Michelle Ott

SEYS 753- Assignment 1

September 26, 2013

Professor Murfin

JeopardyLabs is a Web 2.0 application created by Matt Johnson, an undergraduate student at Washington State University. This application allows you to create Jeopardy games to play in your classroom. It does not require the use of Microsoft Power Point. The website gives you access to games that have been created by other users or provides a template to create your own game.  After creating the game the application gives you two URL links. The first link brings you to the game you created and can be accessed from anywhere with Internet connection. The second link is the link you must follow if you want to make edits to the game you created. You also have the option to download the game, allowing you to access it without Internet connection. This application is targeted to anyone that wants to make his or her own interactive Jeopardy game. The application just requires an Internet connection to run. I tested it and did not see any bugs with both Firefox and Safari. No software needs to be installed; your game can be downloaded if you want to use it without an Internet connection.

 The user interface was very easy to use. All of the links worked properly. The game was easy to create and understand from just trying out different links. The application also had a page of frequently asked questions. This page was useful in finding more general information on the program. It also answered some questions that I had specifically regarding accessing without an Internet connection. 

 The strengths of this application are it is free software. It does not require the support of anything that costs money. The application is easy to use and very user friendly. You do not need to sign up for an account and can always access your games through the link provided or by downloading the game yourself. 

 The main weakness I found in this application is the organization of the templates. The templates are the games already created and stored on the website. The templates are not organized by any categories (that I found). They are also saved by the name the creator picked; these names can sometimes be misleading. I’m sure there are a lot of good games already created but I was unsuccessful finding a useful one in the twenty minutes I searched the website.

 In my classroom I would use a Jeopardy game as a unit review before a unit test. This is a great way to engage students, create competition, and review the exam. I could also use the computer application as an extra credit or a group project. I would challenge students to come up with their own game. They game would be to be specific to a topic, have correct answers, and be challenging to the students. The third way this application could be useful in my classroom is it is easy to share. I could post the link to the game on a web page to share with all students. They could use these games to review for the final or midterm. I could also share the games with my colleagues to use in their classroom. 

 This application seems to work with few kinks and can be very useful for all teachers. My tip for other science teachers is to create your own game. I found trying to look through the already created templates a waste of time. Maybe in the future the creator of the website will create an organization for the templates.