I've seen this before. I didn't understand why someone would go to the trouble of inputting all your stuff into Hot Potato, when you could just type it out in Word and have kids take a test or complete a worksheet on paper. The site really doesn't do much of a sales job. Are their other features that make it more valuable to teachers than paper and pencil would be? I've been really curious about this.
Thanks
Hot potatoes is a nice enough tool, not web20 but useful when wanting to give extra practice and school is clamping down on printing/photocopying.
Another not web20 script I found recently enables you to make 5 different vocabulary games by simply changing one text file. It's so easy k6 students could make the quizzes themselves.
Downloadable from here http://www.spellmaster.com/
If your looking for something with a bit of a web20 feel for it, user generated games, community, try purpose games. www.purposegames.com (only one kind of game can be made - but with a bit of creativity some nice things are being done there) and the community is friendly.
http://quizlet.com/ input vocabulary words & Quizlet gives you a specialized learning mode, flashcards, randomly-generated tests, and collaboration tools for classmates to help you study those words
Well, I've never used it in lieu of a test. I use it mostly as a review or fun activity. For example, by the end of the year I've done every kind of vocab. review under the sun. An interactive crossword puzzle or matching game is a fun way to reach those kinesthetic learners. It's also something different. And it takes me about 10 minutes to input and post to a site, so it's not a big deal. But if it doesn't work for you, stick with pencil and paper. There's nothing wrong with tried and true :-)
I've been a big fan of http://quia.com
It takes basic test and transforms it into a number of different game options w/o additional hassle. You can share the URL and anyone can use it. Very nice.
Seen Hotpots, tried purposegames (thx Susan). Students creating quizzes for their peers has proven to be a very popular lesson with the sport students I teach (competitive by nature). So we started a collection of recap games and such like for staff delivering on this course, feel free to use as many as you see fit and I would love you to add any new suggestions. http://btecnationalsinsport.wikispaces.com/Classroom+Quizzes
One of my students drew my attention to online version of an old UK 80's teenage tv quiz, Blockbusters. Very easy to use and the students were strongly engaged in the task. Heres as example of a student quiz in Health and Saefty in sport. http://www.teachers-direct.co.uk/resources/quiz-busters/quiz-buster...
Just wanted to say thanks, I did visit your website, followed a link to the "Scratch" website and downloaded the program. I've been looking for a game making program that would be easy enough for my non-English speaking elementary students for a long time, Scratch looks as though it will fit the bill. We'll be giving it a try next week - I'll let you know how we get on.
Moodle has hot potatoes built into the program. If your school system isn't using moodle, try and get it installed and play around with it. It has to be on the server [I think], but it is a great classroom management tool. It has all types of features (e.g. chat, forums, hot potatoes, quizzes, etc.). I love it! http://www.moodle.org
We have it on our intranet currently, but I hope to get it put on the Internet soon. Wish me luck!
I haven't played around with it much yet, but read last week about iQuiz...a program that allows you to make quizzes to be taken on iPods. I know there are a few systems around mine that have sets of iPods for the kids to use (we don't), but the concept seems cool. I wonder...is there anyone out there that's used this with students?