Online
Administration:
Administrative changes can be made online by
clicking on the System Administration button from the Home Page.
1,2,3
-
Click the radio button on
the left.
-
Enter the NEW name for the
database in the first field.
-
Enter a NEW password for the
database in the second field.
-
Click Submit and the
database will be created.
-
The server must have
permissions in the folder set for Everyone at
Modify or Full Control in order for this feature to work.
- The default password for Full
Access is RoboTutor and for Limited Access it is
Training.
- When you create a database and enter a
new password, it is actually entered as a second password. The default
password is not deleted.
-
To add additional passwords,
go to Add/Edit database passwords.
Database Log In Defaults:
-
RoboTutor can have any number of student
and Test Areas. As a result, it is necessary to Log In to the database you
desire when you click on the Test and Student Administration
buttons.
-
The default that appears on the
Log In screen is
set here. When the program is originally setup, the Log In for Test
Administration is Everyone9 and for Student Administration it
is Students9.
-
The default can be the name of any database in
the students or tests folder under fpdb9.
-
The default can also be left blank so no name
appears on the Log In screens.
Course Access Codes:
Email ALL test results to
-
This option, when selected,
will email a copy of the test results from every test taken using
RoboTutor on the server to the address entered.
-
Enter the email address in
the field provided
-
Note, only a summary of the
email is sent. The test questions and student answers are not included.
Reset Total Tests Taken
back to 0
-
At the top of the main menu
for System Administration is a counter that displays the total number of
tests taken since the counter was last reset.
-
The total includes all tests
taken by any students using any tests.
-
To reset the counter, select
this option in the System Administration menu and click Submit.
Changing System Administration Username
and Password:
- Sign-on the server as Administrator.
- Go to the
rtdb9
folder
- Open system.mdb in the system
sub-folder.
-
Click Tables and
open the Access table.
-
Add, modify, or
delete usernames and passwords here.
*1
Note,
this feature works by copying TestModel9.mdb from the TEMPLATES folder to the
TESTS folder and then renaming it. An error can occur if there already exists
a file in the TESTS folder by the name of TestModel9.mdb. To avoid this
problem, do not use this name. If there is an error, rename or delete
TestModel9 from in the TESTS folder.
*2
Note,
this feature works by copying StudentsModel9.mdb from the TEMPLATES folder to
the STUDENTS folder and then renaming it. An error can occur if there already
exists a file in the STUDENTS folder by the name of StudentsModel9.mdb. To
avoid this problem, do not use this name. If there is an error, rename or
delete StudentsModel9 from in the STUDENTS folder.
*3 Permissions:
To create new databases, permission must be granted to the rtdb9 folder
for "Everyone" to "Modify" the contents. This makes the folder less secure
from persons not authorized to be there. If this is a problem for your
organization, do not grant any permissions for this folder other than READ and
WRITE. New databases will have to be created by manually on the server
by copying them from the templates folder to the test or
student folders and then renaming them.
Students take tests by clicking on a link to one of these 3 files: TestMenu.asp,
TakeTest.asp, and TestCode.asp. The one the teacher chooses depends upon specific application
needs. Students can also review test content by playing the Academic Olympics Game
with a link to game/G1/StartGame.asp.
-
If you want to put a
DIRECT link from your course materials to a SPECIFIC test,
then create a link to
TakeTest.asp.
-
TakeTest will only ask for the student's name and
password. Then it will take the student to the test specified.
-
The link to TakeTest.asp should
ALWAYS be set to open in a NEW window.
-
The names of the student and Test Areas as well as the Test ID are all
hidden in the link parameters as shown below.
If NO parameters are set as part
of the link, then TakeTest will ask for the name of the student and Test Areas
as well as the Test ID.
Setup and confirmation features:
- If the test is setup in Advanced Features to allow and confirm new
names, then to enter a new name the student must check the "Click here if you
are a NEW student" box.
- Every student or employee must have a unique password, ID or employee
number.
- If the test is setup to allow new names without confirming them or to
request no name at all, then the "Click here if you are a NEW student" box
does not appear
- Students or employees can have the same passwords.
If these parameters ARE entered
with the link to TakeTest, then this page will only ask for the student name and
password.
- It is possible to add parameters for the
student name or password so that even these fields do not appear, for example,
when doing a survey.
-
Student Area: Since there can by any number
of Student Areas, the one the teacher is using for this test must be
specified.
-
Test Area: Since there can also be any number
of Test Areas, the one the teacher wants these students to access must be
specified.
-
Test ID: A Test Area can have any
number of tests in it. Each test has a Test ID that identifies the specific
test the student is to take.
This is what the hyperlink to TakeTest.asp should look like:
http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/taketest.asp?studentarea=Students9&testarea=Everyone9&testpassword=A11
- If you are linking to the
RoboTutor site, you only need to enter the Test ID (shown in
green at the very
end). The Test ID (test password) is a unique number or name that you assign a test when you
create it. If you are on another site, you also need to
change the path (
blue) and the names of your
student and Test Areas (lavender).
If you would like to have your students or employees enter 1 or more
Sorting Codes (course number, teacher, age, etc.) when they log into a
test, add &code=true to the end of the
hyperlink shown above.
- Sorting Codes can be used in Student Administration to select
students for various reports.
- You can also enter the Sorting Code directly in the command
line if you want that code for every student. For example,
&code=Jones3 for Mr. Jones' 3rd period.
- To add several Sorting Codes from the command line, include a COMMA
between them, but NO spaces. For example:
&code=Jones,Period3
- This feature also works with Test Menus and Surveys.
If you want your students to see a MENU of all tests in a specific Test Area, then
create a link to TestMenu.asp.
-
TestMenu is designed to automatically create a menu of all
tests in a specific Test Area. All the links from this menu are
automatically set so students only need to enter their names.
-
The names of the student and
Test Areas as well as the title on the menu page are all hidden in the link
parameters as shown below.
-
The link to TestMenu.asp should
always be set to open in a NEW window.
-
If NO parameters are set as part
of the link, then TestMenu will ask for the name of the Student Area, the
name of the Test Area, and the title for the test menu.
-
If these parameters ARE entered
with the link to TestMenu, then this page will not display and the student will
go directly to the menu itself.
This is what the hyperlink to
TestMenu.asp should look like:
http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/TestMenu.asp?testarea=everyone9&studentarea=students9&testtitle=My Tests
-
If you are linking to the
RoboTutor site, you only need to enter a test title (shown in
green at the end). If you are on another site, you need to
change the path (blue) and the names of your
student and Test Areas (lavender).
-
If you want
to use a "test" in a
GROUP PRESENTATION or an ANONYMOUS SURVEY,
you will probably NOT want the program to ask for a student name and password.
- To skip the Log In page, the
hyperlink should look like the following. Notice it is the same as the above
except the text in blue has been added. You can use whatever first name, last
name, and student password you prefer. Everyone who takes the test will go in
under that name.
http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/taketest.asp?firstname=Student&lastname=Summary&
studentpassword=12345&studentarea=Students9&testarea=Everyone9&testpassword=A11
-
Note: the values in lavender shown above (firstname=Student,
lastname=Summary and studentpassword=12345)
can be substituted with any other values you prefer as long as they are not used
by any existing student.
-
Another option
is to have TakeTest list all the tests in a specific Test Area using a
drop-down menu in place of the text field that asks for the Test ID. That
way students can simply pick a test. You could have a Test Area with
nothing but the tests in a specific subject.
To start the game
with a drop down menu, replace testpassword={Test ID} with
testpassword=testmenu.
http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/taketest.asp?firstname=Student&lastname=Summary&
studentpassword=12345&studentarea=Students9&testarea=Everyone9&testpassword=testmenu
-
It may be desirable at times to restrict student access to tests and
course materials by linking them to TestCode.asp.
An example is
where students are paying for the right to take an online course. To setup
RoboTutor for this purpose, follow these steps:
-
From the main menu, click on System Administration. Access is limited to those
who know the password to this area.
-
On the next page, scroll down to the Course Access Codes section and enter the number of pass codes you want to generate in the
#
field.
-
Enter the number of months the pass codes will be usable once
they are activated in the Mo. field.
-
Enter the URL where the students will go to see the course
materials.
-
To prevent students from later accessing them without logging in,
use the special ASP pages located in the courses/template folder.
-
Create a new folder and copy the files in the template folder to your new
one. Rename them or create new files as needed. Then use a path to that folder as your URL above.
-
For example, create a folder under courses and name it course1. Copy
all the files from the Template folder to course1.
-
The URL you put in the form to create Access Codes would then be
courses/course1/CourseMenu.asp.
-
Note, if you click the Test Link button and your address is CORRECT, then
you should get the following:
Application Error,
A Pass Code was not specified.
It says this because you should not be able to access these pages without a test
code number.
-
Click Submit and a page appears that lists the pass codes
generated. Be sure and print it.
-
The next step is to generate the course materials using the files in your new
course folder.
-
Open CourseMenu.asp in an HTML editor such
as FrontPage.
-
Add or delete menu links as needed.
-
Modify the Final Exam link at the bottom
to include your Test Area, Student Area, and the password to the test.
-
Do the same for each of the Section pages.
- When the course materials are finished and on
the network, put a link for your students to TestCode.asp. Give (or sell) to
each of your students one of the pass codes.
This is what the hyperlink to TestCode.asp should look like:
http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/testcode.asp?studentarea=Students9
-
If you are linking to the
RoboTutor site, you only need to enter a Student Area name (shown in
green).
If you are on another site, you need to
change the path (blue).
- Students will be only asked for their pass code.
- If you do not include the Student Area in the
link, then students will also be asked for the name of the Student Area
where their name and scores will be
stored.
- Once they enter their name, it is tied to
that pass code and all they need to do in the future is enter the pass code to
access the course materials.
-
If you want your students to PLAY a GAME
using the questions from any test, then
create a link to game/G1/StartGame.asp.
-
The names of the Test Area
and Test ID are usually hidden in the link
parameters as shown below.
-
No Student Records
are saved in the Student Area database, so no reference needs to be put in the
code.
-
The link to StartGame.asp should
always be set to open in a NEW window.
- Note, the files for the game are all in the
Game folder under the main menu. Your links must therefore include the name of
the folder as shown below.
-
If NO parameters are set as part
of the link, then StartGame will ask for the Test Area (testarea) and the
Test ID (testpassword).
-
If these parameters ARE entered
in the parameters with the link to StartGame, then StartGame will only
ask for the names of the players.
This is what the hyperlink to
StartGame.asp should look like:
http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/game/G1/StartGame.asp?start=true&testarea=everyone9
& testpassword= mygame&Help=Answers
lavender)
and Test ID (shown in
green at the end). If you are on another site, you need to
change the path (blue).
-
Another option
is to have StartGame list all the tests in a specific Test Area using a
drop-down menu in place of the text field that asks for the Test ID. That
way students can simply pick a test. You could have a Test Area with
nothing but special game versions of the tests.
To start the game
with a drop down menu, replace testpassword={Test ID} with
testpassword=testmenu.
http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/game/G1/StartGame.asp?start=true&testarea=everyone9
&testpassword= testmenu&
Help=Answers
- To make a link to a game, go to the
Question List page and click the Game link at the bottom of the page. When
it opens in your browser, copy the Address and put it anywhere you want a link.
- To have the game display the CORRECT answer
when students miss a question, the path to the game should have
Help=Answers at the end. This is the default when you click on the Game
link.
- To have the game display the TUTORIAL answer
when student miss a question, change Answers to Tutorial so it looks like
this: Help=Tutorial.
- To have the game display both CORRECT and
TUTORIAL answers, use Help=Both
- To have the game display nothing, use Help=
-
The game by default opens into a new regular
window. To open it full screen, add this code to the end of the command
line: &Screen=Full
The Student Tests link from the RoboTutor
home page uses the default Test Area and default Student
Area which are set in System Administration. |
Students can also access their personal
records and see
how they are doing toward reaching the Certification objectives
of any program:
logs in students for
taking tests. It also has an "Access My Records" button at the bottom so
students can view their personal records.
AccessMyRecords.asp
lets students
view their personal records, but does not log them in for testing.
This is what the hyperlink to AccessMyRecords.asp should look like:
http://www.robotutor.com /RoboTutor9/AccessMyRecords.asp?studentarea=Students9
-
If you are linking to the
RoboTutor site, you only need to enter a Student Area name (shown in
green).
If you
are on another site, you need to change the path (blue).
Students will be only asked for their
name and password.
If you do not include the Student Area in the
link, then students will also be asked for the name of the Student Area
where their name and scores will be
stored.
Once they enter their name, they
go to a page that lets them view the following:
- The Certificate Program, if it has been setup.
- All the tests the student has taken and are recorded in that
Student Area.
- Select tests the student taken as specified by a start and end
date.
The student also has the option to to display every test taken
or only the highest scores for each taken taken.
- RoboTutor is setup by default to automatically register students for
associated Certification Programs when they take a test.
- For example, if a test is created called Math1 and it is
include in a Certification Program called Math Certification, then
when any student takes Math1, the program checks to see if that
student is registered for Math Certification, and if not, then that
student is automatically registered at that time.
- In this way, students who take tests that are part of a
Certification Program can access their records and see how they are
doing in that program even if they have never been formally registered
by any teacher.
- This saves teachers the time of registering students for
Certification Programs. But if a test is in multiple programs, it may
give students a wrong impression. To avoid this, only use a test in one
Certification Program.
- This feature can be turned off by the System Administrator. To turn it
off, open the file email_results.asp in Notepad and search for
"Automatically Register." You will see the following:
'-------------------------------------------------
'--- Automatically Register Students for Certification Programs
'--- if they take a test in the program (true
or false)
'-------------------------------------------------
Const AutoCert = true
To turn automatic Certification Registration off, change
true to false.
Teachers can access Student Records &
Reports by clicking on the Administration button at the
bottom of the Log In page.
- Click Administration from TakeTest.asp
- A page will open that requests the Password to the Records and
Reports Menu of the Test Area that the Log In page is trying to
access. This Password may be the same or different from the one used to
open the Test Area in the regular program.
- Enter the Password and the Records and Reports Menu will
open.
- The Teacher does not have access to any other features in the
program from this menu.
- To put a button directly to Records & Reports from any other web
page, use this code:
http://www.robotutor.com/robotutor9/admin/default.asp?TestDB=Everyone9&StudentDB=Students9
&Source=../tests_table.asp&TestID=?
- TestDB is the name of the Test Area.
Change the part in Red to the correct name.
- StudentDB is the same of the Student
Area. Change the part in Red to the correct name.
- Source is the page to
which you want the Teacher to return when leaving the Records and Reports
section. It is most likely the page on which the button will be placed.
- If left blank (Source=) then the default is TakeTest.asp so students can
Log In for a test.
- TestID then should be included and provide the ID for a specific test in
this Test Area.
- If a Source is provided, then leave TestID blank.
- Change the URL in blue to the address of your website.
Browsers:
PC Users:
- RoboTutor has been optimally designed to
use Internet Explorer 6.0+. We recommend you
download the latest upgrade of
Internet Explorer. As far as we have tested, the program will run in IE 4.5+.
- RoboTutor runs quite well in Netscape
6.2+. There are some known problems with sound and form fields in
all versions of Netscape. As far as we have tested, it will run
in Netscape 4.7+. Older versions have many more display
problems. If you must use Netscape, download the latest version.
- There are some specialty versions of both
IE and Netscape in which RoboTutor will not run. The program
has been tested in the Lennox browser and seems to work well. It has not been
tested with other browsers.
- The following Internet Options should be set:
- JavaScript must be enabled (IE:
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced; Netscape: Edit > Preferences >
Advanced).
- AutoComplete for forms should be
TURNED OFF (IE: Tools > Internet Options > Content). Click the
AutoComplete button and uncheck the Forms tab.
- Do NOT use the Back button on the browser menu
bar to return to pages previously displayed. Use the Cancel button on
the page to return to the previous page. The Back button will almost
always produce error message in Netscape and sometimes produces them in
Internet Explorer.
Apple Mac:
- RoboTutor runs well on the Mac with
operating systems 8 and 9, which we have tested.
- Flash and Shockwave should
be
downloaded and installed from Macromedia.
-
Internet Explorer (versions 6.0+) work well with RoboTutor
on the Mac. Versions 5 and below may freeze up when doing
Tutorials. We
recommend you
download the latest upgrade
to Version 6+ of
Internet Explorer.
- Netscape (versions 6.2+) work well with
RoboTutor on the Mac. You can
download
the latest from the Netscape site.
- The following settings work best with Macs:
- Java must be ENABLED in Edit >
Preferences > Java
- Forms should be DISABLED in Edit >
Preferences > Forms
- If problems remain, try deleting all
existing cookies.
- Do NOT use the Back button on the browser menu
bar to return to pages previously displayed. Use the Cancel button on
the page to return to the previous page. The Back button will almost
always produce error message in Netscape and sometimes produces them in
Internet Explorer.
Operating Systems:
- The program is designed to optimally run in
all versions of Microsoft Windows.
- The program runs well on the Macintosh
with Versions 6+ of both Internet Explorer and Netscape
browsers.
- There are some known problems when using IE
5.1 and lower as described above.
- The program works with Lennox but has not been
tested extensively.
- The program will not work in DOS and has not been tested using other
operating systems.
Display Settings:
- The way a page appears on the monitor can be customized by
the user. To view RoboTutor the way it was designed, we recommend
the following:
- Set the monitor Screen Size to 800 by 600
- Windows: Start > Settings
> Control Panel > Display > Settings > 800 x 600
- Set the browser text size:
- Internet Explorer: View >
Text Size > Medium
- Netscape: View > Text Size
> 100%
Security:
- Time-Outs: The program has a time-out of 60
minutes built into it for security purposes. If there is no input over a 60
minute period while in the testing or administration sections of the software,
then it will automatically time-out. The teacher or student will need to
Log In again to use the software.
- How Many: There can be any number of student or test
databases. It is common for every teacher to have his or her own test
database. Databases can have any number of passwords. Contact your server
administrator to create new Test Areas or change passwords.
- Operating System: RoboTutor is designed to be used on the web. It
can, however, be installed on any computer that has Windows 2000, Windows XP,
or NT operating systems. For specific instructions and licensing, contact
Support@RoboTutor.com.
- Passwords: All passwords can be
optionally set in the
"Access" table of the Student, Test, and System databases.
- To manually change them, open the database
in Microsoft Access, click on the "Access" table, and add, edit, or
delete the passwords.
- To change the Test and Student Areas under
program control over the web, see System Administration.
- There can be any number of passwords for a
database.
- A password should consist of one word,
characters only, and no spaces.
Maximum Student and Test Area Size:
- There are physical limits to use of a
Microsoft Access database to keep student and test records. Access is
restricted by size to a maximum of 2 gigabytes and no more then 2.1 billion
records. The max record set size is 1 gig.
- We tested RoboTutor to see how big it would
get when we added large numbers of students. After using a program to enter
4,000 students who took an average of 30 tests each,
we found the database size to be 285 million bytes. The number of records was
435,000. This suggests the upper limit on the number of students in a single
Student Area
is around 12,000 students if they take an average of 30 tests each.
- This means the practical size of a student
database should not exceed 10,000 students if the students are taking an
average of about 30 tests each. The number of student records permissible will vary with the
number and size of tests taken.
- The key is that the size of any single
database should never exceed 1 gigabyte. For safety sake, no any single student
database should probably be more than 7 hundred million bytes.
- Test Areas never get anything near this
size, so they are not a concern.
- If a database exceeds the upper limit in size,
the database will crash, and it is not repairable.
Changing Animations that Display when Setting Up Results Pages:
- The animations that display by default are
stored in the media folder.
- Animations that display when passing a test
are pass1.gif to pass6.gif
- Animations that display when failing a test
are fail1.gif to fail6.gif
- To have different animations display, copy
the animation to the media folder. Then rename it as pass1.gif
or fail1.gif etc.
Changing Animation,
Header, Certificate, Sound, and Background Options:
- The graphics that display are by default
stored in folders as shown below:
- animate: ANIMATED gifs
- backgrounds: BACKGROUND graphics
- certificates: CERTIFICATE graphics
- headers: HEADER graphics
- sound: MIDI and WAV sound files
- To add a graphic to the displays:
- Copy the graphic to the appropriate
folder.
- Open default.htm in FrontPage or other
HTML editor.
- Add a row or rows to the table where you
want the graphics placed.
- Enter the path using the name of the new
graphic.
- To link the graphic so it will display,
select anther graphic, look at the HTML code to see how it was linked,
then copy that code to the new graphic.
Changing
Databases Destinations:
- To change the path to the folders where the
databases are located, open a file called database_location.asp in
Notepad.
- You will see the following:
' ' The name of the temp database
Const cDBTest="Temp"
' The name of the system database
Const cDBSystem="System"
' Test Area location
const cTestLocation="/rtdb9/tests/"
' Student Area location
const cStudentLocation="/rtdb9/students/"
' Temp database location
const cTempLocation="/rtdb9/system/"
' System database location
const cSystemLocation="/rtdb9/system/"
' Model databases location
const cModelLocation="/rtdb9/templates/"
' Students database model name
const cStModel="StudentsModel9"
' Tests database model name
const cTestModel="TestModel9"
- To change the path to your folders, change the
text in red.
- Note, the path begins at the root of the web,
directly off wwwroot.
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