Additional FAQs for Blackboard users
- Does Respondus work with a Blackboard "Basic" server? Answer
- The exam projects I created with an earlier version of Respondus BB (Blackboard Edition) aren't listed when I use the "Open" task. How do I find these project files? Answer
- During the "Publish to Blackboard" step, Respondus displays the message "Error Adding Questions". What should I do? Answer
- How do I convert an exam from another course management system to Blackboard? Answer
Does Respondus work with a Blackboard "Basic" server?
Yes, Respondus supports both Basic and Enterprise implementations of Blackboard.
The exam projects I created with an earlier version of Respondus BB (Blackboard Edition) aren't listed when I use the "Open" task. How do I find these project files?
The default location for projects created in Respondus BB was "c:\Respondus Blackboard". Since Respondus 2 supports multiple course management systems, the default location for project files has been standardized at "c:\Respondus Projects". In order to access files previously created with Respondus BB, you have three options:
- Use Windows Explorer (or My Computer) to go to c:\Respondus Blackboard. Highlight all the Respondus folders that appear here and copy them to "c:\Respondus Projects". Your Respondus files will be displayed the next time you use the "Open" task in Respondus.
- Within Respondus, select the "Open" task, click the "Browse" button, and go to "c:\Respondus Blackboard" (or the location on your hard drive where your Respondus BB files are located). Highlight the file you want to copy to the Respondus projects folder and click Open. (Only one file at a time can be copied using this process.)
- Run the Respondus 2 installation program again and specify "c:\Respondus Blackboard" (or the location on your hard drive where your Respondus BB files are located) as the folder where projects should be stored. Respondus will then look for files at this location when the Open task is used.
During the "Publish to Blackboard" step, Respondus displays the message "Error Adding Questions". What should I do?
The "Error Adding Questions" message usually indicates that there is a problem with the Blackboard server itself. Respondus uses the underlying tools in Blackboard to import and export question pools. If Blackboard itself is unable to import/export a pool, Respondus cannot complete the publishing or retrieval of exams.
To determine if this is the source of your problem, use a browser to create a pool within your Blackboard course. Then try to export that pool using your browser. If you encounter an error message at that point, you'll know that your Blackboard server is not working properly. In that case you should contact your Blackboard administrator and explain that the importing/exporting of pools in Blackboard needs to be fixed. (Actually, we can give your administrator some tips on resolving this problem.)
If, however, you are able to export/import a pool from your Blackboard server using a standard browser (i.e., that it's not the source of the problem), then we will need to have access to your course to see if we can identify the problem. In that case you'll need to send use the URL, username, password, and course name.
How do I convert an exam from another course management system to Blackboard?
Let's say that you are trying to move an exam from eCollege to Blackboard. These are the steps you would follow:
- Select the "eCollege personality" in Respondus
- Select the "Retrieval" tab in Respondus, select "Retrieve Questions", and then retrieve the desired exam(s) from eCollege. Save the file in Respondus.
- Return to the "Start" tab in Respondus and switch to the appropriate "Blackboard personality" (either Bb 5.x or Bb 6). You will be told that the original file was created in a different Respondus personality; respond to whatever prompts that are shown.
- Once the exam has been converted, it is now possible to publish it to your Blackboard course (go to the "Preview & Publish" tab in Respondus to accomplish this).
< Return to Main FAQ
