Tooling

Quizzes & Assessment

Kahoot, Mentimeter, LimeSurvey, Wooclap, Quizizz — classroom polling and graded tests.

"Quiz" covers two distinct jobs: live polls during class (engagement) and graded summative assessment (the test). For surveys / NPS see Surveys & User Feedback; for course-embedded quizzes inside an LMS, use that LMS's native quiz tool plus H5P. For long-term retention via spaced repetition see Spaced Repetition.

Live polling / classroom engagement

  • Kahoot! — free + paid; competitive game-show polling; the K-12 default. Free tier limited to ~20 players in 2026; paid tiers unlock larger groups + question banks.
  • Mentimeter — paid + free; word clouds, polls, ranking, scales; presentation-shaped.
  • Slido — paid + free; embedded in PowerPoint / Google Slides / Webex; Q&A + polls.
  • Wooclap — paid + free; popular in EU higher ed.
  • Quizizz — paid + free; gamified, self-paced; popular K-12. Quizizz AI generates questions from a topic or PDF.
  • Blooket — paid + free; gamified K-12.
  • Poll Everywhere — paid; classic SMS-poll incumbent.
  • Vevox, AhaSlides, Pigeonhole, Glisser — alternatives.
  • Pear Deck — paid; Google Slides add-on.
  • Nearpod — paid; full lesson + assessment platform.

Graded summative assessment

  • LMS-native quizzesMoodle Quiz, Canvas Quizzes, Blackboard Tests, Open edX Problem types. Use these for high-stakes; they integrate with the gradebook and respect the QTI 3.0 standard for question interchange.
  • TAO Testing — GPL FOSS computer-based testing platform; used by ETS, OECD PISA. Heavy but industrial-grade.
  • ExamSoft / Examplify — paid; offline secure-exam app for medical / law schools.
  • Inspera Assessment — paid; popular in EU higher ed for high-stakes exams.

Self-host (FOSS)

  • LimeSurvey — GPL; broadly a survey tool but powerful enough for graded quizzes; question branching, scoring, expression manager.
  • Open edX Problem Types — see LMS self-host; rich coding / numeric / drag-and-drop problems.
  • Moodle Quiz + STACK (math) + CodeRunner (code) — Moodle's quiz engine plus FOSS plugins for math and programming questions.
  • CodiMD / HedgeDoc + Quiz extension — minimalist; fine for low-stakes.

In-class polling (FOSS / self-host)

  • Particify — AGPL; ARSnova fork; live polls + Q&A; popular at German universities.
  • Plickers — free + paid; printed QR-code cards held up by students; teacher's phone scans.
  • OBS QR-code polling, Direct Poll — minimalist tools.

Standards

  • QTI 2.x / 3.0 — IMS Question & Test Interoperability — the way to move questions between LMSes and authoring tools.
  • xAPI for assessment — track answers, hints, time-to-answer.
  • caliper — IMS analytics standard.

Pick this if…

  • K-12 classroom polls, free: Kahoot! Free tier or Quizizz.
  • Higher-ed lecture polls, paid: Mentimeter, Slido, or Wooclap.
  • Built-in to your slide deck: Slido (PowerPoint / Webex), Pear Deck (Google Slides).
  • Self-host FOSS surveys / quizzes: LimeSurvey.
  • High-stakes secure exam: ExamSoft, Inspera, or TAO Testing.
  • Programming / math questions: Moodle + CodeRunner / STACK or Open edX problems.
  • Generate from a PDF with AI: Quizizz AI or Curipod.

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