Engage Your Class With Socrative

High School students at NHS complete a quiz using iPads and Socrative.

At the EdTech conference several months ago, I attended a session which demonstrated how Socrative can be used for assessing student achievement.  We used a variety of mobile devices, and being the geek that I am, I tried it out on both my iPad and my Android smart phone.  I was very impressed with the service, particularly how quick and easy it was to set up compared to Turning Point.  I liked the fact that it is something that is immediately usable in a computer lab setting, without even the need for purchasing licenses.  The interface appeared distraction-free, and intuitive for both teachers and students.  This felt like the future.

Socrative is an online testing platform similar to Turning Point, with a few key differences.  Unlike Turning Point, there are no clickers.  Students use an internet-connected device to answer multiple-choice, short answer, fill-in-the-blank or essay questions.  Any device can be used with Socrative, from desktop computers to laptops to tablets and even smart phones or iPods.  In fact, with its simple interface, Socrative really shines on mobile devices.

Here's a brief outline explaining how it works:
1. The teacher creates an account with Socrative.  This account generates a "room number" that students will use when they go to the Socrative website.  Students do not need their own account.
2. Assignments are created by the teacher.  As mentioned above, the flexibility of the platform allows for multiple types of questions.
3. Students navigate to the Socrative website, and use the number provided by the teacher to join in.  The teacher can set individual assignments so that they are teacher-paced or student-paced.
4. At the conclusion of the assignment, the teacher receives an Excel spreadsheet in their email inbox, with the responses, and, if applicable, a grade report.

The Socrative service is free (for now), and extremely easy to set up and manage.  It is entirely web-based.  For more details, check it out here.

On March 14 and 15, 2012 three of the county's ITRTs attended the EdTech 2012 conference held at Virginia State University.  The conference was organized by Community Idea Stations, a division of WCVE Public Radio/Television in central Virginia. Each day of the conference offered numerous sessions in four time slots.  Some sessions provided attendees with various resources, some sessions were "how-to" sessions while others were demonstrations.  Many of the first posts to this blog will be information from sessions at that conference.

Welcome to the Accomack County Public Schools ITRT blog.  The intention is to blog about tools and resources teachers can use in their classrooms.  The plan is to provide at least one tool or resource per week, along with ideas for their use and/or examples from education.