This course, however, forced me to research and explore Socrative, an online quiz tool, and I could possibly see myself using this in my own classroom - possibly. For instance, it could be a useful tool for short, quick assessments. It allows teachers to develop quick, one question quizzes, pre-made exit tickets, or longer quizzes. There is also the option of incorporating a variety of question formats, including multiple-choice, true&false, and short answer questions. All student responses are easily downloaded to an excel format, which is a convenient feature. Personally though, I still struggle with online assessments. I like to afford students the opportunity to write notes or outlines and to cross off answer options. I feel like this initial strategic/planning stage is sometimes missing when moving to online assessments.
One feature of Socrative that I particularly liked was the Space Race feature. It allows students to work in teams to answer quiz questions and displays their progress in real time using little rockets. This way the teams of students race to finish the quiz. The rockets provide a fun visual aspect and the race itself seems to be a huge motivator for students. This feature definitely has the potential to bring an element of fun to an otherwise boring assessment. On the other hand, I wonder if quality of thought is jeopardized as students may be rushing to answer to win the race and not focused on the actual content.
Overall, I think Socrative has some useful features that some teachers might love, but I am still partial to paper-pencil quizzes (or alternative assessments altogether). I am wondering though if this could be one option to harness the cellphone in my classroom. Students using cellphones for nonacademic purposes is an epidemic at my placement. Could a quick Socrative quiz that students take via cellphone be an option to shift the use of cellphones to serve an academic purpose?
Kim, I also really enjoyed the Space Race component of Socrative. It was extra fun and made learning competitive, which I think is incredibly important. I think most students have a competitive spirit, and the Space Race certainly brought that out in class. There is no perfect educational tool though. I realize that in many respects it only tests factual knowledge, which I think is fine to a certain extent. The program seems to be only concerned with high order thinking. But according to Willingham, factual knowledge is necessary for conceptual learning. I realize the level of thinking can be changed by the type of question as well. With that said, I envision using Socrative as a Jeopardy or Quiz Bowl type activity that’s fun. This type of stuff makes learning memorable and in the process students can take the factual knowledge and build on higher level abilities. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI also found the Space Race as a fun tool to hopefully help students learn. I could easily see this tool being used in my classroom as a sort of "Jeopardy" style game where students could review for a test. Like Stephen, I wouldn't want my students to get stuck on the factual level, but I think it's possible to include questions that test the students at a higher level. I'm hoping to include questions that deal with the text also on a thematic level to cause the students to think in broader terms than simply "what happened at this point in the text." I think history also has the potential to ask bigger questions using Socrative.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the cell phone use. I'd be interested to see if using Socrative would help engage students more than a pencil and paper quiz. I know we've looked at using Chromebooks for the weekly quizzes that the students take, and the one issue I worry about the most is cheating. As long as we can keep the students honest, I think phones may be an excellent way to help get your students engaged.
Dear Kim,
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you bring up the difficulties of online testing pertaining to test taking strategies. You are very right that when taking a test on a computer or cell phone, you aren't able to take notes in the margin, annotate the question, or cross off wrong answers. However, it is important for students to develop test taking strategies for these situations. As technology advances in society, more and more tests are taken online. For example, to get into graduate school I had to take an online test. It is good to give students a chance to develop test taking strategies for these situations in a low risk environment otherwise they may not do well when it comes to the important tests of life. Therefore, don't let test taking strategies for online tests keep you testing on paper. Make sure to mix it up!
Katie
Kim,
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is also partial to a traditional pen and paper quiz format I was surprised at how much I appreciated Socrative. I think it has something to do with the fact that I had a few classes as an undergrad that required iClickers and one class in particular that utilized formative assessments in the middle of each class. I found real value in these quizzes and they actually inspired me to read more in depth (as crazy as that may sound). On a deeper level though I think it is important that students learn to take quizzes on the computer as most standardized tests are trending toward that format. In addition, I find value in the competitive nature of the Space Race feature. As someone who values competition, I can see the positive affect that it has on students. I can also see the other side of the coin though and recognize that turning education into a competition isn't for all students. I think it is good to keep students on their toes with new, fresh activities though and the Space Race feature is a good place to start!