PARTICIPATION APPLICATIONS

Another tool I wanted to learn more about surrounded the need for applications that encouraged participation. I started with these three sites:

http://www.polleverywhere.com/
https://www.classpager.com/

http://www.gosoapbox.com

All three are geared around asking questions and receiving responses. The applications for these tools are numerous: they can be used for parent and student surveys, as assessments to determine where students are with their learning before, during, and after instruction, and for professional development as colleagues can offer feedback on instructional systems, attitudes on school improvement, and responses to different types of surveys and polls. All three are valuable tools that encourage participation, but I choose PollEverywhere as focus of my Toolbox Studies.

PollEverywhere (Found at http://www.polleverywhere.com) is a website that allows teacher to design surveys, polls, and quizzes before participants take them using computers or text messaging. A number of different question formats are available, from selected and written response items to open response and uploadable images that allow users to click on a region to denote a choice.

Once a poll has been created, teachers can use the editing software to change the appearance with text, color, design and layout. Nothing is posted until the teacher is ready to go live, and results are reported in easy-to-read visuals that show who responded and how they responded.

Quality assessment can mean the difference between quality instruction and students that continue to struggle to learn. Having tools like Poll Everywhere allows for many opportunities for feedback, not just assessing student knowledge but disposition as well. Parents can also be asked questions and provide helpful insights regarding the strengths and needs of their children, their attitudes and opinions about particular components of the school and classwork as well as providing them an opportunity to provide feedback at a time that works best for them. Teachers that value good communication with their students and students' families will want to consider using websites like these to improve and enhance this correspondence.

Poll Everywhere can be found at the above web address. Like many sites, it also has a tiered pricing table as seen below:

For many, the free version will offer plenty to get started polling and assessing students and family members. If additional features and options are desired, the cost will increase, like using the program school wide, offering the ability to share polls among other teachers, and having more control managing accounts.

For additional information and pricing info, go to: http://www.polleverywhere.com/ and https://www.polleverywhere.com/account/plans/k-12

ISTE Standards for Students

(Click on the link above for descriptions of the following standards this tool can address.)

       Creativity and innovation (c)

       Communication and collaboration (a, b)

       Research and information fluency (b, d)

       Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making (c)

       Digital citizenship (a, b, c, d)

       Technology operations and concepts (a, b, c, d)

ISTE Standards for Teachers

(Click on the link above for descriptions of the following standards this tool can address.)

       Facilitate and Inspire student learning and creativity (a, b, c,d)

       Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments (a, b, c, d)

       Model digital age work and learning (a, b, c, d)

       Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility (a, b, c)

       Engage in professional growth and leadership (a, b, c, d)