Response Systems

Socrative 2.0 beta version and the new features of Poll Everywhere put these two student response systems at the top of the list for my favorite tools to use in the classroom. Greg Kulowiec, from EdTechTeacher, shares why student response systems are important in the classroom:

1. Response systems provide a check for student understanding.
2. Response systems make student thinking visible.
3. Response systems provide efficient feedback (and immediate if needed).
4. Response systems increase human interaction and debate.
5. Response systems create student-generated understanding.

Socrative 2.0 Beta Version 

Socrative 2.0 now allows students to skip, edit and navigate the assessment questions; the 1.0 version did not allow for student navigation or students to edit their answers. Teachers are now able to see a detailed view of how students are performing in real time as a group or per question; the 1.0 version only allowed teachers to see when students completed questions not how they answered the question. Below are some resources of what the new version looks like and how to get started. 

Socrative How To Guide: (click here)

Scan this QR code to see the new features of Socrative 2.0 or click this link to view video.




Poll Everywhere - New Features
Poll Everywhere has some exciting new features but before sharing I'd like to make a few recommendations:

• Push polls to students using the web address instead of the texting codes. 
• Here's what makes that important...teachers can put the unique web address on a board at the front of the room and the code never changes for the students. 
• Students can save the web address to their phone home screen, and it is all they need to access your polls being pushed. By the way, polls aren't started until you push them.
• Hide results from students
• This allows for efficient feedback and the possibility of debate on that particular question.

My new favorite feature is the Clickable Images Poll. This poll allows the audience to respond by clicking or tapping the image uploaded. This is great for questions where a picture (map, chart, graph, etc.) is needed to provide context. The results look like a heat map. Anywhere a student touches the screen a pin is dropped on that area. To see the Clickable Image Poll in action, click this link.



To read more about the new features in Poll Everywhere, click here.

Side by Side Differences between Poll Everywhere and Socrative. (This chart will help determine which platform is needed per activity in the classroom)

Be sure to visit with a CISD Instructional Technology Specialist for a demo and ideas on how to implement this in your classroom.

Ten Tech Tools to Try this Year

The 2013-14 school year has begun so why not check out some technology tools to use in your classroom this year. Be sure to check out the SAMR model on how to integrate technology in the classroom. It is a simple model that provides assistance when using technology. Click here for the graphic on the four steps of the SAMR model. As you read below considering trying new tools this year or implementing forgotten tools. Whatever the case, take time to click each tool below to learn more information.


Mobile Device Polling:  Poll Everywhere
   ☆ Poll Everywhere allows for live audience participation via texting, web, or Twitter.
   ☆ Cool new feature...results appear in live word cloud and countdown timer.
   ☆ Read more about new features.

Online Bookmarking with Annotation:  Diigo
   ☆ Free educator accounts - click here
   ☆ Bookmark/archive webpages, annotate with highlights/sticky notes, organize by tags/lists.
   ☆ Share one item or whole collection.
   ☆ Great use for research in any class.

Collaboration:  Google Drive
   ☆ Access files anywhere, anytime. Share files and folders.
   ☆ Shared files and folders allow for collaborators to update in real time.
   ☆ 15GB of file storage.

Webmix Collage:  Symbaloo
   ☆ SymbalooEDU available to teachers for their use in the classroom.
   ☆ Symbaloo just went social - read how to share your webmixes with friends/colleagues.
   ☆ Educational Benefit: you can store websites needed for class projects on one page (called a webmix) so students do not have to surf the web. Great for any grade level.

Customized Browser:  Google Chrome
   ☆ Signing in to Chrome brings your bookmarks, history, and other settings to all your computers.
   ☆ Customize Chrome by adding apps, extensions, and themes from the Chrome Web Store.
    ☆ List of my favorite Chrome Apps and Extensions - click here.

Classroom Book Management:  Classroom Organizer
   ☆ Need an inventory system for classroom novels or a way to track checked out books?
   ☆ Scan barcode on books to add them to your account, checkout/return books online or via app.
   ☆ Read more about this free web-based program to help organize your classroom books.

Voice Comments on Google Doc:  121 Writing
   ☆ The fastest, simplest way to give high quality feedback on writing.
   ☆ In Google Drive, right click on Google doc, open with voice comments, highlight and speak.
   ☆ Take grading papers to another level by using voice comments.

Week in Review:  Flocabulary
   ☆ Quality, educational hip-hop videos created to display world events in the Week in Rap.
   ☆ Videos are free and great for social studies or humanities classes for grades 5-12.
   ☆ Check out other free videos on the site by subject and grade level.

Digital Clipboard:  eduClipper
   ☆ Digital clipboard very similar to Pinterest.
   ☆ Clips can be liked, reclipped, shared, or viewed.
   ☆ New feature: create presentation portfolios (add Google Docs, Office files, Images, PDFs, videos).

Parent/Student Contact:  Remind 101
   ☆ Need to get short updates to parents or students? Try Remind 101.
   ☆ One way texting service that can be pushed to users via website or app, schedule texts, 10 classes with unlimited participants, and easy sign-up process.
   ☆ Click here for teacher resources...parent letters, etc.

Poll Everywhere into Flipcharts

Integrating Poll Everywhere into your Flipcharts

It seems that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon--embedding HTML into Flipcharts.  The great thing about this is you need never understand the code, just copy and paste.  The newest use is with Poll Everywhere.

Steps are easy:

1.   Make sure you have the latest version of ActivInspire. 

2.   After creating a poll, copy the embed code from Poll Everywhere.  This can be   found under the ‘Share and Publish’ menu……Live Chart Widget.

3.   In Inspire open the Insert menu, go to ‘Link’ and select ‘Embedded HTML’.

4.   Success!  The embedded poll will receive and display live votes as long as you have an internet connections.

For further information on Poll Everywhere check out their blog.

http://blog.polleverywhere.com/good-news-for-promethean-activboard-and-activ

Website of the Week:

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/topics

For a little summer learning try this website.  It gives you tutorials on so many topics. Not only do you get step-by-step slide shows, but there are interactives, and videos on many of the topics.  Here is an example of a lesson on iPads.  Check it out!