Quiz Builder Media File Migration to Samigo

Summary

MyUCDavis Quiz Builder users have associated various media, including graphics, .doc and .pdf files with their questions. These media need to be accessible by faculty for migration with their quizzes and question pools.

Desired functionality includes:

• ability to retrieve from Quiz Builder all files associated with a quiz or question pool
• ability to identify which media file(s) are associated with each question that is being exported
• resolution in cases of name collisions

This project is listed in Jira as SAK-270
#Jira Story Card Description is included below for your convenience.

Phases

• #Analysis
• #Design Specification
• #GUI Review
• #Code Functionality
• #Code Review
• #QA Testing
• #Release

Analysis

Initial analysis is based on the research noted in My_To_Samigofunc-tech_v1.doc in April 2006. The media count and usage should not have changed appreciably in the last 6 months.

? 16.3% of the quizzes contain images, media or other content files (223 quizzes with media / 1370 total quizzes)
? There are 218 distinct quizzes in Quiz Builder using media files which are owned by 33 faculty and staff.

The following media distribution was pulled from the cms database in April 2006.

Quiz Builder Media Usage

Faculty use single or multiple images associated with a question for identification of objects or concepts. For example, an instructor in Veterinary Medicine might use multiple radiograph images along with a downloadable PDF file with those images imbedded to test student diagnostic abilities. A music instructor might use images to ask students to identify musicians, musical scores or notations. Chemistry instructors use images to display chemical formulas and biota for students to identify. An instructor might also ask a student to download a .doc, a .pdf or some other type of non-media file as part of a quiz.

Multiple images or files can be added to a question by uploading them one after another. No screen manipulations are allowed to determine where the files are displayed. Images and/or files can only be associated with the question - not with the answers. The instructor does not have the ability to format or rearrange the appearance of this content, other than by entering the images and other files in the order he/she would like them displayed.

Samigo Media Usage

Adding images and files to Samigo requires more steps but allows more flexibility in layout. First, to insert an image into the quiz the file must be loaded into a Resources folder (which does not have to be related to the site.)
Once the file is in Resources, copy the reference link by clicking on the file to generate a new window, using Copy Shortcut or getting the URL from Revise Properties.

If multiple images will be added to the quiz, it is easy to open Resources in a new window to access to link information and quizzes at the same time.
Add a .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, or .bmp image by typing text into the HTML Editor text area and then select the location in the text where the image will appear.
Select the image icon from the text editor and a new Insert Image window will pop open.
Images can be placed before, within or after text which allowing more display control than in Quiz Builder. Multiple images can be added by repeating these actions. Images can be placed in any text area field, including answers and feedback.
The image source reference with this method requires that the file reside in Resources. Once an image URL is generated in Resources, the URL can be used in multiple questions or quizzes. Changing the graphic in Resources, even if the new file has a different name, will replace the image in all URL references and the new image will be renamed with the original file's name.
When a quiz with images referenced to Resources is exported and then imported to another course or site, the path reference is retained and the images are accessible from the new course. Because only the path, but not the actual image is imported, those files associated with quizzes in Quiz Builder would need to be moved separately into Resources, and then referenced within the quiz by their new URL.
Other types of files can also be linked to quizzes as links. Documents, PDF files, and other types of course materials can be referenced in the following manner: type text in any HTML Editor text area, highlight the text, and then select the link icon. Paste in the URL reference and optional title and target.
Images and documents outside of Sakai can be linked in this manner, as long as the URL is properly formed and the outside location is publicly accessible. For most non-media files, it is best to set the target to "_blank" to open it in a new window. The student will need to either open or save the file. Audio and other media files can be accessed successfully through this method.
Images and other file types can be used in Samigo with more flexibility of layout and in answers and feedback as well as in questions. Images and non-image files will be migrated to Resources manually since the file reference will change. File references will need to be redone manually after the quiz is imported.

Design Specification

GUI Review

Code Functionality

Code Review

QA Testing

Release

Jira Story Card Description

These media are displayed with the question, but they are not built into the question text. Once faculty have uploaded media, they can be deleted from the question, but the files remain on the server and cannot be accessed by faculty.

It is desirable that faculty have a method of retrieving these files for review and/or import into Resources as the first step in adding the media to assessments or question pool questions in Tests & Quizzes.

In addition to just accessing the files there should be a way to identify which media file(s) are associated with each question that is being exported. If there is a way to bundle the media files together with an export of the questions that would also be desirable. A text file could be included in the zip file of the media that could document this relationship possibly including a question title, media file names and even question text all together.

If the image files could be renamed before zipping to their original names (as recorded in the myucdavis database) this would be highly desireable. This would not obviate the need for the text file because there could be name collisions and the text file could document how a filenname is overridden in this case.

An expansion of this idea would be to implement a process that would do a MyUCDavis export and take a user to an assessment import and/or question pool import page on SmartSite. This would presumably build on something like Respondus's ability to use content information to relate media to questions. A down-the-road issue that we need to keep track of.