Quizing software

[cberkop]

My wife is a teacher, and she asked me if I could find a freeware application that she could use to create study quizzes with, and then place them on a CD for her students to take home. We found one that she likes and it is relatively easy for her to use, she is not really comfortable with computers yet. The only thing is that is requires that it be installed on the PC and that several other 3rd party backend pieces be installed as well. I started to look for others but found none that fit her biggest requirement, FREE.

Here is what she would like:

A small application that reads in a text file containing multiple choice (a, b, c, d), true/false type questions, with the ability to randomize the order the questions are asked. A progress indicator bar with numerical display (13/35). A running percentage based on the number of questions asked and the number correct. The primary users would be 8+ yrs old.

A feature that would be nice to have but is not required would be question and quiz timers. The question timer would time each question and flip to the next question if no answer was chosen in a given time, like flip cards. This timer would be set at the quiz level on/off and "Flip Duration". The quiz timer could work in two ways, 1) just a simple timer how long did it take the student to take the quiz, 2) count down timer "You have 30 minute to complete these questions, Good luck, start your test now".

Most of the quizzes would be in the 50-100 question range but she has mentioned that she would like to create a "Master Quizzes" that could have as many as 1000 questions.

Anyone out there with the time/skills that would like to try to tackle this please let me know.

Chris.

[Ameri-CAIN]

I don't know if this is what your wife is looking for, but I saw this program on SnapFiles a couple of days ago. I don't know if it is portable, or not though.

http://teach2000.memtrain.com/

Edit:

I tried this out. I downloaded the installer and extracted it with Universal Extractor. I copied everything in the {app} directory to a folder called Teach2000, and ran Teach2000.exe. It asked me to choose a language (I choose English), then it asked if I would like to create a file association, and I said No. It then opened up and was very intuitive and straight forward. Everything seems to work OK with it. It was not Stealth, as it made the following entries in my registry.

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\t2k
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\t2k
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.t2k\OpenWithList
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache
HKCU\Software\Teach2000\MainForm
HKCU\Software\Teach2000\MRUFilez
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\*
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\*
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\t2k
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\t2k
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.t2k\OpenWithList
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Teach2000\MainForm
HKU\S-1-5-21-776561741-583907252-682003330-1885\Software\Teach2000\MRUFilez

The reg entries are minimal IMHO, considering what this program does. I made a Spanish study guide right off the fly for my son, in about five minutes. (It actually took longer waiting for him to find his vocabulary list! ) It allows you to set up a test in mulitiple ways. Exact match, multiple choice, ignore case, word scramble, and even a space invader game where the questions drop from the top of the screen and you type the answer before the question hits the bottom of the screen. It was very user friendly. It also allows you to save your test files for use again later.

What does everyone think? Does this deserve to be submitted to the database, or do the reg entries count it out?

[cberkop]

Thanks Ameri-CAIN. I'll look at this and see if I can run it from a CD. The Space Invader Game would make this a blast for the younger students. Learning by Video game! Cool...

[cberkop]

This is a good package, unfortunately it is way too busy for the audiance and creating lage quizes is very cumbersome when you have more than a couple hundred questions.

I really did like the "Space Invader" like game mode, it was pretty cool.

Because the main audiance is going to be primary school kids (grades k-5) the interface needs to be simpler and the test generator should be separate form the actual testing software.

I'll Keep looking...

[Ameri-CAIN]

Once you create a test file in Teach2000 you can generate an html page from the test. Then just save the test.htm file on a blank CD, and the kids don't need the software at all. They just need a web browser at home. I used it on Firefox, and IE and it worked great. If you want to restart the test, you just hit F5 and it refreshes the page, and restarts the scoring. The more you look for this type, thing, I think you will find it gets even more complex. Either that or more $$$. I would appreciate learning about anything you find that is easier to use than Teach2000 that costs the same price. ($0.00)

[joby_toss]

There is also an usb version of Teach2000 on their page:
http://teach2000.memtrain.com/install_t ... hp?ver=usb

If you're not so much into portability, you can also use QuizFaber from http://www.lucagalli.net/en/ . I use it for a long time now and i'm happy with it. It makes html quizes.

Ciao!