A test is a container, and the items are what goes inside it. You fill in one short form to create the container, and then add the questions one at a time, choosing for each of them the type that fits what you want to measure. There are nine types, and six of them correct themselves.
The first form is short, and it is the only thing between you and your first question. You give the test a name and, if it is useful, a description that explains to your future self what it was for.
Nothing here is final: the same form opens again from the list of tests whenever you want to change any of it.
Click on any image to see it full size. The screenshots come from a test written in Spanish; the platform itself works in nine languages.
From the item list of the test, "Add item" does not drop you straight into a form: it asks first WHAT kind of question you want to write. Every type is explained right there, so that you choose knowing what you are going to get, and the one you pick takes you to its own form.
Nine types are available. Six of them are corrected by the platform without you reading a single answer, two are informational and do not score, and one — the open answer — is the one you correct yourself.
The sociometric question is a tenth type, and it is not created here: it comes ready-made inside the School sociogram, a system test that you copy with one click. Discover the school sociogram.
Whatever type you choose, the top half of the form is always the same, so once you have written one item you have learnt them all.
Below that common part, each type asks only for what it needs: the options, the pairs, the images, the video or the text with the gaps.
What you are about to read is not a sales pitch written for this page: it is exactly the same explanation that the platform gives you when you choose a type, and the screenshots are the real forms.
Corrected automatically
The student reads a question, optionally illustrated with a picture, and picks a single answer from the text options you define (between two and five). Only one option is correct: you mark it when you create the item. This is the most common type for checking specific knowledge quickly and objectively. Marking is automatic and all-or-nothing: right if the student picks the correct option, wrong if they pick another one; if they do not answer, the item is left blank. It is ideal for revision questions, comprehension quizzes and multiple-choice exams where you want to cover a lot of content in little time.
You correct it yourself
The student answers by writing freely in a text box, at whatever length they need. This is the right type for essay questions, reasoned opinions, definitions in the student's own words, or exercises where what matters is how they argue and express themselves. As there is no single closed answer, marking is not automatic: the answer is flagged as pending and you are the one who reviews it and awards the score from the results screen. It gives you very rich qualitative insight into the student's reasoning, at the cost of manual marking. You can record a reference answer to help you while marking.
Corrected automatically
Shows two columns of texts that the student has to match: each item on the left goes with its counterpart on the right. It is useful for pairing concepts with definitions, terms with examples, causes with effects or dates with events. You define the correct pairs when you create the item and the system shuffles the order so that the student really has to work out the correspondence. Marking is automatic and allows partial credit: the score is proportional to the number of pairs matched correctly, so getting some right already counts. It is a very clear format for revising vocabulary and relationships between ideas.
Corrected automatically
Shows a single picture next to the question along with several text options (between two and five), of which only one matches the picture. The student looks at the picture and picks the text that goes with it. It is useful for identifying what the picture shows — a map, a work of art, a diagram, an animal, a road sign — and linking it to its name, description or function. You upload the picture and define the options and the correct one when you create the item. Marking is automatic and all-or-nothing: right or wrong; with no answer, it is left blank. It draws on visual memory and works very well where the image is an essential part of the content.
Corrected automatically
This is a multiple-choice question whose answers are pictures: given a text or a prompt, the student picks the correct picture among the ones you upload (between two and five), of which only one is valid. It is useful for visually recognising an object, an artwork, a chart, a geometric figure or a scene that meets the condition in the question. You upload each picture-option and mark the correct one when you create the item. Marking is automatic and all-or-nothing, just like in text multiple choice. It is perfect when what you are assessing is visual identification and describing the answer in words is not enough.
Informational: it does not score
Embeds a YouTube video inside the test so that the student watches it as part of the activity. It is an informational item: it does not ask a question or expect an answer, so it does not score. It is used to introduce a topic with an explanatory video, or to show an experiment, a news report or a clip that gives context to the questions that follow. You only have to paste the link or the YouTube video id and the system displays it, ready to play, on the test page. Combine it with answer items placed right after it to assess what the student has learnt from the video.
Corrected automatically
The student reads a question, optionally illustrated with a picture, and answers by picking an option from a single drop-down menu with between two and five alternatives that you define, of which only one is correct. It works just like multiple choice, but in a more compact format: the options are not shown as a list of radio buttons but collected inside the drop-down. Marking is automatic and all-or-nothing: right if they pick the correct option, wrong if they pick another one; if they leave the drop-down unselected, the item is left blank. It is handy for completing a sentence or deciding between similar alternatives.
Informational: it does not score
Shows only a text, with no question and no answer field. It is an informational item that does not score and is used to give instructions, introduce a block of questions, provide a reading passage, a quotation or the context the student needs before answering the items that follow. It lets you structure the test into sections and guide the student with explanations in between, instead of stringing questions together one after another. It accepts the same rich text formatting as any other question. Place it before a group of related questions so the student has all the information they need in front of them.
Corrected automatically
Shows a text with gaps that the student fills in by typing the missing word or phrase in each one: while writing the question you wrap each answer in braces and the system turns it into a gap. There are no options in sight: the student has to recall and type the answer, which demands a firmer grasp of the content. It is ideal for vocabulary, dates, formulas, key terms or completing definitions. Marking is automatic and allows partial credit: each correct gap adds its proportional share of the score. By default the comparison ignores capitals and accents, although you can require both when you create the item.
Multiple choice items — the ones made of text and the ones made of images — can be saved into the item bank of your school as you write them: one checkbox at the end of the form, and the item is in the bank as well as in your test.
The bank is shared by every teacher in your school. What one of you writes, the rest can reuse: a department that spends a term writing questions ends up with a common repository instead of ten private folders. The other types stay in their test, which is where they make sense.
You assign the test to one of your groups and the platform gives you an access code. Your students need no account, no email address and no password: they open the home page, type the code, pick their name from the list and answer.
Everything that can be corrected automatically is corrected the moment they finish. The open answers wait for you in the results screen, where you read them and give each one its mark. From there you get the marks of the whole group, the detail of every student and a report in PDF.
And if what you want to measure is not knowledge but the relationships inside the class, there is a test already written for that: The school sociogram.
An account is free and takes a minute. From the list of tests, one button opens exactly the form you have seen at the top of this page. If you would rather read the detail of every screen first, the user manual covers the whole process.
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