APPENDIX K. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
A copy of this Appendix in Microsoft Word version can be found at:
http://asa.mnscu.edu/educationalinnovation/RFP%20Documents%20and%20Files/Content%20Authoring%20Tool
%20RFP%202015.html.
Section
Details - Requirements
Instructions: Write all responses directly in the table below, after the last question or statement for each section. Do
not use attachments unless they augment the answer or do not lend themselves well to copying and pasting into the
table. Proposals which do not follow these instructions may be rejected. Use additional blank pages as needed, but
identify Category by letter and to which number the response applies.
1) General Product
Functionality
Address the following:
2) Content Creation General
Address the following:
1. Describe the solution’s capability to produce high quality engaging, reusable
content for learning experiences
2. List and describe the various interactions (e.g., drag and drop, flash cards,
timelines, etc.) available to create by the proposed solution. In your answer,
address both pre-built activities and ability to customize or create new ones
3. Are the learning activities designed as individual lessons or course activities
or designed to be used as an entire or whole course?
4. Describe how solution has been developed for higher education learning and
how solution has been used in higher education courses
1. Describe the process for creating content for each of the interactions or
activities within the solution
2. Describe the available themes, templates, and layouts
3. Describe the process for incorporating external material
4. How are links to other resources/external material handled? Through LTI,
hyperlinks, embed code, or other means?
5. List all file types that can be used in creating content (video, audio, music,
images)
6. Does the proposed solution include the availability of wizards for content
creation?
7. Does the proposed solution include in-software help for content creation?
8. Does the proposed solution allow for the inclusion of a Table of Contents?
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3) Content Creation Importing
Address the following:
4) Content Creation –
Integrations and Open
Standards (3rd party
products)
Address the following:
1. List all file types that can be imported into the proposed solution
2. Describe the process for importing all file types
3. List and describe any restrictions on importing files or file types. Are any file
types not permitted to be imported or used within the proposed solution?
1. Does the proposed solution have the ability to import, maintain, and export
data to integrate and interact with other data systems, such as student,
program, department, and college level databases?
2. Does the proposed solution have the ability to import, maintain, and export
data to integrate and interact with college SIS systems and/or system-level
data warehouses
3. Propose and provide evidence of the solution’s ability to integrate with other
programs and platforms.
4. List the proposed solution’s standards for integrating with other systems.
Include the degree of support offered for each of the standards
followed/supported
5. Please list current integrations with third party products. Describe the
integration process for each
6. What product integrations are being planned for the next 2-3 years?
7. Describe the data privacy and information security measures in place for
integrations
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5) Content Creation –
SCORM
Address the following:
1. Describe whether the proposed solution will permit the repurposing and
importing of digitized elements or learning objects from an existing course
for use in a new course
2. List all open standards proposed solution supports which enable
interoperability between the proposed solution and other platforms or
software, such as LMSs
3. Does proposed solution support the Common Cartridge standards?
4. Does proposed solution support SCORM standards and specifications?
5. Describe the process for faculty to utilize the SCORM features built in the
proposed solution. This would include being able to use, reuse, transport or
share learning objects
6. Describe how a faculty member would import an already created SCORM
compliant object
7. Describe how a faculty member would create a SCORM object natively in
the proposed solution if not already addressed in #2 above
8. Describe whether the proposed solution works as a SCORM authoring tool,
as a host for importing objects from third party SCORM tools, or both. If the
second, which third party tools are known to work with and/or be certified to
work with the proposed solution?
9. Differentiate how SCORM content is imported into the proposed solution
compared to importing other content
10. Describe the tools that are available to users and content developers of the
proposed solution when creating/importing SCORM content
11. How is SCORM content updated and how are new versions deployed?
12. How does data reported via SCORM feed into the rest of the proposed
solution?
13. What versions of SCORM does proposed solution support?
14. Is proposed solution SCORM-certified by ADL? If not, provide test logs
15. What reports are available to extract SCORM data?
16. Describe whether the proposed solution requires Java applets or other plugins to be available in the browser
6) Content Creation–
Activities with no
assessment component
Address the following:
1. Describe in detail the features and functions of all non-assessment activities
included in the proposed solution
2. Describe process for designing and publishing non-assessment activities for
the faculty member
3. Describe what the student encounters with non-assessment activities and how
each element provides for interactive learning
4. Describe the proposed solution’s distinctive competency for student learning
or student use?
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7) Content Creation –
Activities with
assessment component
Address the following:
1. Describe in detail the features and functions of all assessment activities
2. The following items pertain to types of assessment questions – address
whether the proposed solution contains the ability to:
a. Use and/or create mathematical formats/equations
b. Save the default settings for the quizzes in the application
c. Add images, audio files, and video files
d. Link to other software and Cloud applications such as YouTube
e. A spell check function
f. Create quizzes which do not require Adobe Flash
3. The following items pertain to quiz settings –address the following regarding
the proposed solution:
a. Its ability to assign question point values. Describe process for this
function
b. Its ability to randomize responses within a question. Describe process
for this function
c. Its ability to randomize question sets. Describe process for this
function
d. All quiz properties native to the application which can be created
(e.g., name, grading or grade items quiz is tied to, comment field,
adding notifications, disabling pager, etc.)
e. Its ability to set quiz restrictions, such as date and time. Describe
process for this function
f. How quiz attempt settings are created
g. Whether overall calculation of the quiz score can be tied to different
student attempts in taking the quiz
h. The various settings that control what the student is able to see after
submitting a quiz (e.g., questions with correct responses, questions
with student’s responses only, answer feedback, etc.)
i. Its ability to set question layout and quiz-taker navigation (e.g.,
number of questions on a page, ability to move between pages or to
move backwards). Describe process for this function
j. How the above settings are different or similar to those contained in
D2L Brightspace, Moodle and other LMSs?
k. Whether the functions in a-j above are tied to integration with or an
interfacing function with an LMS in order to work. If yes, discuss
which and how the integration is achieved
l. Whether any of the above settings are dependent on working with the
LMS and how often the company checks for LMS updates
4. Describe the options for how users create quizzes - online, offline, or either.
If offline, which operating systems are supported?
5. What distinguishes Quizzes/Exams of the proposed solution from other
competitors?
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8) Assessment and
Scoring of Results
Test Scores and Results
1. How soon after completion of tests are scores available to students? To
faculty?
2. Describe whether and how assessment results can be integrated with
gradebooks in LMSs. List all LMSs with which the proposed solution is
already integrated
3. Has the proposed solution worked with on-premise D2L Brightspace clients,
that vendor is aware? If yes, is vendor able to prove that the integration with
the D2L Brightspace gradebook works in on-premise environments?
9) Content Creation –
Collaborative
Authoring
Address the following:
10) Content Creation Gamification
Address the following:
1. Describe the process for two or more authors to collaborate on the creation or
design of learning activities within the proposed solution
2. Describe the permissions and/or permissions by role permitted within the
proposed solution regarding who has access to working on or modifying
learning activities
3. Does the proposed solution offer or permit use of Creative Commons licenses
for collaboration of learning activities? Describe the process (e.g., ability to
add Creative Commons attributions)
4. Are there any digital rights management tools in the proposed solution? If
yes, how are they set up to allow faculty to offer an end-user license,
especially easy-to-use tools for assigning Creative Commons licensing?
1. Describe whether the proposed solution includes elements of gamification
such as digital badging, points, levels, rewards, certificates, competition,
social interaction, challenges, leaderboards, collecting and trading, or quests
2. Describe process for implementing gamification aspects of proposed solution
3. Describe whether and how gamification results can be integrated with LMSs
in general including LMS gradebooks. List all LMSs with which the
proposed solution is already integrated
4. Has the proposed solution worked with on-premise D2L Brightspace clients,
that vendor is aware? If yes, is vendor able to prove that the integration with
the D2L Brightspace works in on-premise environments?
5. Describe the process for incorporating external material in the gamification
elements
6. How do the gamification elements of the proposed solution enhance student
learning?
7. How does proposed solution meet FERPA requirements and protect the
privacy of students' personally identifiable information?
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11) Content Creation –
Audio and Video
Recording
Address the following:
12) Learning Object
Repository (LOR)
Address the following:
1. Does the proposed solution include audio and video recording capabilities?
What about screen recording capabilities? Describe all functionality available
2. List any distinctive features the proposed solution has over the competition
3. List all sources from where video or audio can be captured (e.g., webcam,
computer microphone, network IP camera or video input device
4. List all file types that can be embedded or included in the recording (e.g.,
MP3, MP4)
5. Describe all available output formats
6. Describe proposed solution’s editing capabilities?
1. Does the proposed solution include a learning object repository?
2. Describe how the LOR works in conjunction with the proposed solution
3. How are learning objects created within the general proposed solution the
same as or different from objects created within the LOR?
4. If there are any costs associated with LOR, please address in the Cost
Proposal (Appendix O)
5. If yes, how is the proposed solution’s LOR structured and maintained? By
department, college, campus, system, and/or other?
6. Is the LOR part of the proposed solution’s cloud services (i.e., reside on
premise with respondent) or elsewhere? If elsewhere, specify
7. List all file types that supported in the LOR
8. Can faculty modify shared objects in the LOR?
9. Describe the process for publishing objects to the LOR
10. Describe the process for tagging and adding of metadata.
11. What standards are used for tagging and adding of metadata?
12. Does the proposed solution support the IEEE standard for learning object
metadata (LOM)?
13. Describe the flexibility of the solution’s metadata schema for additional
fields/descriptors—such as whether there is an option to include controlled
vocabulary indexing terms (e.g., instructional disciplines, other
descriptions—such as VRA Core or Darwin Core)
14. Address any intellectual property considerations of the LOR in the context of
Section 25.
15. Does the LOR offer or permit use of Creative Commons licenses for
publishing and sharing?
16. Are there any digital rights management tools in the LOR? If yes, describe
17. To how many LMS courses can learning objects be published (e.g., a single
course, multiple courses)?
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13) Design and Learning
Customization
Address the following:
14) Publishing
Address the following:
1. Describe how the proposed solution allows the instructor or content designer
to customize learning content and/or its design. Include in your answer a
description of the graphical design options for customization.
2. Does the proposed solution allow for the use of Cascade Style Sheets (CSS)?
If yes, does it meet the W3C CSS specification?
3. Does the proposed solution allow for branching activities, forms of adaptive
learning or differentiated instruction, or scenario-based learning? If yes,
describe in detail all that pertain
4. Does the proposed solution offer linear and non-linear design? If yes,
describe the process and provide an example
1. Describe the various ways content created in the proposed solution can be
printed, published, and/or administered (e.g., into an LMS, as interactive
HTML or JavaScript, print, LTI, webpage, HTML5, eBooks?)
2. Is there an activity/interaction preview function?
3. Can a quiz be printed showing the correct answers?
4. Can the answer key be printed as a separate document?
5. In what formats can quizzes be saved?
6. To how many LMS courses can learning activities be published (e.g., a
single course, multiple courses)?
7. Does proposed solution provide the ability to output learning activities or
objects to an MP4 or similar format? If yes, at what level definition -high
definition, standard definition, or both?
15) Integration with LMS
Address the following:
1. Describe all standards employed for integrating with LMS systems (e.g.,
ADL/SCORM, LTI Services (imsglobal.org), IMS QTI, etc.
2. With which LMSs does the proposed solution integrate or interface?
3. Describe the process(es) used to integrate with each LMS
4. Does the proposed solution integrate with D2L Brightspace? If yes,
a. How is content imported?
b. How does it integrate with the gradebook?
c. What’s the process for integration with on-premise clients?
d. What’s the process for integration with cloud-hosted clients?
5. Has the proposed solution worked with on premise D2L Brightspace clients,
that vendor is aware? If yes, is vendor able to prove that the integration with
D2L Brightspace works in on-premise environments?
6. If yes, provide reference of on-premise client whom MnSCU may contact?
7. If the proposed solution does not currently integrate or interface with any
LMS, what integration efforts are needed?
8. What security is in place during the process of moving files back and forth
between the application and the LMS?
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16) Reporting Function
and Analytics
Address the following:
17) Internet Browser
Access and System
Requirements
Address the following:
18) Foreign Languages
19) Mobile Applications
1. Explain vendor’s strategy for collecting, analyzing, reporting, exporting and
sharing data.
2. Can individual data be aggregated on a bigger scale (e.g., departmental,
school or campus level)?
3. Describe whether and how proposed solution provides ability to measure and
track learning outcomes
1. Does the proposed solution include an alternative/complimentary offline/desktop version that syncs with the Cloud once the user is on-line?
2. Which browsers are supported by the solution?
3. Describe whether solution will support new versions of browsers and within
how many days after version availability
4. What are the system requirements for:
a. Cloud or web-based product solutions?
b. Any alternative/complimentary off-line/desktop versions as referred
to in #1 above
5. Specify all platforms which are compatible with the proposed solution (Mac,
Windows, Linux, other)
6. Does the solution require Java applets or other plug-ins be available in the
browser?
1. What languages are available with the proposed solution?
2. What steps and permissions are required to install languages and make them
available to the users?
3. Can content be created and accessed through different languages? If so, are
languages released at the same time that English language new releases are
available?
4. When content is changed to a foreign language, how does it affect the user
interface (e.g., left-to-right directionality)?
5. Will the solution function with non-English keyboards? If yes, document and
describe
6. If there are any costs associated with language conversion, please address in
the Cost Proposal (Appendix O)
Address the following:
1. Which mobile devices does the proposed solution support?
2. Which mobile platforms does the proposed solution support?
3. Has the vendor designed an interface specifically for the devices or
platforms listed in numbers 1 and 2 above? Which ones?
4. What functionality is included in the mobile application of the proposed
solution? If developed differently for different devices or platforms, list
separately
5. What functionality is currently under development for mobile use of the
proposed solution and when will it become available?
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6. How does the proposed solution support delivery of multimedia and
streaming video to mobile devices utilizing appropriate bandwidth and
screen resolutions?
20) Social Media
Interaction with
1. Does the proposed solution have interaction and integration with social
media technologies? If yes, list and describe all and provide an example
2. Describe all elements of social media technologies that require users (faculty
and students) to permit access (i.e., Facebook friends)
21) Usability and Ease of
Use
Address the following:
22) Accessibility
Standards and ADA
Compliance
Address the following:
1. How does the Respondent test the ease of use of the proposed solution for
faculty? For students?
2. Provide user (faculty and student) testing reports
3. Describe the various forms of help and user guides that are available
4. Describe whether wizards are available and if yes, describe what forms (e.g.,
where and how they can be used)
5. What objective qualities make the proposed solution’s interface intuitive for
faculty, students, and system administrators?
6. How is the proposed solution designed for skillsets in higher education?
1. Provide the Vendor’s statement of compliance to Section 508 and the
American Disabilities Act (ADA).
2. Submit Appendices M and N, the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template
(VPAT) statements for this solution.
3. How does the proposed solution address Web accessibility issues including a
statement of the current level of compliance with the W3C Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and Section 508, and/or future plans to
achieve compliance?
4. Do all users with or without disabilities have equally effective access, quality,
timeliness, and availability to all functions and aspects of your product?
5. Are support materials (documentation, online help, video tutorials, etc.)
accessible with equally effective access, quality, timeliness, and availabilityare they able to be enlarged, are they closed-captioned, and will screen
readers or screen navigation software work with these materials?
6. What tests and tools have been applied to ensure accessibility compliancy?
7. Will the solution support items/tasks that can accommodate u s e r s
( f a c u l t y a n d students) with disabilities (e.g. items/tasks including Sign
Language, refreshable Braille, text-to-speech tags, text magnifying software,
and speech-to- text tags)? Braille support must include contracted, uncontracted, and Nemeth Braille. If yes, document and describe.
8. Does the solution allow for non-mobility users using, for example, Dragon™
software to navigate?
9. Describe the solution’s accommodations for u s e r s ( f a c u l t y a n d
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10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
students) with disabilities. Describe how solution addresses different
types of disabilities.
Describe assistive technologies that have been tested and how they can be used
with the proposed solution
Does the company test assistive technologies with product updates? What are
the results of all tests?
Does the company respond with timely updates to the product when
accessibility issues arise?
Can a disabled person use the company website to learn how to navigate
through the proposed solution with accessibility tools?
Are mathematics symbols compatible with screen readers?
Does the solution provide a quality built-in screen reader?
What other modalities are available (e.g. Braille, paper/pencil, audio)? If
available, how often do you refresh the items founds in these alternate
formats?
Do you do testing with users with disabilities? If so, can you explain the
process and identify, roughly, the range of disabilities and access
technologies used? Provide user testing reports.
What experience do developers on your team have coding for accessibility?
Does your company have a road map for accessibility going forward? If so,
describe it over the next two years. Outline goals and milestones
Have you tested and/or developed your mobile apps (especially iOS) with
accessibility in mind?
23) New Releases,
Upgrades, and Patches
Address the following:
24) Feature Requests
Address the following:
1. Describe the frequency schedule for release of major and minor upgrades
2. Describe average downtimes for upgrades, both major and minor
3. Does vendor offer flexibility of upgrades to coincide with client’s off-peak
times?
4. What is the availability and release timeframe of upgrade documentation,
including known issues and release notes?
5. What is the procedure for client notification of releases, patches and
upgrades, both major and minor?
6. Describe vendor’s rollback procedures during upgrades
7. Provide vendor’s roadmap for product development for the next 2-3 years.
8. What is the availability to clients of beta versions of releases for quality
assurance testing?
9. If there are any costs associated with upgrades please address in the Cost
Proposal (Appendix O)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the process for users to request feature enhancements?
How are feature enhancement requests addressed?
Are users notified of a timeline for proposed feature enhancements?
Are feature enhancements created for other clients available and /or
transferrable to MnSCU? If there are any costs associated with feature
request, please address in the Cost Proposal (Appendix O)
What is the prioritization process for feature enhancements?
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6.
25) Intellectual Property
How is user group input used for product development?
Address the following:
1. Does the proposed solution meet the requirements of MnSCU policies 3.26
and 3.27 (link to them or repeat them) and protects Intellectual Property
Rights? See http://www.copyright.mnscu.edu/index.html
2. Include an acknowledgement in your response that Respondent does not
have any claim to intellectual property ownership of the content that resides
in courses, Cloud-hosted or institutional databases via the use of the
proposed solution
3. Are there any digital rights management tools in the proposed solution? If
yes, how are they set up to allow faculty to offer an end-user license,
especially easy-to-use tools for assigning Creative Commons licensing? (If
already answered in Section 9, Question 4, vendor can copy answer here)
26) Test Site
Address the following:
1.
2.
3.
27) Training Services
Is the vendor willing to make available a free test site for 6 users as part of
the RFP selection process?
If yes, describe location of test site, length of the trial period, and all
functionality available during trial period
Will the test instance be available on multiple platforms including mobile
platforms? Which ones?
Address the following:
1. Describe in detail the Respondent’s services for training of users, including:
a. Types of training (onsite, webinar, video tutorials, etc.)
b. Implementation plan for a “train- the-trainer” model for consortia system
clients
c. Any user groups or user communities for proposed solution. Provide
information (i.e., URL) and access (i.e., login requirements) for all
available user groups/communities
2. Describe availability of user guides and other user help
28) Help Desk Services /
Technical Support
Address the following:
1. Describe in detail the availability and cost of Respondent’s ongoing technical
and user support capability. Address the cost in the Cost Proposal (Appendix
O). In your answer please include:
a. Who provides the support? The Respondent or a third party?
b. Describe all levels of support
c. List hours of support including extended hours of support
d. Describe all avenues of support (live chat, ticket, FAQ, and
knowledge base, etc.)
e. Describe ticketing solution (how it works, what system is used)
f. Describe process and procedures for escalation
g. Would Respondent supply a dedicated support manager for the
MnSCU system? If yes, under what circumstances or criteria?
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Provide in detail Respondent’s service level metrics (i.e., response
time, resolution time).
i. Describe all Help documentation available
j. Is there help documentation for version upgrades and when they
become available relative to version release?
k. Does Respondent track and measure customer satisfaction? If yes,
describe process for doing so
l. List all products within the solution that are supported
m. List any web sites used for support
h.
29) Performance
Reliability and
Stability
Address the following:
1. What metrics are used for performance and reliability of the proposed
solution (software and hosting services)?
2. What issues (software and hosting services) have been encountered in the
last 12 months and how have they been resolved?
3. How are system failover and redundancy handled?
By signing this statement, you certify the information provided in the Functional Requirements, Appendix K (and any
attachments) is accurate and that you are authorized to sign on behalf of the Respondent.
Name of Company:_
Authorized Signature:_
Printed Name:
Title:_
Date:
Telephone number:_
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