WiZiQ

WiZiQ is not a single web-based education application, like the other software applications we have reviewed thus far. Essentially,WiZiQ - found here at http://www.wiziq.com/ - represents multiple applications; it is a web platform that offers a few different education-related functionalities.

By signing up for a free account with WiZiQ, you'll have the ease and convenience of using a single website to accomplish several very helpful tasks that will foster and improve online learning amongst your student. With WiZiQ, you'll have a personalized administration web page which provides the following options:

Conduct Online Classes

• WiZiQ offers a special interface that allows you to share your desktop activity (i.e Mouse movements, typing) live with a community of online viewers who have decided to watch it. Basically, an online classroom is like chat-room or instant messenger application to the extreme, infused with a variety of rich multimedia capabilities. With WiZiq's online classroom application, teachers will be able to communicate live via audio, video or text chat, whiteboards, presentations (like MS PowerPoint), documents, and other multimedia files.

• My favorite feature in WiZiQ's online classroom application is the whiteboard. A whiteboard is a digital communication tool that provides all of the flexibility of using pen and paper (or, more appropriately, a chalk board), matched with all the dynamic creative tools you would expect from an online communications application. For example, WiZiQ users will have the ability to use shapes, smiley faces, hundreds of colors, special text, and a grid to guide drawings. Usually, whiteboard remind me of the MS Paint application we are all used to. Here is a screen-shot of what the WiZiQ whiteboard looks like (I had a little fun with the creative controls):

• WiZiQ users can schedule online classes that begin and end at set dates and times, and teachers will also have the ability to conduct online classes at a moments notice.

• To access and view these online classes, students can create their own user accounts through WiZiQ and follow ("track") their teachers. In addition, as soon as teachers begin an online class section they are provided with URL that will direct users to your shared class session. This URL should be very convenient for teachers dealing with students who will not be as proactive to create their own user accounts at http://www.wiziq.com.

• This is one of my favorite features of the online class. All class sessions are recorded for later playback form a unique URL. Teachers will even have the option of embedding their recorded online class onto their blogs, teacher web pages, or social networking site.

Create and Share Tests

• WiZiQ also provides the ability for teachers to create both public and private tests. Just like the online classes feature, teachers will be able to provide their students with a direct URL to the test. For example, click here to view a practice test I created.

• However, if your students actually have taken the step to create their own student WiZiQ accounts, you will not have to go out of your way to email your students with the links to the tests you've created . With their student WiZiQ accounts, students will be able to "follow" and "track" their own teachers. When their teachers create new tests (or simply make any updates to their account), student will be notified as soon as they sign into their student WiZiQ account.

• If you use WiZiQ's online test creator, and allow your students to take the online test without having already created a student WiZiQ account, then you (as the teacher) will not be able to view any sort of recorded results in regards to the online tests. The lack of the ability to easily see your students' performance after completing online tests is a similar issue that I have seen with other online testing applications, such as during my review of the ClassMarker application. However, if your students completed your online tests while logged in to http://www.wiziq.com/ with their personal student account, then you (as a teacher) would be able to see their results and track their performance. You could imagine how useful it would be to have your entire class create user accounts on WiZiQ. As a Teacher, you could monitor the individual and group performances of your class right through the secureuser interface offered by WiZiQ.

• With the WiZiQ software, you are limited to creating only multiple choice format questions. So, with only the ability to use a single type of question format, WiZiQ's online test feature certainly has limitations. With the ClassMarker application, you had the ability to create various types of questions (Multiple Choice, Fill-in the Blank, True or False, Long Answer), and ClassMarker even offers the ability to enrich your tests with images and audio files. WiZiQ does not. In addition, ClassMarker just had a more intuitive user interface for test creation and end result provided a more aesthetically pleasing display (Click here for an example of a test produced by ClassMarker).

• Overall, the true power of WiZiQ's online test application is unlocked only when the online tests are completed by students who have taken the initiative to set up user accounts with WiZiQ. When students take the online tests via their own WiZiQ accounts, then teachers will receive detailed reports with regards to their students performance on those tests. ClassMarker only offers a comparable functionality if teachers upgrade to a "pay" account. However, the interface and produced results of WiZiQ's online test maker cannot really compare with respect to the usability and flexibility of ClassMarker. Since ClassMarkerClassMarker over WiZiQ's online test-maker application. As I said above, WiZiQ's usefulness becomes apparent when the students take these tests via their own WiZiQ student accounts, as you could then see performance results and scores for each student. However, we all know how reluctant students can be to take the first step to create their online WiZiQ accounts. In addition, as teachers, we have even experienced how students will make excuses for not completing their work by blaming malfunctions in the software, which do not really exist (i.e. "I tried to take the test, but the website would not let me log in"). So, in choosing an online test-maker, I would choose ClassMarker, in spite of the fact that I would have to sacrifice the potential to see students' results and basically consider online test taking as more of another practice learning tool, rather than an actual exam. offers the ability to have different question formats and produces much slicker and friendlier online tests, I would prefer to use

Upload and Share Content

• WiZiQ also offers a platform for uploading and sharing educational materials. These "materials" can be uploaded in any file type, like .PDF documents, MS PowerPoint presentations, and video files. Here is the link to this very useful, content rich platform: http://www.wiziq.com/content/.

• WiZiQ's content sharing platform can be searched for materials by their subject area (i.e. "algrebra" or "Japan's geography"). As opposed to YouTube and SlideShare, where you are restricted to single content format (i.e. YouTube = rich video, SlideShare = Powerpoint presentations) WiZiQ's content sharing platform offers many different types of media.So, with WiZiQ, you can search for one keyboard and retrieve related content in video, text documents, PowerPoint presentations, and any of the many supported media files types that WiZiQ offers. WiZiQ's content sharing platform is great for teachers who want to provide their students with a variety of ways to learn the same subject material, but who do not have the technical skills or the time to create a video, and a Flash file, and a PowerPoint Presentation, etc. With WiZIQ's content sharing platform, now teachers have access to some great learning tools in multiple file types from a single website.

• Obviously, teachers do not just have to use the existing content on the WiZiQ site. Teachers can upload their own learning-based files to share with the public, or upload files with the intention of limiting access to only those who you want to see (i.e. your students). If you do this, your WiZiQ account will become a convenient, centralized location for all of your educational materials. If you use WiZiQ's great online class feature, then you'll have the ability to easily share your files with your students during that class. The only problem is that WiZiQ appears to limit uploads to 50 MB, and it is easy to have video and audio files larger than 50 MB. (YouTube's file size limit is 2GB. Even SlideShares's file size limit is larger at 100MB, and SlideShare does not even have the ability to have video or audio). However, I'm sure that as soon as WiZIQ becomes more popular they will feel the necessity to increase their maximun upload size, as users begin to request it.

WiZiQ offers many other cool features, as well. Another feature of WiZiQ offers a contact management and social networking system, so that you can connect with other teachers and education professionals. You can " follow"the teachers that upload content frequently and have creative ideas. In addition, WiZiQ has a pretty neat e-commerce aspect to the application, where you can "sell" your virtual classes to public learners. Once again, the old Internet adage "content is king" holds true. If you have a class with informative and unique content, users will purchase it. For more information on how to build a teacher business with WiZiQ, please click here.

Overall, WiZiQ is a very comprehensive one-stop-shop for technilogy-savvy teachers. It is a great way to augment online teacher-student participation and enhance educational technology in general - for FREE.