02 Standard Compatibility
To ensure sustainable e-assessment, the ONYX Testsuite uses established and open standards. The data model of the ONYX Testsuite is based entirely on the 1EdTech Question & Test Interoperability (QTI) specification, formerly IMS QTI. The description of the metadata is done via the open standard IEEE Learning Object Metadata LOM. Your content, created and managed with the ONYX test suite, including generated exam results, is therefore available in a standardised and interoperable format. As a result, they are sustainable, interchangeable and can be imported and exported between different e-assessment and learning systems.
As an active member of the 1EdTech Consortium, BPS Bildungsportal Sachsen GmbH contributes its many years of experience with the QTI specification and is continuously involved in the international 1EdTech community. The ONYX test suite is independently audited annually and certified by 1EdTech for QTI standard compliance. Thus, ONYX serves as a reference implementation and is officially listed and recommended as a standardised e-assessment tool, see Certification
Due to its sustainable approach, including the consistent use of open standards and the provision of flexible, integrable assessment modules, the ONYX Testsuite was already honoured with the Learning Impact Award several times.
1EdTech's Question & Test Interoperability (QTI)
The concept behind the ONYX test suite is based on the internationally recognised 1EdTech Question & Test Interoperability (QTI) specification, formerly IMS QTI. A number of key functions of the test suite are directly based on this standard. Using QTI allows for platform-independent content exchange and offers several other advantages:
Strict separation of content and layout, as well as XML-based display of all test and task content, ensure independence from the final format and allow for easy adjustments at a later stage.
QTI specifications define the exchange of test content in form of a content package that includes all relevant test data, LOM metadata and embedded media.
Formulas are displayed within the test data in MathML-notation.
In addition to the test and task content itself, the results data is also displayed in accordance with the QTI Results Reporting Model.
Generated report files contain all evaluation information, including learner responses, time stamps and achieved scores.
For manual evaluations, the results file is expanded accordingly so that the entire evaluation process remains traceable.
Furthermore, the results can be exported as a CSV file.
1EdTech QTI – Versions
There are currently three main versions of the QTI specification:
1EdTech QTI 1.x
1EdTech QTI 2.x
1EdTech QTI 3.x
QTI version 2.x is particularly well established and widely used, and is supported by numerous learning and examination platforms. The latest version is QTI 2.2; the previous version, QTI 2.1, was officially replaced by 1EdTech on 31 December 2024. The ONYX Test Suite is 1EdTech QTI 2.2 certified and offers full support for QTI 2.1. The ONYX Editor also enables the import and export of test data, including the import of QTI v1.2. Since QTI 1.2 has been implemented differently by various system manufacturers, import and export in this version are system-specific. The QTI 1.2 import has been tested for Blackboard, WebCT and OLAT, among others. To use the test data created in paper-based test scenarios, ONYX Editor offers a PDF export function. Beyond that, various conversions for proprietary formats have been successfully implemented.
IEEE LOM
ONYX supports large parts of the open IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) standard. The metadata are thus described in XML notation in the test data’s IMS manifest. Which metadata are actually displayed to the author in the ONYX editor can be determined via a metadata configuration.
Standard metadata profile
