Quizzes

BrainPOP quiz site (Source: Screen capture from BrainPOP, www.brainpop.com)

Quizzes are pedagogically similar to drills in that they are based on a behaviourist approach of mastery through repetition, and they are thus aligned with web 1.0. However, they may be more motivating than drills as they frequently incorporate an element of scoring or competition, and they may even take the form of puzzles (such as hangman, crosswords, or worth sleuths) or simple games (where gamification elements have been overlaid on traditional learning activities). Quizzes, puzzles and simple games may incorporate multimedia elements, and they generally involve some limited weak interaction (that is, student-machine rather than student-student interaction, as defined by Lindsay Clandfield and Jill Hadfield).

There are vast resource banks of quizzes, puzzles and simple games already freely available on the web; some well-known examples include general purpose sites like BrainPOP (seen at the top of this page), Fun Learning, QuizMEOnline and Studyladder; language sites like 20Q, The ESL Quiz Center and Memorista; or maths and science sites like GeoGebra and Shodor. Some of these, and many similar services, are now available in the form of mobile apps.

While they are underpinned by behaviourism and are web 1.0 in nature, quizzes, puzzles and simple games could conceivably be employed as part of a more complex guided discovery approach to learning. If, on the other hand, students are asked to create revision quizzes, puzzles or simple games for each other using one of the many free quiz creation services (such as Armored Penguin, Hot Potatoes, Mobile Study, Quiz Revolution, Puzzlemaker or QuizMEOnline, which range from simple older tools to more sophisticated newer ones), this will introduce a more constructivist approach. Note that complex, collaborative games, which are more web 2.0 in nature, are discussed on the main gaming page.