Teaching Templates in class

Using templates for an interactive class

Teachers: Néstor Hugo Luque / Germán Maldonado Neyra

TEACHING TEMPLATES

Teaching Templates are a set of nine tools for creating interactive, WEB-based exercises, tests and quizzes. The exercises are all basically of HTML type, and are fully portable to any computer with the Windows operating system and a standard browser. They can be incorporated in a Web page on the Internet, or executed as stand-alone programs at home or in the classroom.

No knowledge of any programming language is required to use the tools effectively. The user's only task is to enter the necessary data - questions, answers, texts, comments etc. - and the program creates the Web pages automatically.

In addition to complete control of the content of the exercises, Teaching Templates also allow the author considerable influence on the appearance of the exercises. Changes to the background colour, background images and the addition of sound and image files are just three of the options which are available to customise the Web pages .

Teaching Templates were originally developed at Reutlingen University in Germany for English language teaching purposes. They can be used for teaching, training and testing in a broad spectrum of courses and seminars in educational contexts. They have also proved to be very popular for creating self-study revision exercises for university students.

As with all computer teaching material, the success or failure of the program is determined not by the machine, but by the intelligence, skill and creativity of the user. Our aim has been to provide a reliable, attractive and user-friendly framework, which we hope will enable many people to create material which will really promote and encourage effective learning.
Be careful that working on interactive computer programs can, and usually does, lead at times to a lack of interaction in the classroom.

1. Energy Saver

This template is a further development of the traditional "Hangman" game. You can enter any word or phrase up to a maximum length of 22 letters or spaces. When the quiz starts, the letters will all be replaced with blanks and the guessing game can begin. Six wrong guesses are allowed before the program moves on automatically to the next question. Hints for the user can be provided in written or visual (image) form. In this version of Teaching Templates, any images that you decide to include must be in .gif format. A maximum of 150 questions are allowed in each quiz. The questions are always presented in random order. Questions which are answered incorrectly are saved and presented for revision at the end of the exercise.

Please run the two "demo" quizzes that are provided:

1. For teaching English as a foreign language ("Tools of the TradeES.html")

2. For general knowledge ("American PresidentsES.html")

2. Flash Cards

The quizzes created with this template present the learner with a maximum of 50 double-sided cards with a number of presentation options. The user can decide which side of the cards should be shown first and also has the option to remove cards from the deck.The order in which the cards appear is randomised, and the progression from one card to the next can be effected either manually or with the timer option. The flashcard exercises are useful for vocabulary revision and development and for many other purposes.

Please run the two "demo" quizzes that are provided:

1. one checking some common English abbreviations ("AbbreviationsFC.html")

2. to see how many of the American states and capitals you can remember ("States and CapitalsFC.html")

3. In Other Words

This template offers the user the opportunity to type in the appropriate answers to a randomly presented series of 20 questions. Comments and feedback which appear when the answer is checked are an optional element of the quiz. The revision button enables the user to see all the questions and answers at any stage of the quiz. As with all the Teaching Templates, the quiz should work effectively with entries in any language based on the Roman alphabet. Questions which are answered incorrectly are repeated as the quiz progresses.

Please run the three "demo" quizzes that are provided:

1. one for teaching English as a foreign language ("ProverbsIOW.html")

2. one for testing general historical knowledge ("DatesIOW.html")

3. one to see whether you can count from 1 to 20 in German (GermanIOW.html)

4. Mastermind

This template offers two participants the opportunity to compete with each other interactively in a ten-round quiz. The players must decide whether they would like to answer an easy (low value) question or a more difficult one which is worth more. Questions which are answered incorrectly can be chosen by the next player, so take care!

Please run the two "demo" quizzes that are provided:

1. one concentrating on geographical facts and figures ("GeographyMM.html")

2.one a test of general knowledge ("GeneralKnowledgeMM.html")

5. Gap Text

This template is based on the well-known "Cloze Test" procedure for assessing reading comprehension skills. 20 gaps are inserted either automatically or by choice, and the user selects the correct answer from the words that are hidden in the pull-down selection boxes. The clip and paste procedure makes it easy to import text documents from your word processor. The demo. quiz contains a short excerpt from the American Declaration of Independence. ("DeclarationGT.html")

6. Playtime

As the title suggests, this Template is really "Just for Fun". It combines the variety of the multiple choice template with the interactivity of mastermind and has one or two other gimmicky features. Two players compete against each other with the aim of making as much money as possible ... more in any case than their playmate with the maximum of 50 questions available! As a brand new element in Teaching Templates, we have included the option of linking to a help file with additional information for the quiz user(s). This can be a file which is stored locally or a web address on the Internet.

Please run the two "demo" quizzes that are provided:

1. one quizzing your knowledge of the Bible ("The BiblePT.html")

2. one a rather easy test of facts and figures about America ("AmericaPT.html")

7. Multiple Choice

This is a relatively simple quiz program. A question is written in the box provided and two, three or four answers are offered with the correct answer checked. You also have the opportunity to ask for a short written answer to a question. A maximum of 150 questions are allowed in each quiz. Experience shows that more questions simply bore the user.

Please run the three "demo" quizzes that are provided:

1. one more serious for teaching English as a foreign language ("PrepositionsMC.html")

2.one just for fun ("James BondMC.html")

3.one to show how images can be included in a quiz ("Flags of the WorldMC.html")

8. Question Time

This template uses Dynamic HTML and JavaScript to create a drag and drop quiz format. The task is to drag one of the answers (20 questions and answers are possible) towards the question and to click "check" to see if the answer is correct. In addition to selecting a variety of background colours and images for the quiz, it is also possible to include sound files to support the correct and incorrect messages The questions are always presented in random order. Questions which are answered incorrectly are saved and presented for revision at the end of the exercise. In some configurations, you may encounter a problem with the mouse movements in Internet Explorer.This can usually be helped by changing the background image or the sound file. It seems to occur less frequently in the registered version! In Netscape 6, the drag and drop has been replaced with a "click and check" function.

Please run the two "demo" quizzes that are provided:

1. one for teaching English as a foreign language ("ComparisonsQT.html")

2. one just for fun ("Academy Award WinnersQT.html")

9. What's Your Opinion?

This template asks the user to judge the truth or accuracy of a given statement. Comments and feedback which appear when the answer is checked are an optional element of the quiz.

The revision button enables the user to see all the questions and answers at any stage of the quiz. As with all the Teaching Templates, the quiz should work effectively with entries in any language based on the Roman alphabet. The 20 questions and presented in random order and those which are answered incorrectly are repeated as the quiz progresses.

Two "demo" quizzes are provided ... one based on the differences between British and American English ("VocabularyWYO.html"), and one for testing general English grammar and vocabulary ("MistakesWYO.html").

Quiz Options

In each template, there is a menu where you can select from the various options which are available for each quiz. The options include changes to the background colour or image, the inclusion of sound files and so on. The individual choices are described in more detail in the sections of the help file which deal with the specific templates.

BASIC GLOSSARY

Browser

A program that lets you look at or read documents on the Internet.

Customise

To make or change something to suit the needs of the user.

HTML file

It is a kind of file in Hypertext language. It is a web page.

Template

A model that may be used to produce other similar examples.

WEB-based test

An interactive web page that contains a test.

Teaching Template 2.2.1.-The award-winning Teaching Templates suite is a varied and timesaving set of nine authoring tools to help you create interactive, web-based exercises, tests and quizzes - including Multiple Choice, Question Time, Gap Text (based on the Cloze test procedure), Energy Saver (fill in the missing letters), In Other Words, What's Your Opinion?, Flashcards, Mastermind and Playtime. When the large blue 'T' menu displays, click on the template you...

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