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Prepared by : John GillardFor :EDU 5255 - TPACK for TeachersSummer II 2012

QUIZ AND POLLING TOOL LINKSThe following websites were evaluated based on a variety of features and functions.

All have free or trial subscriptions. Right click on the text and follow the link to investigate each site (or cut and paste the link into your browser.

Zoho Challenge - Best Online Quiz Maker

https://challenge.zoho.com/login.do

Quia - Quia Web

http://www.quia.com/web

QuizRevolution - Embeddable Online Quizzes

http://www.quizrevolution.com/

QuizStar - Create Online Quizzes

http://quizstar.4teachers.org/

EVALUATION CRITERIA

There are many ways to evaluate a piece of software, for this project it was limited to an important few

• Does it do what I want it to do? i.e. assist me in implementing teaching best practices regarding student evaluation and instruction modification.• What is the likelihood that the application or platform has ‘staying’

power (will it be here next year)?• Is it easy for the students to use (students first!)?• Is it easy for the teacher to use and extract information?

AS TEACHERS, WHAT DO WE NEED A QUIZ TO DO?

Quizzes in the classroom come in many shapes and sizes for many reasons and purposes.

In class warm up exercise (formative assessment) In class cool down exercise (formative assessment) Homework ( practice skills) Chapter and unit tests (summative assessment)

• Teachers can modify or reinforce instruction by understanding what student know not just individually but also as a class!

• By creating web based tests, quizzes and homework, teachers can give appropriate feedback to the students work without being buried under a pile of papers!

FEATURES TO LOOK FOR IN A QUIZ MAKING WEBSITE

• Individual student accounts, password protected, and easy to administer

• Multiple forms of questions (true false, open ended, multiple choice)

• Multiple formats of questions (single page, font control etc.)

• Timed tests and date control

• Question bank (reuse a question in one test in another test)

• Automatic grading and useful reports ( by question and by student)

• A lack of any one of these features may not be catastrophic but may indicate poor quality software .

PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT

• Acuity is a web based testing application used by the Philadelphia School system (purchased through McGraw-Hill)

• No link supplied (you must be registered with the school system to use the site)

• Acuity has all of the desirable features of web based testing

However:

• Although standards based, it does not allow for easy generation of custom tests.

• Classroom management (assigning tests and homework) and report generation is cumbersome and time consuming.

Zoho Challenge - Best Online Quiz Maker

• Zoho Challenge is one web-based application of a suite of CRM (Customer Relationship Software) applications from Zoho

• This application is part of a suite of over 30 business applications. The authors of this software have appeared to satisfy many if not most of requirements of a web based quiz generation application.

However

• Not teacher friendly

• Application is targeted at ‘polling’ type application as opposed to true ‘classroom management’

• Software appears incomplete and cumbersome to use (pauses and slow loading going from screen to screen)

Quia - Quia Web

• Quia (pronounced kia) is a fee based only Web 2.0 application ($49/yr.) with a 30 day free trial

• Very complete set of features such as roster import/export and test generation question bank

• User friendly menuing , speedy navigation and response

• Many integrated features (social bookmarking, Quizzes/activities/surveys)

• Shared professional resources

However

Fee based

QuizRevolution - Embeddable Online Quizzes

• Scaled fee-based system (based on usage) (free with ads)

• Free publication through Facebook (all others $)

However

• Primitive and cumbersome user interface (but easily can embed video clips via URL)

• Classroom management tools and reports non-existent

• More a toy than a tool (target market – people that have too much time on their hands!

• There is nothing positive to say about this quiz maker in the context of classroom usage

QuizStar - Create Online Quizzes

• Sponsored site by altec.org (Professional Development site) via 4teachers.org

• Related (but separate) tools such as rubric maker and calendar

• Very complete set of features such as roster import/export

• Teacher quiz sharing (import/export)

• User (teacher) friendly menuing , speedy navigation and response

• Student interface simple and straight forward (student self registration or teacher control)

• Report generation simple and straightforward (student and question based)

• Help summary available on almost every screen

However:

• This application is complete and targeted for a classroom environment but may not be easily integrated into other classroom tools.