Tuesday, March 04, 2014

How to print a Blackboard Test Using the Respondus 4.0 Test Creator application

Respondus 4.0 provides an efficient user friendly to print Blackboard Tests.

First download Respondus 4.0 Test Creator.

To print from Respondus 4.0 Test Creator

Retrieval & Reports tab - Select Retrieve questions









Select blackboard.neu.edu and click next











Choose a Course and an Exam and Enter a name for the file















Select Download questions and save
















From the Preview & Publish tab, Select print options, then select either "Save to File" (Microsoft Word Document) or "Send to Printer".

























You have the option to save the Exam with the Answer Key.  Printing without the answer key provides a quick backup plan if Blackboard is not available for online testing.

Here's a video of the process and instructions for downloading Respondus 4.0 Test Creator.

Monday, March 03, 2014

Respondus 4.0 Test Creator Application Instructions

The Respondus software is available via the myNEU "Software Downloads" section.
  1. Go to http://myneu.neu.edu and login using your myNEU fac/staff credentials
  2. Select the "Services and Links" tab
  3. Scroll down and select "Software Downloads" on the left: http://screencast.com/t/DlJmCCk3
  4. Select "Respondus" from the list and select continue: http://screencast.com/t/PinToCtIuIoG (The Respondus 4.0 Test creator is a Windows only application)
  5. Scroll down and select "Accept"
  6. You should download both the "Installer" and the "Update" as separate actions: http://screencast.com/t/b4shl0LNHCb
  7. In the download instructions that appear with the download, note the Organization name and the Install Code.  You will need to enter them later when you install the software.
  8. You must install both the Respondus application and the Update for the Respondus application for the software to work.  Install the Respondus application first, then install the Update.
  9. After you have installed the application and update, run the application, then click the "Help" menu and select "Check for Update": http://screencast.com/t/TVWrKe6mS .  Download and install all updates and then run Respondus again.  Repeat this step, checking for updates multiple times until there are no more updates available.
Here is a video of the Respondus 4.0 Test Creator Application download process: http://screencast.com/t/H4Trqc9CmP


Allowing Respondus to log into your Blackboard account on the blackboard.neu.edu site


If you have trouble publishing to NEU Blackboard from Respondus because of a login error, here are instructions for how to fix it:

  1. Run Respondus. Click the "Help" menu and select "Check for Update": http://screencast.com/t/TVWrKe6mS .  Download and install all updates and then run Respondus again.  Repeat this step, checking for updates multiple times until there are no more updates available.
  2. After creating or opening a test, select the "Preview and Publish", click "Publish to Blackboard", click "Publish Wizard":  http://screencast.com/t/FtScSYpm
  3. In the Publish Wizard, click the "Edit Settings" button: http://screencast.com/t/SnODbXaWaGt
  4. Click the "Delete" button to remove the server: http://screencast.com/t/qID7pMAQ
  5. From the drop-down click "Add New Server": http://screencast.com/t/6EinttzAf
  6. Click "Yes, check for preconfigured server settings" and click Next: http://screencast.com/t/5HfB19uFhS
  7. Enter "blackboard.neu.edu" as the name, and click Next: http://screencast.com/t/MQv1KtBsY
  8. Before logging into Blackboard, open an Internet Explorer browser window (even if you won't be using that browser) and then minimize it and ignore it.
  9. Log into Blackboard and then click the "Close after login" button at the top right:  http://screencast.com/t/0FHZIb6Uo
  10. Click Next and Finish, and proceed to publish your test content


Publishing Going forward

  • You must have an Internet Explorer browser window open, even if you won't be using the browser.        
  • Each time you publish, you will need to log into Blackboard and click the "Close after login" button to proceed.
  • If the content areas in your course are not listing in Respondus, make sure the course you are publishing to in Blackboard has the "Edit Mode" option at the upper right set to ON.  This option is in your course on the Blackboard website itself (not in Respondus)