Create Your Items

It's the night before the big test. You've covered all the standard points of the course you are teaching, and then some. Suddenly, you realize that all the standard questions that you normally use for a test are not enough. You have at least a half dozen other questions that you need to present in tomorrow's examination. TAO offers a solution with intuitively designed testing Item templates.

Step 1: In the Assessment Assembly Bar, click the Items icon.

This opens the Items page, an interface in three parts. The part on the left is called the Library, the part on the right is called the Properties Panel, and in the center is the Canvas. It is in this last part where Item authoring takes place.

Questions and other forms of interaction are considered item components of larger tests. These basic elements are first created, and then combined for use in assessing Test-taker ability to acquire understanding. Each interaction item, and the procedure used to create it, differs to some degree from the other, but the steps detailed here are common for authoring any interaction.

Step 2: In the Library, click the class or folder that the interaction (and associated test) applies.

This will bring up a new Actions Bar that includes the following options: Properties, New Class, New Item, Export, and Import.

Step 3: Click on New Item in the Actions Bar.

This will bring up a new dialog box that gives you the option to name, or label your item, and radio buttons that give you the choice between selecting the model type for this item as either QTI or Open Web Item. QTI format allows for easier and greater flexibility of use in various TAO products.

Step 4: After naming and selecting model type, save.

This produces an empty item that you can now populate with questions. Close the dialog box reminder that the item has been saved before moving on.

Step 5: In the Actions Bar, find the option that reads Authoring and click it.

This will produce the empty Items page upon which you’ll place your interaction(s). These might include any of the following: Common Interactions (Choice, Order, Associate, Match, Hottext, Gap Match, Slider, Extended Text, File Upload, and Media), Inline Interactions (Inline Choice and Text Entry), Graphic Interactions (Hotspot, Graphic Order, Graphic Associate, Graphic Gap, and Select Point), and Custom Interactions (usually developed by the client).