A reference set of IMS Question and Test Interoperability v2.1 test and question items was successfully demonstrated in nine different applications during the recent IMS quarterly meetings in Koblenz, Germany. The IMS QTI v2.1 project group sponsored the interoperability demonstrations, and showcased the capabilities of the new CC-QTI Profile at the same time. This profile reflects the current QTI v1.2 profile used in Common Cartridge v1.0, which represents only the most frequently used types of questions. The following applications participated in the demonstrations: Onyx, MathAssessEngine, MOCAH, APIS, Jassess, MathQurate, Spectatus, QTIPlayr (in Moodle), and Validatr. The QTI v2.1 capabilities of the Young Digital Planet, TeachingMate, and Hangul applications were also shown.

The demonstrations successfully showed that existing QTI v2.1 implementations could ingest the CC-QTI Profile test cartridges and "play" the QTI content. With this broad support, and because some of the tools can be embedded in existing learning platforms, the CC-QTI Profile is ready to become a widely accepted profile for sharing assessments. Due to significant changes in the XML structure of QTI 2.1, the new CC-QTI Profile allows much more consistent interoperability than the QTI v1.2 profile included in CC v1.0. As a result, simple tests can be easily exchanged from relatively simple LMS modules to much more complex specialized test engines. The CC-QTI Profile is designed for easy implementation and interested parties should contact the QTI project group for questions or assistance.

Onyx, MathAssessEngine, and Jassess applications also successfully previewed another profile that will be included as part of the Final v2.1 specification. This profile, still being developed, includes a significant portion of the full specification and is tentatively being called the Main Profile.

As work continues on the completion of these profiles, the ability to test the conformance of systems, applications, and content will be a core component of the Final v2.1 specification. The QTI project group anticipates finalizing the documentation and schemas for the CC-QTI Profile in the coming months and work on the Main Profile to be completed by early 2011, with the Final specification to be released soon after. The group would like to thank those who participated in this interoperability demonstration.