|
Exporting to Wikiversity
From Qedoc
| This article relates to features introduced in version 1.6.0. |
This article describes how to export Qedoc quizzes to Wikiversity using the MediaWiki quiz extension.
The Qedoc Quiz Maker now supports the export of quizzes to Wikiversity. The Wikiversity quizzes are rendered using the new MediaWiki quiz extension, which uses a format understood by the Qedoc software. This means you can use the Qedoc software as a design and editing tool, and have it generate the necessary markup for pasting into a Wikiversity page. This is especially useful if your Wikiversity quizzes are long or if they use gapfill exercises. Qedoc powerful editing tools can generate multiple choice questions and typed response questions from simple tables, or generate gapfill exercises from blocks of text. The use of the Qedoc software can therefore cut the time and increase the ease of generating interactive pages for Wikiversity. The Qedoc software is available for free for those users who publish their materials as open educational resources.
Contents |
What is the Wikiversity quiz extension?
Wikiversity is a Wikimedia Foundation project built on the MediaWiki content management framework. That means: it's run by the same people as Wikipedia. Wikipedia itself doesn't support quizzes. However in April/May 2007, a programmer created an extension to MediaWiki called the quiz extension. The quiz extension was designed and implemented for Wikiversity, and was deployed on all language versions of Wikiversity (at the time, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian). This means that Wikiversity supports quizzes. Technically, the quiz extension is a "MediaWiki quiz extension" (Mediawiki being the software used for Wikiversity), but we tend to call it the "Wikiversity quiz extension".
The Wikiversity quiz extension requires wiki-markup, which is designed to be human-writeable and isn't particularly compatible with anything else (at the current time). There is a detailed guide to the Wikiversity quiz extension which explains exactly how the format works and how to write it. There are tentative plans to introduce things like XML/SCORM exports from version 2 of the quiz extension.
What does the Qedoc export facility do?
The export facility of the Qedoc Quiz Maker exports to a number of formats, including, for example, Moodle XML format for use with Moodle's quiz module. From version 1.6.0, Qedoc also exports to Wikiversity's quiz extension format. In short, you go to the export manager, choose "MediaWiki export format", choose the quiz you wish to export, and click the green "go" button. Pre-formatted wiki-markup then displays in the main window, which you can copy-and-paste directly into a Wikiversity page.
Supported question types
Qedoc can only export question types which the Wikiversity quiz extension itself supports. The exportable question types are:
- Multiple choice (single response)
- Multiple choice (multiple response)
- True/false
- Gapfill or cloze exercises
- Typed response (also known as "short answer")
These include all the most popular and widely known question types.
Rendering style
The appearance of quizzes will, of course, change dramatically when exported. The Wikiversity quiz extension uses a combination of PHP, HTML and CSS to create quiz interfaces. Qedoc, on the other hand, uses a custom application with a high-performance flash-like appearance. Exporting to Wikiversity may not have aesthetic advantages, but in terms of interoperability and openness, it is a step up.
Watchpoints
Licence issues
If you use the facility for exporting to Wikiversity, we recommend that you export only your own quizzes. This is because there is a licence incompability between Qedoc and Wikiversity - Qedoc uses Creative Commons licences, but Wikiversity uses the GFDL. The origin of the licence problem is that when the Wikimedia Foundation projects started, Creative Commons licences didn't exist yet and GFDL was the best available. However Creative Commons is much clearer and more convenient for educational projects. The important thing is that the original author of a quiz is entitled to re-licence their content under any licence they wish and can therefore do the exporting. If you aren't the original author of the quiz you wish to export, ask permission (not from Qedoc; from the original author).
Open content issues
Qedoc requires that any quizzes developed with its software by free users are published as open educational resources. We therefore recommend the following workflow:
- Create your quiz using Qedoc.
- Publish your quiz at Qedoc.
- Export the quiz to Wikiversity.
You can't miss out step 2! (But then if you're exporting to Wikiversity, it's unlikely you're going to object to publishing your content at Qedoc as well).
Other questions
Does Qedoc use the MediaWiki quiz extension?
As Qedoc also uses the MediaWiki content management framework, Qedoc could theretically implement the MediaWiki quiz extension on its own site as well. This is a possibility for the future. However it is unlikely, because Qedoc already has its own web start Quiz Player which launches straight off its site. The web start version of the Qedoc Quiz Player has considerably more features and a more elegant interface than the MediaWiki quiz extension. So Qedoc will stick with its own web launched quiz player instead.
Could Wikiversity use the Qedoc Quiz Player?
Technically, yes. Licence-wise, no. Technically there is nothing to stop Wikiversity using the web launch version of the Qedoc Quiz Player to launch media-rich educational resources straight off its pages, just like this site does. However Wikimedia Foundation projects are committed to open source software, and the Qedoc Quiz Player is not open source. That means that for the time being, the quiz extension is the best available quiz engine for Wikiversity.
External links
Please note that Qedoc is not directly affiliated with Wikimedia Foundation projects in any way.
- Wikiversity
- The Wikimedia Foundation (the people responsible for Wikiversity and Wikipedia)
- MediaWiki content management framework (the software used for the Wikiversity and Wikipedia sites)
- The detailed guide to the Wikiversity quiz extension
