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cathwen
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« on: February 15, 2011, 01:32:02 PM » |
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I have a student in Costa Rica who has repeatedly claimed computer problems when Discussions and quizzes are due. I am losing patience (my introductory materials state in strong terms the necessity of having a reliable internet connection and a computer in good working condition).
This time, the student claims that her computer did not "let" her save her quiz answers. She did open the quiz, and it has been open (apparently) for 14 hours. No answers were saved. She did, however, copy and paste the questions into a Word document, which she sent me with her answers.
My question: If she is telling the truth, what kind of computer problem, or Blackboard issue, could cause a student to be unable to save answers? Does this sound plausible to anyone?
The only thing I can think of is that she opened the quiz, then either walked away or the connection went kaflooie, came back, tried to submit, but could not because she had exceeded the quiz's time limit. Any other ideas?
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torshi
Formerly DuchessofMalfi, formerly Kedves
Member
Posts: 206
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« Reply #1 on: February 15, 2011, 04:11:55 PM » |
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I have encountered this complaint, more in the past than recently with the version we currently use, mostly when "submit" does not work. I deal with it the same way you did, if it can't be fixed at the time: ask the student to copy the screen and email me the answers. I have had to send the questions and get answers completely by email a couple of times (pre-arranged time and turnaround to be fair to other students with timed tests).
The odds of malfunction increase when a test is open beyond 2 hours, or when a student violates Bb best practices (by minimizing the screen, going to other parts of the course site or doing other things on the computer, etc.). When it's happened, it has usually been okay after I clear the attempt and tell the student to completely quit the browser program, and to read and follow the best practices before starting the test again. But an internet connection gap can cause the material on the screen to remain while the functions of the test do not work.
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johnr
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« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2011, 04:15:44 PM » |
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This is a known issues with the current version of Blackboard:
"Quizzes and Surveys - Errors with Internet Explorer 8
Internet Explorer 8 users experience issues when attempting to submit answers in quizzes or surveys. Blackboard and engineers are working to resolve the issue. In the meantime, we recommend that students use Firefox 3.5 or above on Windows, or Safari on OS X, for quizzes and surveys. (12.16.10)"
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"When I die, I hope it's in a committee meeting. The transition from life to death will be barely perceptible."
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cathwen
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« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2011, 07:51:17 PM » |
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Thanks for the responses, torshi and johnr. I have suggested all of these possibilities to the student.
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samspade
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« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2011, 07:58:48 PM » |
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Never, ever, be surprised at the way Blackboard can screw students over.
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cathwen
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« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2011, 09:50:22 AM » |
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Yeah, Blackboard can be a real nightmare.
My latest is a really good student who is NEVER late with anything, who is frantic because she tried all last evening to submit a PowerPoint assignment, but Blackboard wouldn't let her submit, and she missed the deadline. She works in technology, so is not exactly a numbskull when it comes to these things. She finally sent me her assignment as an attachment through campus e-mail. Obviously, I'm not going to penalize her for lateness. She's calling our campus tech support today, and I will be very curious to see what the problem is. Other students have submitted PowerPoints with embedded videos and sound, so the problem is not universal. She's tried different browsers, cutting down the size of her file, etc. Puzzling.
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ngriffin
New member
Posts: 6
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« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2011, 10:50:29 AM » |
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For students taking tests, it is important that they run the browser checker (all of the systems have one) to make sure they are running a supported browser and that it is configured correctly. I'm not sure what version of Blackboard the original poster uses, but Blackboard does not officially support browsers other than IE and Firefox for Windows and Safari and Firefox for Mac.
I run a Campus Edition 8 system (formerly WebCT), and can tell you that Google Chrome does not work properly with tests and will cause problems in submitting. Also, we see problems when students have some add-on search toolbars installed or have spyware. This can route their connections through third-party servers before it gets to the LMS. This mostly occurs with IE.
If you use online testing in your courses, I highly recommend giving a practice exam at the beginning, so that your students can try out the testing tool before they need it for a grade. This helps them resolve any technical problems upfront, and also allows them to familiarize themselves with the process of answering questions, savings answers, and submitting. Then when they take the graded exam, you'll ahve fewer problems, and they will have less anxiety. The end result should be a more accurate measurement of their learning.
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