If the import operation is successful, Blackboard will display a Test Import Complete message.
9. Click OK to return to the Test page. Your new test appears in the list, and is ready to be deployed.

Creating a Quiz in Blackboard 6.0 - 9.0

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.

For tests exported to Blackboard 7.1-9.0 format, the quiz or survey will already be imported as an assessment and will not require additional creation steps.

Troubleshooting Blackboard 6.0 - 9.0

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

• 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.
• 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.
  NOTE

  An ExamView test may have up to 26 Matching questions, however, Blackboard only supports up to 20 Matching questions.

• Blackboard converts all ExamView tables to the Arial font.
• 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///ppg/examview/ (Linux systems only)