STACS LOCAL MACHINE VERSION OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS:

Double click the STACS Main Application in the install folder or the desktop shortcut to start the application. For consistency with server versions, you will be presented with a Licence Key validation screen on which you must enter a valid Licence Key to proceed. The Licence Key for the Local Machine version of STACS is 20612061. Although the Local Machine version of STACS is an invaluable tool for editing teacher folders that have been backed up, it is also an excellent way to evaluate STACS at your leisure without having to be connected to a server. When installed on a laptop or PC, this version of STACS behaves just like a server version except that the STACS folders are created on the local machine and all information is written to the local machine. Although everyone will generally have access to all folders on a local machine by default, The STACS Installer will still set the user permissions for the STACS folders.

You can enter STACS with instructions or bypass the instructions when you are familiar with STACS. You will be presented with the main menu strip and a set of toolbars. You can now build your teacher folder by adding your teacher’s name and then adding classes and students. If you have purchased a full STACS Server version licence, you can use the STACS Local Machine version to create your teacher folder, back it up to a distribution medium and upload it to the server using the ‘Restore Teacher Folder from Backup’ item of the Update menu. Particular care must be taken to follow the instructions for adding and populating a teacher folder if it is to be uploaded to a server later. It is more convenient to add a teacher folder using a server version. For security reasons, STACS requires that the teacher logon name being used for the teacher being added is the same as that of the currently logged on teacher. The server versions can read this directly but this is not possible with the Local Machine version. Instructions for using all the main menu items of STACS are covered on the STACS Features page of this website and on the ‘Main Menu and Sub Menu Items Descriptions’ page of this Installation and Operating Instructions Manual.

One area of STACS that may appear confusing at first is the Upload…. Menu items. STACS maintains a repository for tests for each Teacher / Class combination. Any tests created or acquired by other means can be uploaded to any of these repositories. When the time comes for testing, any of these tests can be uploaded to the student folders of any class.

If you wish, to evaluate the most valuable feature of STACS, the Sit Test Application, you can upload all the tests from the Sample Tests sub-folder of the STACS install folder using the ‘Upload Test File(s) from External Medium to Teacher/Class Test Bank’ item of the Upload menu. You can then upload one of these tests to student folders using the ‘Upload Test from Teacher/Class Test Bank to Student Folders for Student Group to Sit Test’ item of the Upload menu and pose as a student to sit the test. The Sit Test application has to be uploaded to the student folders before students can sit a test.

To use STACS productively, you will need to create your own tests (which you can then share with others). The Sit Test Application of the STACS server versions will check that the student being tested is actually the student logged on to the workstation to prevent impersonation. This is not possible on the Sit Test Application of the Local Machine version but it is also not necessary as the Sit Test Application of the STACS Local Machine version is for evaluation purposes only.

To create your own tests, proceed as follows: Write out on or more tests with the format of twenty questions, five possible answers for each question and a note of the correct answer for each question. Use the Offline Test Creator Application (present in all installation folders) to create any tests you have written out. Tests that have been created are stored in a temporary location of the teacher’s choice ready for future upload. Tests are first uploaded to a Teacher/Class Test Bank using the ‘Upload Test File(s) from External Medium to Teacher/Class Test Bank’ item of the Upload menu. When students are about to sit a test, the test is uploaded to the student folders of the relevant class using the ‘Upload Test File from Teacher/Class Test Bank for Student Group to Sit Test’ item of the Upload menu. You can now pose as one of the added students to sit a test and investigate the viewing options of STACS.