2 Responses

1. Uses of Quizmaker
   Hi Sinead!

   I’ve been using Quizmaker for over four years now, mostly as part of the Articulate Studio rapid e-learning authoring suite, but also as a standalone tool.

   I use it for regular quizzes – most usually to support a separate e-learning module or integrated into one (using the Articulate Studio program) – or surveys and course evaluations.

   Although it’s great for all the common question types, increasingly, I’ve been using it to develop scenario-based assessments, using a mixture of the text only screens (to set the scenarios and provide the background) and fully exploiting the feedback options, in particular to present “model answers”.

   When I use it for testing, I often go into the template and remove the option to display the scoring, as mostly I’m looking for the testing to be more for progress monitoring and self-reflection, where what is most important is the quality of the answer feedback, not a score.

   I’ve recently started to add audio to the quizzes, although these use the MP3 file format, so if your firewall blocks this format, you’ll need to get the site on which you host your courses put onto a “safe list”, otherwise your quiz will hang when launching. Adding either narration can be very useful if your answer feedback is long. You can just put a summary of the feedback into the text box, but expand fully on this with your narration.

   Adding narration to a question itself, will also open up other opportunities to use the tool to develop soft skills scenarios or simulations.

   Finally, in the past I’ve also used it to offer financial skills/Excel practice by including a hyperlink to an Excel document within the questions.

   Tim

2. Essential Articulate Studio ’09
   I forgot to mention that you should also invest in a copy of this new book, which really covers the Quizmaker program in detail, with lots of other useful hints and tips for creating good quizzes.

   I reviewed the book recently:

   http://timdrewitt.typepad.com/tech4learning/2009/08/rapid-elearning-clearly-articulated.html

   Tim