A question of choice – importing Blackboard tests
Setting up a Blackboard test normally involves setting up each question individually, typing in the question text, and constructing the answers and feedback. This is fine if you have only a few questions to set up at a time, but it quickly becomes a time-consuming burden if you plan to set up several tests with many questions. There is an alternative method for creating extensive Blackboard tests, however: create your test questions using a text editor or Microsoft Excel, and import them in bulk directly into Blackboard.
Most types of Blackboard questions can be created using this method, including multiple choice, multiple answer, short answer, and true/false. There are strict formatting rules to follow which ensure that the questions can be imported correctly, and we would always advise checking the imported questions very carefully.
Benefits
- Avoids copying and pasting questions individually into Blackboard
- Question text font, colour and size remain consistent throughout the test
- Prevents HTML junk appearing in each question
- Uploading all questions in one file to Blackboard may make the process quicker for the user
Limitations
- Images cannot be uploaded using this method; they must be added into Blackboard separately after import
- Questions uploaded in bulk all have the same point value and may need editing
- Blackboard does not recognise duplicate questions
- Question files must not contain any errors or the entire file will fail to upload
