I recently began using Socrative (www.socrative.com), a web-based classroom response system. I can create multiple choice or short answer questions, and the students can answer those questions in real-time in class from a computer (via m.socrative.com), tablet, or smartphone (via the website or free Socrative app.). We then see the results as a group on the projector screen.<\/p>\n
For those familiar with the show \u201cWho Wants to Be a Millionaire\u201d it\u2019s very similar to the \u201cAsk the Audience\u201d lifeline option where the contestant gets to poll the audience for the most popular (and, ideally, the correct) option.\u00a0 The software even has a race feature that can add a team-based competitive dimension.<\/p>\n
Socrative doesn’t have many advanced features, but that makes it very easy to learn. One of the best features is that students don’t have to create Socrative accounts. Instead they use the room number given to the professor. So, they were setup in a minute or two, conserving valuable class time.<\/p>\n
Socrative supported my learning objective for students to recognize the history of affirmative action in our Human Resource Management course. I could have just given a PowerPoint lecture, but I thought their retention would be poor and their engagement low. With Socrative, I preloaded multiple choice and short answer questions and presented them as \u201cteacher-paced questions\u201d (meaning I got to choose when they were displayed, so I could wait for the whole class to answer before students were allowed to proceed).<\/p>\n
The students made a first attempt to answer the questions on their own. It was fascinating to watch their reactions to the immediate feedback of getting the question right or wrong. After entering their responses, they got my pre-loaded explanation of the right answer (no matter if theirs were correct or not). Then we viewed and discussed the students’ answers as a group. For some questions, the answer was obvious. For others, I knew to spend more discussion time on the topic because the answers were more varied.<\/p>\n
All the students, not just the frequent answerers, were much more participative in the multiple-choice prompter questions than they have ever been. Conversely, my typically open-ended teaching style was enhanced because I reinforced some historical facts before jumping into classroom discussion. I shouldn’t have been surprised but Socrative lived up to its name by providing a question-based springboard to a great classroom discussion.<\/p>\n
Contributed by Kristy Plander, Ph.D.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I recently began using Socrative (www.socrative.com), a web-based classroom response system. I can create multiple choice or short answer questions, and the students can answer those questions in real-time in class from a computer (via m.socrative.com), tablet, or smartphone (via Continue reading Socrative<\/span>