TestPilot3 is server based software that allows MCPS
staff members to create surveys and tests that can be
accessed via the web. See Why
use TestPilot? on the ClearLearning site. Some uses
for TestPilot are:
- surveys
- student elections
- workshop pre-assessments and evaluations
- practice quizzes and tests
- self-check tests for web sites
:
- TestPilot surveys can be created by any school or
office staff member with access to a survey account.
This includes both the local TestPilot3 administrator
and any other staff member setup as a survey manager
by the local administrator. Local Administrators,
see How to Create an
Account for a New Survey Manager below.
- Test takers are designated by the particular survey
manager. Users may be restricted by workstation, time
constraints, specified logins, open to all, or open
for all anonymously. Test takers are directed to the
survey using the survey URL.
:
One local administrator should be designated for each
school or non-based school office wishing to use TestPilot3.
The first person requesting a TestPilot3 account from
a given school should be willing to be that local administrator.
Email webmaster@mcpsmd.org
to get a TestPilot3 local administrator account established.
Additional staff members of that school should contact
the local administrator to get a survey account. Once
a local administrator has been established by Web Services,
additional requests for accounts will be directed to
the local administrator.
- TestPilot3 is now web based. No
client software is needed on the local machine, only
a web browser and an internet connection.
- Users can take the survey or test
by going to the URL for your file. For example, they
could go to:
http://tpilot.mcps.k12.md.us/tpilot/departments/webteam/sample.tp3
to take an sample webmaster survey. Users can log
in using a "User ID" of their choice. It
will be recorded with their responses.
- Administrators or survey managers
can view the responses, results and statistics of
their survey activity at the same URL as "test
takers." For this example, go to the URL:
http://tpilot.mcps.k12.md.us/tpilot/departments/webteam/sample.tp3.
To enter Owner Options, survey managers
should log in with their assigned ID and password
separated by a comma. For this particular example
use "test,test" for User ID. (No spaces.) This will
give you access to Owner Options.
Feel free to explore Owner Options.
You may add new questions or edit existing questions
so long as you leave a full set of the different type
of questions for others to see. The Erase
Responses has been intentionally disabled
for this example. Normally, a survey manager would
have access to this option.
:
While we have taken measures to provide a reasonable level
of security for TestPilot files, this software should
not be used in MCPS schools to administer graded tests
to students or to collect confidential data. We will make
every effort to make the web server available at all times;
however, we cannot guarantee this level of service for
this server and users should have a backup plan in those
cases.
Maybe. In order to use TestPilot2, you need the DataBase
component installed on your workstation and a webmaster
account. Test Pilot databases (2.1.2) are in the FirstClass
Software conference and in both the Mac Communication
and WIN95 Communication folders. (Within a school, your
USS will need to install this if it's not already on
your workstation.) Secondly, and more critical, you
must have a webmaster account to upload the TestPilot2
exported .tp2 files. See online TestPilot2
Documentation. Most users will find the TestPilot3
web based version easier to work with. You are now able
to update surveys without having to re-export and FTP
files.
Note: You can use the TestPilot2 database
to create files, rename them with the .tp3 extension,
FTP files into your school's TestPilot directory and
they will appear in the index along with the web generated
TestPilot3 surveys. See online documentation Using
the old v2 Database to author TestPilot3 files offline.
Tech Consulting has prepared summary documentation at
Test
Pilot User's Guide.
There is comprehensive documentation for TestPilot3
on the web at http://www.clearlearning.com/v3/index.html.
Use the Index at the top to find specific
topics.
Authoring:
online vs. offline and status of TestPilot2 files
- TestPilot files can be created
by anyone authorized to create surveys or tests in
MCPS (mainly teachers and other staff) using only
a browser.
- You must have an MCPS webmaster
account to upload media files that are used in conjuction
with a survey. This means that users may have to give
their TPilot multimedia files to a webmaster to be
uploaded.
- Files are stored on tpilot.mcps.k12.md.us
in the /tpilot directory. Within that directory are
directories for schools, departments, and curriculum
areas just the MCPS web.
- IMPORTANT: When logging
into the tpilot server, you must put "internet/" before
your USER ID. For example, "internet/doejohn".
- All URLs to surveys/tests (files
that end with .tp3) will start off with:
http://tpilot.mcps.k12.md.us/tpilot/
- The TestPilot JAVA software that
needs to run on the server, is only on tpilot.mcps.k12.md.us.
If you put your files on any other server, they will
not work.
The local administrator will set up new survey managers
by creating one or more "shell" surveys for
each staff member desiring to manage their own TestPilot
survey. After creating the "shell" the new manager
is assigned manager rights to the "shell" survey.
Access to the new survey is by URL, using a specially
assigned ID and password from the local administrator.
Here is a step by step process for a local administrator
to create a survey shell and manager rights.
- Local administrator will log into the school or
office assigned URL for managing surveys. This is
the long URL which includes the userID and password
of the school or office.
- In the Build Test box on the Index
page, enter a unique survey name ending in ".tp3"
You might wish to name it using the last name of the
staff member requesting a survey. This will not affect
the title of the survey, only the filename. Subsequent
surveys might include a numeral. e.g. jones2.tp3,
jones3.tp3, etc.
- Click on the newly created filename in the
Manage column. This gets you into Test
Pilot Owner Options.
- Within Test Pilot Owner Options window
click on Edit Test in the upper right
corner of the browser window. (If there are no questions
yet, you will go directly into this area.)
- Within the Test Pilot Editor, click
on #5 Security in the left navigation
bar.
- In the Step#5 Securing Access frame,
under Managers enter a unique ID
and password for the staff member who will manage
this survey.
- Check all the options for this manager and click
Update to save the changes. See Global
Info for an illustration of this area.
- Be sure to document the new userID and password
somewhere locally for your future reference.
- Send the staff member the URL of their survey along
with their userID and password. The URL will look
like: http://tpilot.mcps.k12.md.us/tpilot/schools/forestoakms/surveyname.tp3
- The staff member will be able to get into his new
survey's owner options by going to the new survey
link (ending with the ..../surveyname.tp3)
Instead of entering a password as a survey taker would
enter, the new manager will enter a manager login
in the format: "userID,password"
Don't type the quotes. Type the assigned manager userID
then a comma then the assigned password. There should
be no embedded spaces. This is just a string of characters
of the manager's userID and password separated by
a comma.
Note: It is not necessary or desirable
to share the local administrator ID and password with
other survey managers. Using the steps above allows
the local administrator to setup surveys which are accessible
only by the individual survey author and grant him or
her access to all the Owner Options for that survey.
First consult the on-line documentation links above.
If you've been to training, consult your training documentation.
As a last resort, while not expert users of TestPilot3,
Web Services will try to find answers for your questions.
Email Web Services at webmaster@mcpsmd.org.
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