With all the iPods that are out there and the power of mobile devices to differentiate instruction, I’ve been looking at various ways to incorporate more interactivity into iPod content.
I started with Quizzler, a program that I really love for handhelds. A big benefit of this is that if you already have a bunch of Quizzler quizzes created, it’s an easy port. However, the features of this are pretty basic and include no multimedia support.
Next I got the quiz program PodQuiz Maker. It’s basically a front end to the Notes program. Good idea, but not the greatest implementation. It does have a way to link to sound and video files, but it’s very awkward.
Then Apple announced the new iQuiz program as an iPod game. (Tony Vincent has written a review of it here.) It has a beautiful interface, but no way to link to sound or video files. For my envisioned application in education, this misses the whole point. (We want to be able to provide information and then have a way to interact with it.)
Next, I found Mogopop. This is getting closer. They have a nice web-based interface for content creation. You can link to sound, video, and images. There’s no built-in way to do quizzes, but you can do this through hyperlinks. The program is very new and seems a bit buggy in places, but it has definite potential.
Here’s a sample project I made:
manager(You’ll need to download the Mogopop Manager program to download this to your iPod.) Once you get it to your iPod, it will be in Extras.
The next thing to build into this is recordkeeping. That’s a big project though.
Does anyone know anything else out there for creating interactive content for the iPod? I’m not sure whether to wait until Apple realizes that closing their device to developers is unwise (probably a very long wait), hope some developers come out with better tools, or start working on something myself.
I have used handhelds in the classroom and Quizzler to prepare my quizzes. How do I get the quizzler quizzes onto the ipods so that students can take the quizzes on their ipods?
Thank you!
Mario Gerhardt
Chagrin Falls High School
It’s pretty straight forward. Using Quizzler Maker v.5, there is a To iPod button at the button. Select a quiz, tap To iPod, and then Export. It puts the files in the Quizzler/For iPod folder. From there you just copy it to the Notes folder on your iPod.
Quizzler on the iPod doesn’t have all the features it does on the handheld, but it’s a great study tool.
Thanks! I will try it…
Mario Gerhardt
Chagrin Falls
It is not so straight forward. The quizzes are in the Quizzler/for iPod folder. I cannot transfer the quizzes to the Notes folder as I cannot find the Notes folder. The instructions under iPod support are anything but teacher friendly.
To get to the Notes folder on the iPod, just plug it in and then open it from the desktop. (On Windows, double-click My Computer and you’ll see it there, just like a USB drive.) You will see the Notes folder from there. Let me know if this doesn’t help.
OK, thanks, it worked. Now, can you help me make my quizzes available to my students so they can transfer them to their iPods? I have a classpage on both Blackboard and Edline. Thanks!
Yes, you can share it with your students by taking the Quizzler file that you copied into your Notes folder and posting it to Blackboard or Edline. Then students can download it and copy it to their iPod’s Notes folder.
I am trying to understand what you are saying but it is not sinking in. Do I take the quiz as a textfile and let’s say post it on Edline or Blackboard? Or, do I take the two files in the iPod Notes Folder and post them? I have been trying different things but so far I have had no luck. At this point I feel totally stupid. Thanks for your continued help.
I believe, I have “got” it. Thanks. I will check it out in school.