cism banner Faculty of Computing, Information Systems and Mathematics Kingston University

The FETLAR Virtual Appliance

The FETLAR project uses a raft of open source tools to deliver its content, written by many different institutions and as part of many different previous projects (e.g. MathAssess, QTITools).

There is, however, a difference between FETLAR and these past projects. Such projects had a focus that was driven by the technology. The end result was not about delivering any content, but producing a suite of tools that served as a proof of concept to demonstrate QTI 2.1's capability to deliver electronic assessment. The target audience was learning technologists, and others of a technical bent with an interest in electronic assessment.

In contrast, FETLAR's priority is about delivering e-learning content. While the tools from the past projects are being used and in some cases, developed further as part of FETLAR, the focus is very different and so is the target audience. Learning technologists are still relevant, but it is the provision of content that is driving the FETLAR project. As such, the is another target audience for FETLAR that did not directly apply in past projects of a more technical nature. These are the academics, tutors and teaching professionals seeking to utilise the content produced by FETLAR for their own pedagogic purposes.

While the QTI authoring tools (e.g. Spectatus and Mathqurate) can be installed on any end-user's computer, the other tools for delivering QTI questions and assessments are web applications, which require significant technical knowledge to set up and configure, and administrative access to a server capable to hosting such applications.

Consequently, FETLAR needed a way by which the technical tools can be provided and used to deliver content with a minimum of configuration, while assuming the minimum possible technical knowledge. Enter the FETLAR Virtual Appliance.

The FETLAR Virtual Appliance uses virtualisation to distribute all the required tools, software and other infrastructure, along with (if required) the FETLAR content itself. It requires little configuration and can be run using freely available software. Essentially it represents one portable, distributable "black box" of all FETLAR project outputs - both software and e-learning content.

The Virtual Appliance includes, among other things, the following tools. All of these tools are pre-configured and can be used immediately.

  • • Moodle
  • • MathAssessEngine
  • • QTIPlayr
  • • Minibix
  • • STACK
  • • The FETLAR searchable content repository**

** optional

How to run the Virtual Appliance

First, download the Virtual Appliance from the link below:

• FETLAR Virtual Appliance (550Mb approx)

Then, decide how you wish to run the Appliance. If you simply want to try out the tools and decide if the QTI solutions are for you, you can run the Appliance on your own computer by using either VirtualBox or VMWare Player. VMWare Player is easier to set up, but is not open source and requires you to register with VMWare. VirtualBox is entirely open source (although both products are free to download and use). Decide which virtualisation software you are going to use, and then, download and follow the appropriate instructions below:

• Instructions for VMWare Player
• Instructions for VirtualBox

The video on the first page of this site gives a run through of using all the tools, including the Virtual Appliance, to deliver end-to-end electronic assessment, mixing workshop type materials and interactive tests within a Moodle course.

A comprehensive document explaining all of the FETLAR tools, including the Virtual Appliance, can be found here.

Further information and assistance

If you need further information, or need assistance with using the Virtual appliance, contact Paul Neve.