Provision of Testing Services (E- Learning Resources Development)
Request for Tenders
Tender No. 04/04-05
Tenders are requested from organisations suitably experienced to provide a testing service for the development of 2005 e-learning resources (Flexible Learning Toolboxes).
Toolboxes are defined as a collection of web-based learning objects and other materials (including teaching guides and technical guides) to support online training in a range of industry areas.
Tenders must be lodged by Noon (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) Monday 9th May 2005.
Download the full text of the Request for Tender, including contact details and lodgement information: Request for Tender - Provison of Testing Services - Tender No. 04/04-05 (Word - 157KB).
For your information, a copy of the Request for Tender for the development of Series 8 Toolboxes can be viewed below. This document contains guidelines for the educational and technical requirements of the products.
Request for Tender - E-Learning Resources Development - Tender No. 01/02-05 (Word - 645KB).
Tender Questions
Q: I am interested in understanding the requirements for ISO - 17025 (Certification for Testing Laboratories) is this mandatory or optional?
A: ISO – 17025 Certification is not mandatory. You are still eligible to submit a Tender.
Q: If I want to apply for a Series 9 Toolbox project, am I still eligible to submit an application for the Testing Tender?
A: Yes. The Testing Tender applies to testing for Series 8 and other projects until the end of 2005 only. The next Series of Toolboxes will not begin until 2006. A conflict of interest will only apply to teams undertaking projects during 2005.
Q: Have you got a list of all the Toolboxes that are part of this activity?
A: The tender is for the technical testing of the upcoming Series 8 being developed this year. The organisations involved in Series 8 production have been selected and we are in the process of confirming contracts. Once these have been confirmed we will be able to provide information on the teams and the content covered in these Toolboxes.
Q: Could you please express post a couple of the CD ROM sets and any associated tools and papers. I would like a copy of the tools to be tested.
A: I’m unable to send you a set of the CD ROMS. The Toolbox products to be tested are currently in development and are not quite at Proof of Concept stage so they don’t yet exist. Products from previous series of development are available on our website for you to preview, but again I can’t send you a copy of the product as each Toolbox is worth approximately $400. Sending it to one Tender applicant would require us to send a copy to all, this is not financially viable.
You can see each product in full at the website reference below, so I will give you a brief description of the backend of the product. The files are normally structured to show separate directories for source code, documents, units, etc. Source code will be mainly flash files that may be needed by purchasers for customization purposes, documents are Word/PDF/RTF files that guide teachers and learners and describe any technical requirements, and units will hold the content and images. There may also be directories for CSS, java, etc, depending on how the product is developed. Toolboxes need to be developed in a way that makes them easy to disaggregate and package for SCORM compliant LMS’s. Content could be for a complete certificate, or for three or four competencies, so sizes can vary. Testing will be required on various platforms, using various operating systems.
As you will have read in the Tender, testing will be required on technical compliance and hardware/software compatibility against the specifications supplied to the developers, accessibility to Priority 1 Standard, content including spelling, grammar, punctuation and consistency, and testing of learning objects for acceptance in the repository. There are two rounds of testing, but in some instances regression testing will be required.
There are seven Toolbox products, however there may also be extra products developed through the year that will also require testing. Currently there are three additional products in development. All will be similar to newly developed products. There is a table supplied in the Tender document that may guide you in quoting on the testing process.
Q: Quick question regarding the tender. Is there a list of the number of Toolboxes that will be created? I've found the areas that the developers could apply to develop for. But I could not see anywhere the total amount of Toolboxes being delivered. We need this information to work out our pricing model. So getting this information would be a great help.
A: There are seven Toolbox products, however there may also be extra products developed through the year that will also require testing. Currently there are three additional products in development. All will be similar to the newly developed products. There is a table supplied in the Tender document that may guide you in quoting on the testing process.
Q: Could the areas of testing be broken up and allocated to different organisations? For example, could one team test for Accessibility, and another for Technical compliance?
A: No, the Tender will be allocated to one team with the expertise to test all areas.
