SOCRATIVE

Socrative is another web based application to which I was introduced to.  This is another assessment type tool which can be used in different modes.  Once you have prepared a quiz then you can login and issue your learners a room code for them to gain access, but only a maximum of fifty learners can be logged into the room. The quiz can then commence.

As shown below it allows for quizzes to be teacher paced, student paced and student paced with immediate feedback.

The quick question option allows for multiple choice, true or false, or short answer, all of which offer differentiation in the level and type of questions and answers.

Another mode allows for the assessment to be in teams and encourages group discussion, peer learning, competition and the option relating to immediate feedback and scores.  Dervan (2014) finds that the use of a student response system such as Socrative helps the lecturer and students to better engage and be involved in the learning session.

The key part of using Socrative is the reports which can be obtained, as shown below.

The reports will allow the teacher to assess which question areas the learner is in need to help and where they are doing well in.  The live feedback option allows the teacher to then adapt the lesson and perhaps recap on their prior learning to reinforce concepts to allow learners to progress onto the next topic section.

What is clear about Socrative is that it is principally an assessment application and without any presentation features.  This is great as the lesson can have set assessment points when learners can log in and complete a quick quiz, which will help those shy learners who might be reluctant to answer in front of the rest of the class.

Although I have not had the opportunity to use the software at this juncture, I will be looking to introduce it in my placement and also when teaching in my volunteering role.

References:

Dervan, P 2014, 'Enhancing In-class Student Engagement Using Socrative (an Online Student Response System): A Report', AISHE-J: The All Ireland Journal Of Teaching & Learning In Higher Education, 6, 3, pp. 1801-18013, Education Source, EBSCOhost, viewed 13 January 2016.

http://www.socrative.com/ (Accessed on: 21 October 2015).

HOT POTATOES

Hot Potatoes is a downloadable freeware which I came across as part of the module.  I found it easy to use and it enables you to enter questions and answers to create crosswords, multiple choice quiz, short answer quiz, fill in the blanks type exercise, jumbled sentence, matching or ordering.  As Sadeghi & Soleimani (2015) state, the software will allow teachers to be creative by creating web based interactive resources which learners can use.

Will I use it during my teaching?  It is useful as a tool to create quizzes, crosswords etc. to be used as lesson starters or as a form of assessment for learning.  Reece and Walker (2006) state that Hot Potatoes helps with differentiation as it allows for different assessment methods and the learner is physically interactive with the software.

The main requirement is that it does require an internet connection, uploading the quiz file on to the server and use of computers with Java installed.  So, ideally if you are in an ICT lab then it would be suitable, however for the majority of my lesson delivery in accounting this would not be suitable as it is in either lecture theatres or tutorial rooms.  There are other alternatives such as LearnClick but there are subscription costs.

In my volunteering role, I have used the quiz as part of assessment but also as part of a competition between teams of learners.  The learners engaged with it as it was different to a quiz sheet but also helped with teamwork and communication skills.

The application can be downloaded at https://hotpot.uvic.ca/index.php.

References:

https://hotpot.uvic.ca/index.php (Accessed on: 20 October 2015).

https://www.learnclick.com/ (Accessed on: 16 December 2015).

Reece, I. and Walker, S. (2006) Teaching, training and learning: A practical guide 6^th edn. Sunderland: Business Education Publishers.

Sadeghi, N, & Soleimani, H 2015, 'A Description and Evaluation of Hot Potatoes Web-authoring Software in Educational Settings', Theory & Practice In Language Studies, 5, 11, pp. 2407-2415, Education Source, EBSCOhost, viewed 13 January 2016.