Student Engagement is Just A Click Away!

My students use our ActivExpression devices every single day.  I love them because it provides us instant feedback in any type of format.  Multiple Choice…check!  True/False….check! Likert scale…..check!  It even allows us to text in answers….but the latter take FOREVER!!!  The students love them because they immediately know how they are doing on a particular concept.  They like that they can tell me what skills they need to review or receive additional instruction….but they like the texting feature even less than I do.  We sometimes use Socrative but it doesn’t always allow you to track individual student data.  Plus having a netbook and the device out, working, and programmed is so time consuming.

I’m uber excited about our team getting accepted into the 1:1 iPad project and having the availability of ActivEngage on the iPad will be a big bonus. But, I found another program that might just do the trick as well.  Last week I hit the jackpot with a Technology Tailgate post.  Through their post I found…… The Answer Pad.

The Answer Pad uses the iPad as an interactive answer sheet.  You can use if for T/F, multiple choice, and fill in the blank questions for any type of test or quiz.  As a teacher you can use the web interface to set up your class and it will give you results immediately.  With their latest update students can use their iPad just as we would the ActivExpression devices.  Students can even do a thumbs up or down if they don’t understand AND draw their answer!  How cool is that!?

I think the drawing/typing feature is great, because a student who would normally be confused in silence, can ask me question without feeling embarrassed.  My Math partner was so excited, because she can actually have all students work out a problem and see it pretty much simultaneously.

 

I’m going to try it out….you should too!  Let me know what you think!