Bye Bye Clickers

I think that I have found an app to replace my Active Expressions clickers: Socrative.

I was originally planning to use Lan School to monitor students and poll them about content. I decided that it was more than I needed. Since the students have their iPads flat on the desk most of the time, it is pretty easy to see what they are working on, unlike laptop screens that can hide Facebook easily. As long as I am up and around the room, they are staying on task. Since I don't need it to monitor students, I only need it for polling students.

I have a set of clickers that work great for keeping students engaged by asking them multiple choice, short answer, and true/false questions. I found that with the iPads, I wasn't using them because it seemed like too many devices to keep track of during a class period. I love the way the Active Expressions works, and am hopeful I can find apps to replace all of the functions I was using.

Socrative was extremely easy to set up. I created an account and downloaded the apps to the iPads. Ready to go in 10 minutes! I can verbally ask questions and have them answer with the app, or I can create a quiz for them to take at their own pace or my pace. My first attempt was great and it was simple to e-mail me the results after they finished. I also loved that they can take the quiz, then hand it to another student to take as soon as they are finished. This will come in handy with my large classes since I only have 30 iPads.