To prepend a multimedia file to your question, simply enter it's filename or URL into the media box. If Test Pilot recognizes its format, it will indicate its choice just below the entry area. If you enter a filename, you must remember to copy that file, along with the file exported by the Test Pilot authoring database to the web server in order for it to be available for Test Pilot's web server extension.

Use the Position pop-up menu to specify where you want your media inserted in relation to the questions' text. You may have it shown above the question, before or to the left of the question, inside the question, after or to the right of the question or below the question. In the case of having media inside the question, enter two percent signs (%%) in the question text at the location where you want the media inserted.

In the case of sized media such as movies, Shockwave media and streaming video and audio, you may want to specify the size of the area on the web page to be set aside for the display window and player controls. Use the playback size controls to specify this information.

Using Media as Question Responses

With Test Pilot 2, you can also use media as choices in multiple choice, check all that apply and matching questions. Simply enter a filename or URL in the database's choice box for the appropriate media.

Plug-Ins and Caveats

Most web browsers require plug-ins (additional software) to display multimedia files beyond simple images and Sun audio files. Your assessment's participants must have the appropriate plug-in loaded in order for them to be able to see or hear your media. Apple's QuickTime, which can handle nearly any format, is included with all MacOS computers but must be downloaded and installed on Windows-based computers. Direct your users to the QuickTime web site at http://quicktime.apple.com in order to download this software which includes the plug-ins for Netscape and Internet Explorer.

Please note that the use of video, streaming video and Shockwave animations requires significant amounts of memory to be available to the web browser. It is not unusual that web pages with such media require a computer with 64 megabytes of main memory. Also, placing multiple videos on a web page may increase these requirements. Finally, multimedia files are typically very large and take a significant amount of time to download. Be very careful to consider your assessment's participants. They may be using modem connections to the Internet and may not be able to download the media files in a reasonable amount of time.