By: Dana Hathaway and Esha Bagora
Editorial Editor and PR Manager
In mid-October, LGHS students pouring into school were met with a flyer and robot car (with a QR code) at every turn. The papers with blue and black text declared that a free version of Quizlet specifically designed for LGHS students was available to them. Students and faculty scanned the bold QR code to visit “Quizza” — a website created by junior Collin Wentzien and senior Ryland Goldman.
Quizlet, a beloved platform offering digital flashcards and learning tools, shifted to a new subscription model at the beginning of this school year. With these changes, the app-website combination restricted the previously free “Learn”, “Test”, “Write”, “Match” to quizlet premium owners. When the vast majority of the student population around the world mourned Quizlet, Wentzien and Goldman decided to do something about it. They created Quizza.
Goldman described the process of coding the website as “actually a really quick development. We started it on Oct. 14 and finished it on the 18th…and we’ve been adding features after we released it.” Wenztein explained that the website “doesn’t exactly mirror [Quizlet] because that would get us sued, but it has similar features. We have a flashcard mode [and] a learn mode which is either free response or multiple choice.” Once they had the website up and running, the next step was spreading the word.
“We made a flyer that we thought would catch people’s attention by putting the word quiz on [it] so people knew what it was…and the QR code car,” Wentzien explained. The website “got about 6,400 views.” Word-of-mouth was also integral to marketing Quizza, as it brought in most of the website’s users. The pair have also noticed that Quizza’s use “spikes in the evening, because that’s when obviously people are more likely to study. I’ve noticed anywhere between ten to fifty people use it per night. It really just varies.”
At the moment, Goldman and Wentzien are adding more features to Quizza and trying to expand to other schools. “We’re going to keep adding stuff, we have a forum on there for suggestions and other features to add. So, as people tell us what they want, we’re gonna put it in.” They are in the process of adding a Kahoot-style item to Quizza, as well as the ability to select which answers come up for specific questions. Goldman and Wetnzien said that once those features have been developed, tested, and released, they’re “probably going to try and expand to some other schools in the area too…like Fisher [Middle School].”
Currently, Quizza is personalized for LGHS. Students add their own sets to an LGHS class. For example, a sophomore creating a vocabulary list might add the set to the “English 10 Honors” class. This feature allows students to easily access study tools others have created, and maximizes studying time.
Overall, Goldman and Wentzien are pleased with their product and its reception at LGHS. Wentzien mentioned, “Someone called me God. I took that as a great compliment.” Goldman added, “People liked it, obviously, because we were offering a paid service for free, and it just helped people out.” You can access Quizza and its (free) resources at quizza.org.
Categories: Web Exclusive