Surpass release webinar for 12.28

The Surpass training team recently hosted the latest Surpass webinar, on Tuesday 14 December.

Adam and Emma explained the new and improved features in the 12.28 release, including improvements to the Drag and Drop item type and options for wider use of assistive media.

The session ended with the panel answering questions from the Community.

Watch the recording here, and read on for an overview of the key features that were discussed.

Key features

• Assistive media (MP3 files) can now be added to question stems and answer options in subjects.
• Improvements to the Drag and Drop item type: Drag and Drop questions now support images in answer options. A new Advanced mode lets you embed multiple drop zones onto a background image.
• Improvements to how tag collections are displayed in the Item Authoring screen. 

Webinar discussions

1m 34: In Item Authoring, images can be added to drag options.

6m 10: Also in Item Authoring, you can now add a background image and embed multiple drop zones.

QUESTION: Can I create a Drag and Drop template item?

ANSWER: Yes. You can create a template item with the same background image, so users can use that to create items without configuring image sizes etc.

QUESTION: Can I combine images as a drag option with text drag options?

ANSWER: Yes, you can have images and text as drag options.

12m 28: Tag collections in Item Authoring are now in the right-hand panel.

QUESTION: Are you adding the tag collection right in Item Authoring and not having to go into setup?

ANSWER: You still need to go into setup, but you can just add them at item level here once they’re in the system.

17m 23: Assistive media has been added for accessibility. You can now assign audio files to items.

QUESTION: What if the items you are migrating into Surpass have assistive media?

ANSWER: You can migrate your assistive audio files in bulk using APIs.

QUESTION: Are there other types of assistive media, not just audio?

ANSWER: It’s just audio at the moment.

25m 20: Export to Word.

32m 03: Enhancements to Tasks

Questions

QUESTION: I like to leave a comment regarding who approve items and when – is this captured elsewhere?

ANSWER: You are still able to leave comments, but don’t have to.

QUESTION: In Drag and Drop, can you have extra answers to drop that are incorrect?

ANSWER: No, you cannot add other distractors.

QUESTION: In Drag and Drop, is the ‘only award marks if candidate selects all correct options’ still available?

ANSWER: Yes it is.

QUESTION: How can a Lead Author/Reviewer see every version of an item in multiple tasks – do they have to be a Lead Author of every task?

ANSWER: You need be a Lead Assignee to view, but the changes will be visible in item history, and version compare in Item Authoring.

QUESTION: Does the system retain versions of items?

ANSWER: Yes, it does. You can click on the item history.

QUESTION: Is the system customizable based on client needs?

ANSWER: Yes, it is. You can change the log-in screen images, edit the home page and some of the information on there. You can change the colour schemes. And there’s customizable columns in some of the screens. You can set up really specific permissions and specific roles to restrict user access. You can upload a custom dictionary. The system is very customizable!