How to Increase Traffic by Creating Your Own Online Quiz Game
Two Major Sources to Create Computer Quizzes:
1. YOU: Do-It-Yourself with downloadable online software or CDs
2. SOMEONE ELSE: Hire a Software Engineer to customize a game FOR you
What Educators Always Knew About Games
Teachers have always used games of some sort to motivate learning and increase retention of subject matter for students. There is an important neurological reason why games fascilitate learning. The video below shows what happens when we are engaged in fun.
It didn't take teachers long after computers were available in the classroom to figure out that this new medium was ripe with learning potential. Teachers the world over realized that creating computer educational games is a powerful tool. Companies like the former Windmill Works were making learning games in the 90s and a CD program called Computer Game Maker for teachers to create computer games customized with teacher-made content. Second Language instructors and Special Education Instructors, especially, started designing creative and instructive online Multiple Choice, Fill-in-the-Blank (Cloze Technique), and Matching Activities with software out of the University of Victoria. They created and continue to create online flashcards and computer versions of "Memory" or "Concentration" game with educational content. Even Jeopardy has a template for creating games that can be customized for the classroom.
But online quizzes aren't just for education anymore. Creative computer-based quizzes can be powerful tools for your retail or professional business, your blog, your app, or your website.
Rationale: Video by Kristi L. Kremers The Neuroscience of Learning - The "Why" for Online Learning Games
Concentration:Halloween App
Creative Uses for Online Quiz Games
For Business
- Draw traffic to your blog or website
- Encourage people to stay longer
on your website or blog - Make a Trivia App or enhance
your content - Brand Your Product
- Build Customer Knowledge Base
For Fun and Socialization
- Personalize a game for family or
friends - Impress yourself with your ability
to just plain do it!
Creative Uses of Games for Your Business
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Let's say you have a website selling kites. You can create a matching game with pictures of your beautiful kites so customers can identify whether they are a parafoil, a stunt kite, a box kite, and so on. It's a perfect way to interact with your product, give customers a knowledge base, and keep them on your website.
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Or how about this? Imagine that you're a writer with several articles about care and feeding of dogs. Create a puppy breed matching game for your website or put a game in an app and list it in one of the app stores! Then link to your articles within the app. (If I can do it, and I have, so can you!)
- If you're a dentist or a doctor, why not put a quiz on your website? Give them the website while they're waiting in the lobby and have them play away on their phones. They'll never notice the wait and will appreciate being more informed.
An example of a popular website using a game to reinforce concepts is the website for the 2006 best seller, "The Secret". They have used the classic memory game as pictured on the right to provide their website visitors with a way to interact with the content of their book and have an enjoyable time on their website.
Various software developers have created do-it-yourself programs that can be adapted not only for educational purposes, but also to engage visitors to your website,blog or app. If you don't have the time to create a game yourself, you can have a developer design one for you. Think of all the fun and interaction your customers could have.The possibilities are endless and just waiting for your creativity.
Freeware from University of Victoria
"Hot Potatoes" or "Half-Baked" software has been around for decades. The Gettysburg Address Cloze Game pictured below was created with " Hot Potatoes 6 " software which was developed out of the University of Victoria. This software is no longer for sale (click here for details) since the developers are devoting their full time to upgrading this amazing do-it-yourself tool which allows the user to create matching, multiple choice, sentence scramble, and CLOZE games along with a maze game called Quandry. Our company has used this software dating back to the 90s and have found it well designed.
Initially, this software was available without cost for any educator or educational website. It was also available for commercial use through purchase. Through the years, we have purchased the Hot Potatoes software and used these games online for both educational and commercial purposes. The developers are now allowing free download of "Hot Potatoes.6" as freeware through the webpage at the University of Victoria. There is no support for this software now. However, several videos on youtube walk you through the games. Trying your favorite search engine with a specific question regarding this software may also yield help and you can always email this author if needed since we have created a number of games with this software.
The following information is taken from the Hot Potatoes home page which is located at the University of Victoria:
"The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. On September 1, 2009, Hot Potatoes was released as freeware.
Hot Potatoes was created by the Research and Development team at the University of Victoria Humanities Computing and Media Centre. Commercial aspects of the software are handled by Half-Baked Software Inc." Version 6 of Hot Potatoes is now freeware that you can download from the website link above.
Gettysburg Address Fill-in-the-Blank Designed with "Hot Potatoes" freeware
A Matching Game Designed with DIY Freeware from "Hot Potatoes" University of Victoria
The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. Hot Potatoes is freeware, and you may use it for any purpose or project you like.
— Hot Potatoes Home PageNumerous Youtube Videos Guide You in Creating Hot Potatoes Games - Search for the Video That Is the Best for YOU!
Create a Digital Flashcard
Flashcard Machine is a free service that allows students, teachers, and professionals to create web-based flashcards for interaction with content. The website allows you to quickly and easily create the flashcards and those flashcards are stored on Flashcard Machine's website. A link to them takes your visitors off your website, however, on "your page", you can customize a message and give the link back to your website. All of the sets of flashcards that you create are located in that single url on their site. Thus the user doesn't have to sign in and can use all the flashcards you have created.
Since the intent of Flashcard Machine is to be a community of users who can share each others' flashcards, you can find cards that enhance the topic of your website or blog.
Flashcard machine is avaible as an app for the iphone and android as well.
Match the Memory is a do-it-yourself online software program created by Curtis Gibby. The website appears to be completely family-owned and the software allows you to input your contact and create a memory matching game. Your visitors can access the games you create on the Match the Memory website. You can import the html in an iframe on your website, but the choice of colors and card backs is limited. The website accepts donations and the video below illustrates the ease of creating a game.
"In-House" Capability
Computer Game Maker Lite is a do-it-yourself tool for creating a computer version of the classic "Memory" Game (also known as "Concentration"). While this classic game has always been thought to be a game to test memory, matching picture to picture, text to text, picture to text and text or picture to sound has the added function of reinforcing information by interacting with it.
One distinct advantage of the downloadable Computer Game Maker Lite program is that the games it creates can be installed on your computer, can be copied to other computers, and are NOT played online. Thus, if you need an "in-house" Memory Matching game that can be installed on your company's computers and don't want it to be played on the web, this is the perfect solution for you. Computer Game Maker Lite software has been used to make Matching Games that are used for staff training in restaurants, reinforcement and motivation of students in schools, and as personalized gifts for birthdays or anniversaries with content that reflects family and friend memories on CDs that can be installed on the gifted person's computer.
They'll Do it For YOU
Don't have time to create a game for your website, blog, or app? Language Rocks customizing division will do it for you at a very low-cost. They also run specials often, so if you're looking for a game such as the Comics Game below, or one like Lucky's Matching for your children's book website, Language Rocks can provide a solution for you.
Screenshot: "Concentration/Memory" Game Created by Language Rocks to Promote Female Comic Show At Spotlight Theater in Studio City, CA
Last, but far from least, is the do-if-yourself software available by QuizWorks, "the online quiz creator". The website is beautifully designed and the multiple choice game making software is easy to use. Your games are housed on the website, but can also be embedded in an iframe on your website or blog. The embedded product is impressive as illustrated in the Spanish Language website link below.
While at the time of this writing, QuizWorks has only the multiple-choice quiz available, they are planning to roll out soon, a fill-in-the-blank, drop down, and "scale questions".
Online quiz creator software from QuizWorks has a tiered pricing system from Level 1 "Tiny Owl" which is FREE for unlimited quizzes no longer than 15 questions, a "Smart Owl", $20/mo. level for unlimited quizzes with unlimited questions, a "Business Owl" level for $50/mo. and a "Custom Owl" level for needs not met by the other levels.
This state-of-the-art website and software is worth a visit for anyone who would like to incorporate quiz games on your business or book promotion website, blog, app, or social network.
A Sample of a Quiz Make with QuizWorks Software Embeded in a Separate Website
Caution
When creating games, be sure that the content you are using is in the public domain, NOT subject to copyright laws, or can be used under "fair use" law or that you HAVE permission if the content is not in the public domain.
Search for More! It's important to note that there are a variety of sources on the web that will introduce you to quiz making sofware. The arrangement of words
quiz game maker
| online game maker
| memory game maker
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matching game maker
| game creator
| teacher game making tools
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make online fill-in-the-blank
| Cloze game maker
| games for your website
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flashcard maker
| make sentence scramble
| create online crossword puzzles
|
multiple test maker
| timeline maker
| diy game maker
|
Whether you create a computer game yourself or have a software developer create one for you, whether a fill-in-the-blank quiz, a sentence scramble, a timeline, flashcards, or a Memory matching game suits your content, you might find that a game on your website, app, or blog will provide value to your customers and readers and a new outlet for your creative ideas.