There are numerous free, online formative assessment tools available to teachers to use today. Most of them require each student to have a device, some require students to download an app and some work better with Google Apps. Through a few blog posts here, I hope to both give you the good, the bad and the reality. Hearing how other teachers are using tools in their classroom provides some "realism" to the hype about a tool.
Mr. Michael Gori, an English teacher at Liberty High School, has been using Socrative since the 2014-2015 school year. Teachers can create a free class account where they can create online quizzes (multiple choice, short answer, true/false) exit-ticket and more. The quizzes can be saved for reuse or even shared with other teachers who are also using Socrative.
The tool can be used in various ways. It can be teacher-paced for the purposes of a large group review, student-based where students receive immediate feedback (but they must answer questions in order) or student-based where students can skip to the next question and return later. The latter scenario is great when using the tool to give small quizzes. Student names and feedback can be turned off while question and answer order can be randomized.
According to Mike Gori, the reporting features are one of the reasons he finds the tool useful for his classroom. When giving a student-based activity, the teacher has access to a live dashboard to review student answers. The color coded look helps teachers scan correct and wrong answers. In addition, the class percentages help the teacher spot problem questions or areas where reteaching is needed.
Specifically, Gori says that using a tool like Socrative can help teachers give feedback to students to help them know what it is that they don't know so they can focus attention those problem areas. Earlier this school year, he used Socrative to assess their knowledge about characters of a play. Students received feedback on whether they needed to reread some of the material in order to be ready for the rest of the subsequent lessons.
Mr. Michael Gori, an English teacher at Liberty High School, has been using Socrative since the 2014-2015 school year. Teachers can create a free class account where they can create online quizzes (multiple choice, short answer, true/false) exit-ticket and more. The quizzes can be saved for reuse or even shared with other teachers who are also using Socrative.
The tool can be used in various ways. It can be teacher-paced for the purposes of a large group review, student-based where students receive immediate feedback (but they must answer questions in order) or student-based where students can skip to the next question and return later. The latter scenario is great when using the tool to give small quizzes. Student names and feedback can be turned off while question and answer order can be randomized.
According to Mike Gori, the reporting features are one of the reasons he finds the tool useful for his classroom. When giving a student-based activity, the teacher has access to a live dashboard to review student answers. The color coded look helps teachers scan correct and wrong answers. In addition, the class percentages help the teacher spot problem questions or areas where reteaching is needed.
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| Sample Live Results Dashboard during a Quiz |
Specifically, Gori says that using a tool like Socrative can help teachers give feedback to students to help them know what it is that they don't know so they can focus attention those problem areas. Earlier this school year, he used Socrative to assess their knowledge about characters of a play. Students received feedback on whether they needed to reread some of the material in order to be ready for the rest of the subsequent lessons.
Features that make Socrative stand out
- Integration with Google Apps. Students can use Google to sign in. Teachers can link their Google Drive to the Socrative site so they can export class reports directly to their Google Drive.
- Report options. Teachers have the ability to create PDF reports for individual student progress, whole classroom results to Excel or Google Drive, and PDF report of each question's statistics.
- Space Race game. Teachers can gamify their quizzes to use with the Space Race tool to make a competition within their classroom.
The details
- Is there an app? There is a teacher app and a student app for both Android and iPhone.
- Does every student need a device? All students should use their own device. Teams could be formed if you do not have devices for each student. Mobile devices work with the website.
- Do the students need to create an account to use it? No. But they may sign in with Google. When students sign in, you can keep track of student past performances.
- Can content be shared with other teachers? Yes! No need to reinvent the wheel if you want to share an activity with a colleague also using Socrative.
Common Sense Graphite has a detailed review of Socrative as well. Check it out here!
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