NC Online Test of Computer Skills

North Carolina Online Test of Computer Skills

All Frequently Asked Questions And Comments...

I cannot log in to the test to get workstations set to start testing.

You should have been given a user name and password from your school test coordinator or your LEA test coordinator. Only school building level accounts can log in to start test sessions. If you have a LEA level account or higher, you cannot log into the test. The school code field requested will only work when entering your 6-digit, numeric accountability code for the school. The help desk can help find your school code, but will not give out user names and/or passwords -- you must get these from your school or LEA test coordinator. Logins will also fail if no test sessions or testable students exist on the test system at the time of login.

Is NCDesk screen reader friendly (JAWS compatible)?

See Installation/Setup Instructions for using NCDesk with JAWS. Also, as of 9/23/05 NCDesk has NOT been made fully compatible with any screen reader technology. Research and tests on JAWS and many other screen reading type products were conducted during the summer of 2005. Results of this research indicate that JAWS 6.0 was not fully functional for Java apps (e.g. text attributes like font size not spoken) and JAWS 7.0 is now under review. Other screen reading software used with NCDesk were found not to be adequate enough for assessment purposes. We are planning to finalize the integration of JAWS functionality into NCDesk soon, but do not have this at this time.

Q:	Why have online tests?
A:	Assessing students online has been occurring for sometime. The goal is to use existing technology to provide assessment opportunities that are authentic and also do a better job of preparing students for the world of work and real world experiences. Eventually, there will be a faster turn around time for assessing retest needs.

Q:	What is the bandwidth requirement for this test?
A:	An analysis and report on footprint were completed during the summer of 2005. Please review this report at http://ncdesk.ncsu.edu/ncdesk/technote/footprint.asp.

Q:	If our school system is deploying a VOIP solution -- will that have an affect on our ability to conduct test administrations?
A:	Any additional load on your data network is likely to impact the available bandwidth to other uses. VOIP, when used very sparingly and on high capacity networks, may not significantly impact bandwidth availability. However, when used in limited capacity networks and it is not tightly managed, it is likely to have a major impact on your network.

Q:	Will students be graded (scored) on this test?
A:	Yes, this test is being scored. The North Carolina State Board of Education set proficiency standards in March, 2006.

Q:	Will the directions/questions be available printed in booklets?
A:	One of the goals of the development process is to reduce the amount or eliminate paper. The newer interface design makes viewing the question/task and the application at the same time functional. There is a manual for the test in 2005-06, but there are no printed booklets for students.

Q:	Will students and teachers need training on this new type of testing before this test can be administered?
A:	Yes, that is the purpose of the Test Simulation and the releasing of the NCDesk application.

Q:	How can we reconfigure local computers with limited staffing resources?
A:	NCDPI is sensitive to these concerns and is making every effort to simplify the process for preparing computers for this test.

Q:	How can local staff ensure that few other computer related activities are going on that may interfere with the testing connection?
A:	We will work collaboratively with instruction and technology and information technology staff at the state and local levels to provide guidance and recommendations on how to manage bandwidth requirements at the various levels.

Q:	What are the procedures for irregularities/misadministrations?
A:	See the Test Administrator's Manual or contact your Test Coordinator.

Is there any way I can print out worksheets I develop for student practice in NCDesk's application programs? I know I can save them to my server for students to access, but sometimes I like to give paper copies to students prior to going to lab to explain what skills we will be learning so I am not sitting in the lab using up time while students sit at computers.

Fundemental design constraints prohibit NCDesk from having printing capability. Test security was one major factor in this decision, as was a general desire to try to reduce the use of paper. However, it is possible to take screen captures and use in other applications. This might be helpful in familiarizing the students with the various NCDesk screens, specially if you are faced with severe computer lab time constraints. In addition, the native file format (*.nced) for the NCDesk Editor application is similar to that for web pages (*.html). If you take a file created in NCDesk Editor (*.nced) format and rename this file's extension from "nced" to "html" the file should then open using any of the standard web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Firefox. However, please note that this is by no means a perfect solution: the result may not display entirely as you would like.

Q:	NCDesk doesn't work now that my Java Runtime has been upgraded. What do I do now?
A:	Multiple JREs can be installed on a computer. You may not have to reinstall NCDesk and you may need a new NCDesk version. See the section in the installation instructions that addresses this issue (Multiple JRE Problem) for more information (http://ncdesk.ncsu.edu/ncdesk/install.asp).

Q:	NCDesk doesn't run and all I get is an error saying "Could not find the main class. Program will exit." What do I need to do to get it running?
A:	Check to see if you have correct JRE version installed. If so, then follow instructions for Multiple JRE Problem on the installation instructions page. If you don't have the correct JRE version, then this must be installed. If you are sure you have the right JRE and NCDesk is trying to run with it, then you may have a corrupted NCDesk installation. The solution for this is to reinstall.

Why doesn't NCDesk work with the most recent version of Java?

NCDesk is developed and tested in a single Java version due to the sensitive nature of it being used for a high-stakes assessment. NCDesk must run as expected for students while taking the test. NCDesk development staff cannot control changes in the Java environment that may be introduced with newer versions, and therefore the best alternative is to stick to developing, testing, and running in one Java version. Java envrionment upgrades may be necessary in the future, but these events will be handled in a step fashion and it is very unlikely that the "latest" version of Java will ever be used.

Why does the NCDesk spell check feature does not work correctly? We are using the NCDesk Editor and are having trouble with the spell check function. It is stopping on a lot of words that are spelled correctly, such as happy, but are not in the dictionary. It does not stop on all the words, but a lot of common words are selected with no suggestions.

NCDesk's primary purpose is to be used for testing students. The spell checker dictionary we use is purposely limited in size to the words used across all editor items on tests. This also permits computers with less memory to function. This limitation may cause problems when the spell checking feature is used outside of testing situations. There is no way for users to add new words to the dictionary (this is to prevent users from adding a misspelled word).

Q:	How do I edit a student ID in NCRegistration?
A:	Student ID editing is now possible in NCRegistration version 1.02 and higher.

Q:	Please delete student registrations in NCRegistration for students no longer in membership or not able to test.
A:	If a student has not started a test, then Regional Accountability staff will be able to delete these records.

Q:	Can students be relocated to a site with better computers and Internet connection to take this test?
A:	Yes, students are not required to be tested at a specific location.

Q:	Can schools use the entire testing window and spread out administrations or do they have to compress their window?
A:	Schools are encouraged to spread out administrations and reduce concurrent testing numbers as much as possible so that any technical limitations are avoided.

Are there any sample files available for each application? On the Main Screen of NCDesk – where the Test Simulation is located – there is also Editor, Spreadsheet, Database buttons that open those particular programs. It would be great if you would put some files out there that we could use as a remediation tool for all of the programs you have available. We tried opening a “local” file, but it would not read it.

Sample files and guidance on file conversion are located on http://ncdesk.ncsu.edu/ncdesk/samplefiles.asp

Q:	Will the window being wide open for this test affect test security?
A:	The loss of using stored paper copies actually improves test security. If a more flexible window is approved, there will be constraints. (For example; the window may be open on certain days of the week or certain weeks in a particular month, or certain months of the year)

How will students with the same form be prevented from sitting beside each other?

The online test has multiple forms, therefore students with the same form sitting beside each other should happen less frequently. Also, students will begin on survey questions and two sample items before beginning the test -- this should create an environment where the students will not be synchronized. However, if this is presents a problem during the administration, a student can be moved to another computer.

Q:	If a student moves from one school system between fall to spring administrations, how will administrators know if that student has taken (and passed) the test?
A:	A process needs to be defined to address this issue.

Can NCDPI handle a large number of students taking the test simultaneously?

The hosting of this test is handled by the Technical Outreach for Public Schools at NC State University. An analysis and report of hosting bandwidth was conducted during the spring 2005 field testing by the Centennial Networking Lab. Review the results of this investigation at http://ncdesk.ncsu.edu/ncdesk/technote/hostnetanalysis.asp. This report concludes that there is ample bandwidth at the host site to accommodate this assessment and others.

Q:	Will the items be delivered randomly? OR During the actual test, will the questions come up in random order in each section for each student/workstation so that cheating is discouraged?
A:	Items (questions) in this test are delivered to students inline/sequentially. However, there are many forms which may make it appear to be randomly delivered.

Q:	Is there a breakdown of percentages for the different components of the test, i.e. 20% spreadsheet, 15% database?
A:	See Strand Percentages

Q:	We don't recall seeing multimedia questions at all from the Test Simulation. Will there will be multimedia questions and/or activities on the actual test?
A:	It is possible to have multimedia questions appear on the test.

Q:	The test activities must be scored on key strokes. For the test, if a student tries several ways to do something and NCDesk only wants one response, if the student finally gets that one response, will the question be scored correctly?
A:	Performance items in the test are not scored based on key strokes. The last result of each performance item will be used to score. Students should only do the requested action(s) in order for items to receive a correct score.

Q:	Why is there NO break? Our folks had concerns that 120 minutes is a little long for not having a 3 minute break. This is correct - No breaks?
A:	There is a required 3-minute break after 60 minutes of testing.

Q:	In the feasibility study in fall 2004, some students were kicked out of the system and had to start over. What are you going to do to keep this from happening?
A:	We have made adjustments to lower the bandwidth requirements and to not let NCDesk be run on unsupported client computers. Hopefully, this will significantly reduce the number of computers locking up.

Q:	Many locations had a problem with graphs that continued to pop-up during the test once they had pasted that item.
A:	This issue was fixed with the spring 2005 version and later versions of the NCDesk software.

Q:	How do I get the secure files for the test?
A:	You don't need them. There are no files to get, manage, distribute, purge, etc. given the design of the online test.

Q:	If a student does MORE than is requested in a question will they be penalized? For example - when asked to center the title and the student finds a sentence they think is grammatically awkard and fix it or also italize the title.
A:	Due to the rubric anaysis routines that have to be applied to each performance item, students should do exactly what is asked for -- no more, no less. They risk losing credit if they do anything extra.

Q:	Can a student still participate in the test if unfamiliar with the software (NCDesk)?
A:	This is not recommended. The NCDPI strongly recommends that students be given an opportunity to review NCDesk and the Test Simulation at least a few days before the test.

Q:	Can students do the Test Simulation immediately before taking the test?
A:	This is not a recommended option. This may not allow for any adjustments that may be necessary to the local setup to accommodate technical problems prior to taking the test. It also is perceived as lengthening the administration time.

Q:	Do you have an answer key for the Test Simulation so that when we use the Test Simulation we can have class discussion over the answers (and ensure that our logic is correct)? OR Is there a way to have the answers at the end or at least let the students know if they were correct?
A:	The purpose of the Test Simulation is to provide a tool that allows students to learn how to use the test interface. If a guide is developed for identification of correct answers, it will be made available on this web site. A practice test may be developed in the future to provide this level of feedback.

C:	Item selection inappropriate: 1) The entire Test Simulation was too light on word processing and there were too many questions/tasks in database. 2) The test was too heavy on filter use. 3) There was very little typing in the test and that is one of the skills all students need and will use in the future.
R:	Item selection of the Test Simulation may not mirror the test. Test Simulation items attempt to cover all the types of items that may be on the test.

Q:	Why doesn't the Test Simulation test test higher order thinking skills?
A:	The Test Simulation is not a test. It is only for practicing the mechanics of moving through the test and testing the online delivery method.

C:	Test Simulation Item Reviews: Many comments concerning item quality and file issues continue to be collected.
R:	The items of the Test Simulation may need edits and these will be addressed as time permits. However, the major focus is to create and maintain the best operational test items that will be used to score the test. For the 2006-07 version of NCDesk there are now former operational items used in the Test Simulation.

This file was modified on Wednesday, August 29, 2007; at 2:48:06 PM