This project (2018-1-SE01-KA201-039098) has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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TITLE
CoPuzzle
LEARNING OBJECT
A multiplayer math quiz template
NAME OF AUTHOR(S)
Kai-Mikael Jää-Aro
DATE OF PRODUCTION
2019
TYPE OF PRODUCT
Online Game
SUBJECT TAUGHT
Math
LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE
Basic
TARGET GROUP AGE
10 – 13 years old
TUTORIAL SUPPORT
No
DESCRIPTION
CoPuzzle is a quiz template. It consists of a Google Spreadsheet with three sheets. The sheet Picture contains an image, hidden behind a grid of black patches. The sheet Answers is hidden except to the teacher and contains a matrix of questions and their answers. The sheet Input contains a corresponding matrix of names. The questions and answers are most easily used for math questions, but can be adapted to other subjects.
During a lesson the teacher distributes the Input sheet to the pupils, attaching questions to the names. The pupils fill in their answer to the question in the box with their name. If they answer correctly their response box turns green, and the corresponding black patch is removed from the Picture sheet, which is visible to the entire class. When each pupil has responded to their question, the full image is finally visible.
INNOVATIVE LEARNING OBJECT
We have used Google Spreadsheets to create an online math quiz platform for simultaneous use by a class.
EXPERT'S COMMENT
The original inspiration was a suggestion by a teacher at Ronnaskolan (RS). The aim was to have a shared quiz where each pupil can see the progress of all other pupils, thus hopefully being encouraged to excel on their part of the quiz.
Google Sheets are a convenient way of developing distributed applications, as they have a simple interface combined with automatic distribution of events to all viewers/users of a given sheet [1]. GoogleScript, a version of JavaScript extended with functions to manipulate Google G Suite documents, lets a programmer extend the functionality of a spreadsheet [3].
Unfortunately, image operations in Google Sheets are not very efficient, so updates of the Picture sheet are very slow.
The application was demonstrated to the RS teachers and received several suggestions for improvements, but it was noted that the teachers were not allowed to use Google Suite in school, as it is not GDPR compliant [4], even though this particular application does not necessarily store any student-specific information (instead of names, numbers or other nonce identifiers are just as easily used).
The basic idea could probably be reimplemented in Office 365 [2], which however is a more difficult programming environment.

[1] Google Sheets: Online Spreadsheets for Business | G Suite: https://gsuite.google.com/products/sheets/. Accessed: 2020-02-07.
[2] Microsoft 365 Education: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/buy-license/microsoft365. Accessed: 2020-11-24.
[3] Overview of Google Apps Script: 2019. https://developers.google.com/apps-script/overview. Accessed: 2020-01-27.
[4] The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union 2016. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).
TEACHER'S COMMENT
CoPuzzle is a spreadsheet that allows you to "discover" an image if you answer well to math questions.
These questions are very simple, suitable for elementary or junior high school students.
I think it could be a new way for students to practice, perhaps using more captivating images to discover, or with sayings or jokes suitable for the students to whom it is addressed, just to have the desire to discover. For example, I would give each student a different photo.
CoPuzzle is simple but its idea could also be used in other contexts, not only in mathematics, because it can be good for any type of closed answer here.