Zaption is an interesting video assessment tool that I tried when it was in beta last fall. This afternoon I received an email from the Zaption team asking me to take a look at the new version of the service. I was impressed by what I saw when I tried it this evening.

Zaption is a tool for creating video-based quizzes. Unlike some services like TED-Ed that have students watch a video then answer questions at the end, Zaption allows you to display questions for students to answer as they watch a video.

To create a quiz on Zaption you start by creating a “tour” in your account. A tour is a combination of videos, images, and text arranged into a sequence. To add a video to a tour you can search and select one within Zaption. Zaption pulls videos from YouTube, Vimeo, PBS, or National Geographic. After choosing your video, start watching it then pause it when you want to add a question. You can add questions in the form of multiple choice, open response, or check box response. When students watch the video they will see your questions appear in the context in which you set them.

As mentioned above, Zaption tours can include images and passages of text along with your video. You can add questions over images and or between images and text. Take a look at the Zaption showcase for some great examples of Zaption tours that incorporate video, images, and text.

Applications for Education
Zaption could be a great tool for creating flipped lessons to share with your students. Students do not have to have Zaption accounts in order to use the tours that you create. The free version of the service allows you to include one video per tour (you can have unlimited tours).