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Table of Contents Chapter 1: Online Testing for Students... 3 Helping You Test Well... 3 Log into Your Test... 4 Confirming You Are Taking the Right Test... 4 Visual Examples of Online Testing Features... 5 More Useful Features... 6 Errors and Alerts... 10 Viewing Your Test Results... 12 Scoring of Open-Ended/Constructed Response Questions... 15 Chapter 2: Using My Student Profile... 15 Viewing My Academic Record... 16 Viewing My Benchmark Tests... 16 Viewing My Classroom Tests... 18 Viewing My Standardized Tests... 18 Using My Individual Learning Plan... 18 Support... 20 2
Chapter 1: Online Testing for Students Welcome to Schoolnet s Online Testing Center. If this is your first time here, please take a moment to read the information below it will make test-taking easier, and will improve your chances of doing well. Features That Will Be Familiar to You Taking a test online is very similar to taking a test on paper. Here are three things you will already know from paper tests: 1. You can answer questions in whatever order you like. It is still best to go through the test questions in order, because that makes it easier to keep track of what you have answered, but if you do choose a different order there are tools to help you make sure all questions are answered. 2. If a question is giving you trouble, you can skip it, go on to all the questions that you understand quickly and can answer easily, and then return to the more difficult question later. 3. If you want to (and there is time left for it), you can go back to earlier questions and change your answers. Helping You Test Well Online testing lets you do the same things that you did with paper-based tests, but it lets you do some new things, too. These features take some getting used to (and we ll help you with that with some visual examples below), but we think you ll like the results: they will make test-taking less stressful for you, and they ll make it easier for you to show what you know, and hopefully get better grades as a result. Here are the features: 1. Clock Feature No more looking at your watch or wondering how much time is left. If your test is timed, the clock feature shows you how much time remains, down to the second. 2. Flag Feature If you find a hard question that you want to answer later, or answer a question but want to return to it at the end to make sure it s the right one, the Flag Feature will make it easy to keep track of these questions and go back to them later. 3. Process of Elimination Feature This feature helps if you have worked through a question enough to know that two of the answer choices are wrong, but you are not yet sure which of the other choices is correct. Process of Elimination Feature will let you hide out the answer choices you don t want and store the results with the Flag Feature mentioned above, so you can look at the question again later with fresh eyes. 4. Progress Bar and Numeric Summary Feature Some people prefer to see information through numbers, others with pictures. The Progress Meter and Summary Feature displays a progress bar as you answer questions on the test. The more questions you answer, the larger the bar becomes. There is also a numeric feature that tells you how many questions you ve answered, how many questions still need to be answered, and how many questions you have flagged for review. 5. Pause Feature With your teacher s permission, this feature will let you leave the test for a valid reason, such as a fire alarm. When you return to the test you will be returned to where you left off and the answers you chose before pausing will have been saved. 6. Highlight Feature The Highlight Feature lets you mark information in a reading passage that you think is important, making it easy to find this information again later when you are answering questions about the passage. 3
Log into Your Test Starting a test is not automatic; you will first need to log into the test you are taking. On the opening page (also called the Welcome Page) of your Schoolnet Student Profile you will see a button that looks like this: Important Note: Your school may have the test access feature a name that is different from what you see here. If you do not see this title, check with your teacher. Each online test has a different password. Your teacher will give you the password for your test. Enter the password into the text box and press the Go button. Often, your teacher or the computer lab specialist will write the test password on the board. Confirming You Are Taking the Right Test IMPORTANT: You have worked hard studying for this test, and you are about to work hard again answering the questions, so make sure your hard work counts by doing two things: 1. After pressing Go, you will see a screen similar to the one below. Make sure the class and test information is correct for you. 2. After clicking Start Your Test, you will see a welcome screen, like the one below. Make sure that it is your name in the message, and then click Start Test Now. Note: The countdown on timed tests will not start until you actually click on the first question. 4
Visual Examples of Online Testing Features The features described above will help you test well, but only if you use them. Using them starts with knowing what you are looking at, so here are some screenshots as examples. (Screenshots are simply pictures of different parts of the program.) Main Testing Page: What You Will See and How to Use It Now you are in the test and ready to answer questions. Here is an example of what you will see: Note: This question has a reading passage. If it did not, the question would be at the top of the screen. This opening page might look simple, but there is much information and several tools here for you to use. 1. In the top left corner are your name and the test name. 2. In the top right-hand corner is the Time Feature ( ). The clock shows how much time you still have to finish your test. (This feature is optional and may not be there for all your tests.) 3. The question and answer choices are on the left. To choose an answer, click on the circle to the left of the letter (A, B, C, D, etc.) or the letter itself ( ). When you do, the clear circle will change to a solid green circle ( ) to show your choice. If you want to change your answer choice, just click on another of the circles. The green shading will move to your new answer automatically. 4. If you decide that an answer choice is wrong and you do not want to look at it, click on the button that looks like this and the answer choice will become a lighter color gray. This is the Process of Elimination feature referenced earlier. It is a good tool to help you focus on correct answers. If you decide that you want to consider that answer choice again, click again on the and the choice will become easy to read. symbol next to it Note: When you are ready to answer a question, be sure you click the answer choice that you want; any crossed-out choices can still be chosen, so it is important that you choose your answer accurately. 5
5. The Progress Bar and Numeric Summary Feature is in the bottom left corner of the screen. (See example below.) It gives you overall test data: how many questions there are, how many you have answered, how many still need to be answered, and how many have been flagged (marked for later review). It also visually displays your progress by filling in the Progress Bar as you work through the test. 6. When you are ready to move to the next question, click on at the bottom right corner of the screen. More Useful Features 1. Flag Feature If you want to mark a question so you can return to it later, click the flag icon in the top right corner, just below the clock on timed tests. Clicking on the flag will turn it deep orange, like this: 2. Pause Feature Sometimes a test is interrupted, for example because a fire alarm has gone off. Whatever the reason, your test can be paused with the Pause Test button ( ) at the bottom of the test tunnel tool bar. Click it once and you will see the image below. Press the blue OK button. If you are taking a timed test, pausing the test will also pause the clock, so the time you have will not be effected.. Note: Always ask your teacher for permission before pausing the test. 3. Highlighting Feature Some tests, like the one pictured below, will include reading passages. Highlighting important information in the passages can be helpful when answering questions. If you want to highlight text, place your cursor at the start of the text you want. Left-click and hold down the mouse button, drag the cursor over what you want to highlight, then let go of the cursor button. The text you want is now highlighted. To remove highlighting, click once on the highlighted section. 6
4. Answering Open-ended Questions Open-ended questions (sometimes called constructed response questions) will look like the picture below. Please note that sometimes your test will include questions that require you to write your response (instead of choosing a multiple-choice or true/false answer). You may be asked to write your answer on a separate piece of paper (in a blue book, for example) or on the test booklet itself. In some cases, the teacher will ask you to type your answer directly into the test tunnel. If you need to type your answer into the computer, click in the white text box (in the section labeled Answer) and type it in there. 7
Note: The passage may appear on the top of the question and you can click and drag the center bar to show more of the passage. 5. Scroll Down for More Sometimes an answer choice is below the bottom of the screen. When you see insert scroll down for more image, use the scroll bar to show more of the passage. 6. Back Button and Final Question Options When you reach the last test question, you will find that there is no I m ready for the next question button. In its place, you will see a button labeled I m ready for the Test Summary, as well as the gray Pause button and the orange Go Back button, which have been with you throughout the test. The three are pictured below. At this point you, should click the I m ready for the Test Summary button. Once you click it you will see a visual summary of all your test questions. At first it might look something like this, with flagged questions that you still want to review. 8
If there are still questions flagged that say Unanswered in orange, click on each and answer them, unclick the flag in the top right corner of the question, then click on View Test Summary after each to continue with the next question. When you are finished your View Test Summary page should be completely blue and free of flags, like this: When this is what you see (or if time is up), click the blue Submit Test for Grading button. The system will then ask you if you are really ready to submit your test (see below). If you want to review or change your answers, click the orange No to return to the test. If you are done, click the blue Yes to finish. 9
After you click the blue Yes you will see this confirmation: Some tests will tell you how many questions you answered correctly and your percentage score on this screen. Click the Close Test button and congratulations, your test is done. Errors and Alerts Note: Errors and alerts are only supported in the Internet Explorer browser. Schoolnet will protect your work if your computer or school has problems with its internet connection. Your work is important, and you can feel safe knowing that Schoolnet automatically saves your progress. Schoolnet saves your work every time you: 1. Move forward or backward to another question. 2. Pause your test 3. Type 100 characters into an Open Response field. You can check the Progress Bar to find out the last time your work was saved. In the example below, the student s work was last saved at 3:02 PM. If there is a problem with your internet connection and your work cannot be saved, a small icon will appear in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. The icon looks like this: If you notice this icon on your test, let your teacher know. Your computer may be having trouble connecting to the internet, or your entire computer lab may be having problems. While your teacher is fixing the problem, you may continue to work on your test. Your work will not be lost, even if the connection cannot be fixed by the end of your testing session. If you reach the end of a testing session and your computer still cannot connect to the internet, you will see a warning on your Test Summary page. See the example below: 10
If you see the warning message above (Warning: Some answers may not have saved properly. Please click here to copy your answers to the clipboard.), you are in danger of losing some of your work. To make sure your work is not lost: 1. Click the word here, underlined and in blue, in the warning message. 2. A popup (pictured below) will ask you if you want to allow Schoolnet to put your test answers on the clipboard. Click Allow access. 3. Another popup will confirm that your answers have been saved to the clipboard. Click OK. 4. Now your answers are safe. To make sure nothing is lost, you should now open a word processing program on your computer (like Microsoft Word) and paste your answers into a document by hitting Ctrl+V, or selecting Paste from the program s menus. 5. Once your internet connection has been fixed, you may re-enter the test tunnel by entering the Test Code again. When the test opens, you will be asked again if you would like the webpage to be able to 11
access the Clipboard. Click Allow access. You answers to the test will be restored. You may now finish your test and submit it to be graded. Viewing Your Test Results After you finish your test, the system will return you to the opening welcome screen of your Student Profile. The Latest Tests section lists all tests that you have taken recently, and will often give you more information about how you did. Find the test that you want to learn about. If the test name is written in blue, click on it to learn more about your results. Some tests listed in this section may be written in black. These do not have information available yet, and cannot be clicked for more information. However, the line below the test name will give the date when information on your test results will be available. Visit your Student Profile again on or after that date, and continue with the steps below. Learning from Your Test Results After clicking on one of the tests listed in Latest Tests you will see the results of your test, in Standards View. This means that answers are presented by subject, so you and your teacher can more easily see which areas need improvement. Shown below is an example of the Standards View format: 12
Click any of the + plus sign on the left side of the picture above and that standards section will open. The standards section will show you which questions tested for that kind of information, and how you did on each. The picture below is an example of what you will see. When you are finished with that section, click the - minus sign (also on the left) to close the section, or click other plus symbols to open more standards sections. Note: The Standard view may not include links to test questions and answers. Test creators may choose to disable this functionality for selected tests. Shown below is an example of the Question Review format: Question Review is a second way to review your test results. In the picture above, in the top right, is a blue link labeled Question Review. Click it and you can see the results of your test, in order and question by question. 13
Clicking on the blue question number on the left (see picture above) will pull up details of that question (the knowledge it was testing, the question itself, the answer you chose, and the correct answer if it was different from yours). From here, you can continue directly to other questions and answers by clicking on the blue buttons at the top of the page. Note: The Question Review view may not include links to test questions and answers. Test creators may choose to disable this functionality for selected tests. 14
Tip: This is a good time to look at the questions you answered incorrectly and see if you now understand what you did wrong. If you are still not sure, ask your teacher to review the question with you. Scoring of Open-Ended/Constructed Response Questions Take a look at the Points column (third column from the left in the picture below). As you can see, this area tells you how many points each question is worth, and whether you earned those points with a correct answer. There is one kind of question, called either an open-ended questions or a constructed response question, where the information will not be complete immediately after the test. This is because your teacher will first need to grade your constructed response and enter your score manually. In the example below, the fourth question is a constructed response question. (The QUESTION TYPE column, on the right, reflects this with a pen-and-paper image.) In this example, the teacher has graded that question by hand and entered the score into the system. If you have any questions during the test, please be sure to ask your teacher or the computer lab specialist. Good luck! Chapter 2: Using My Student Profile The My Student Profile Web Part allows you to review your attendance and tardy numbers, your academic records, and your results on recent benchmark, classroom and standardized tests. My Student Profile also gives you an at-a-glance list of your latest tests. 15
Viewing My Academic Record The My Academic Record tab provides course, section and teacher information related to the three most recent school years. The +/- symbol to the left allows you to open and close school years as needed (see below). Viewing My Benchmark Tests The My Benchmark Tests tab lets you review the results of your Benchmark Tests, either alone or with the help of your teachers. Benchmark tests are presented by subject, in folders that can be expanded or minimized (using the +/- button to the left of the subject title, see example below). At-a-glance information also includes Test Date, Test Score and Score Group for each test. Clicking on the hyperlinked test name will lead to additional detail on testing standards and test questions related to each. (See example below.) Note: The Standard view may not include links to test questions and answers. Test creators may choose to disable this functionality for selected tests. 16
Clicking on the Question Review link (circled above) will bring you to an in-order listing of the test questions that shows points earned, points possible, and question type. Additional, standards-based information can be found by clicking on the hyperlinked number for each question. Note: The Question Review view may not include links to test questions and answers. Test creators may choose to disable this functionality for selected tests. 17
Viewing My Classroom Tests The format for the My Classroom Tests is identical to that for the My Benchmark Tests tab, but with one difference: a dropdown menu at the top of the screen lets you specify which kind of test results you want to search for. To do so, click the dropdown menu, choose the test type you want to see, and then click the Go button to the right of the dropdown. Viewing My Standardized Tests The My Standardized Tests tab shows you a summary of standardized tests, organized by year. (As with the other tabs in My Student Profile, years can be expanded by using the plus symbol ( )on the left side of the tool bar or can be minimized using the minus symbol ( ). Each line provides the subject, date, and section that the test is related to, together with your general performance (i.e., your Score Group). Using My Individual Learning Plan The My Individual Learning Plan tab is a place for you to enter your goals for the upcoming academic year, identify potential barriers to achieving those goals, and identify strategies to help you overcome those barriers. The information that you enter on this page cannot be deleted without your teacher s help. Make sure you are happy with what you are writing before you save it, because you will not be able to undo mistakes. 18
To enter information into your Individual Learning Plan (ILP): 1. Click the appropriate blue link under the area you would like to edit. For example, if you would like to enter a goal, click Add a new Goal. 2. Enter your goal into the text box. When you are finished, click Save. 3. Repeat this process for all other fields you are being asked to fill out. Remember, you will need a teacher to help you remove any information that you enter by mistake. 19
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