Migrating Question Pools from Sakai to Canvas (Instructions for Classic and New Quizzes)

This article provides step-by-step instructions for the manual migration process for getting Sakai Question pools into Canvas Classic and New Quizzes

Audience

This article is intended for Instructors in Canvas.

Platform

Canvas

Full Instructions for Manually Migrating Sakai Question Pools into Canvas

Step 1: Export from Sakai

1. Create a new Assessment - add all of the questions from the pool for that Assessment.
2. Select Export.
3. Export as QTI v 1.2. 
4. Save to Desktop - it will label it as a .xml file.
5. Compress into a Zip file.
   • Mac: Right click on file and select Compress file - this should convert it to a .zip file.
   • PC: Right-click the file or folder, select Send to, and then select Compressed (zipped) folder. 

Step 2: Import the Saved File (View Canvas Instructor Guide - How to Import Quiz from QTI Packages for more)

1. Open up your Canvas course (I tried it in my Sandbox first) 
2. Select Import Existing Content 
3. In dropdown for Content Type choose QTI .zip file  
4. Click Choose file and select the one you just saved 
5. Uncheck the “Import assessment content as New Quizzes" 
6. In the Default Question Bank - select Create New Question Bank - Name the bank 
7. Click on Import 
8. You should see it in the queue. When it is done, it will tell you any errors (the error is usually from Canvas not be able to read which is the correct answer)

Step 3: Edit the Question Bank for use (View Canvas Instructor Guide - Question Banks for more)

Note: if you try to use New Quizzes and their “item banks,” all of the questions will import into the bank as “Multiple Choice with multiple answers possible.” Once imported into New Quizzes and Item Banks, the question type cannot be edited without recreating the whole question.

1. When the job is marked completed, click on where it says the number of issues and click one to navigate directly to the new question bank. 
2. Click on the pencil icon next to the question to edit.
3. Click on the drop-down menu and select the top option that says “Multiple Choice” to change the question type. 
4. Select the correct answer by hovering over an answer and clicking on the green arrow to the left of the answer. 
5. Scroll down to click on the “update question” button to save.  
6. Continue steps 10-13 with each of the questions until all of them have been updated.

Step 4: Create a Classic Quiz with questions from the newly created Question Bank

1. Navigate to the Quizzes tab in your course.
2. Click on the blue +Quiz button in the top right of the page.
3. Choose Classic Quizzes and click Submit.
4. Rename the quiz.
5. Click on the Questions tab and click the Find Questions button.
6. Search for your newly created question bank in the left column.
7. Click on Select All to check all of the questions at once and then scroll down. 
8. To add questions to a group, click on the drop-down menu and select [ Create Group ].
   1. Give the group a name.
   2. Type in the total number of questions to pick for the quiz from the bank.
   3. Assign a point value for each question (these can be edited individually later if you would like to make some questions a different value)
   4. Click Create Group.
9. Click on the Add Questions button
10. Scroll all the way down and click the blue Save button.

Step 5: Migrate the Classic Quiz to New Quizzes

1. Navigate back to the main Quizzes tab. 
2. Locate the quiz that you just created
3. Click on the three dots to the right of the Quiz and select "Migrate."
4. When the quiz finished migrating, click on the three dots to the right of the newly migrated quiz and click edit
5. Click the blue Build button at the bottom of the page.

Step 6: Add questions from the New Quiz to a new Item Bank

1. Click on three dots to the right of the newly migrated quiz and click Edit.
2. After clicking Build you will see the questions in the New Quizzes editor.
3. Rename the quiz now if you’d like by clicking on the title.
4. Click on each question, edit, select the correct answer, adjust any other Options.
5. Select Item Banking - click Add to Bank.
6. Select an Existing Item Bank, or create a New Item Bank (first time). 
7. Click Add.
8. Test out your item bank by creating a new sample quiz and selecting from the Item Bank you've just created.

Additional Resources

• To access your item banks, add "Item Banks" to your course navigation or from within the New Quizzes editor, click on the ellipses

• To learn more about the difference between Classic and New Quizzes in Canvas, please read the Quick Guide: Canvas Quizzes article.