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Sharing Tips and Tricks of Using Technology in the Classroom Part 2

In your courses you have been asked to share your tips and tricks of using technology in the classroom.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Carlie F. on March 25, 2012 at 4:28pm

Survey Monkey is a free online survey tool that allows you to create your own survey. You may choose from a variety of question forms such as multiple choice with one answer, rating scales, essays, multiple choice with more than one answer, images, etc. You are also able to share your survey through posting a link, emailing the link to a friend, or embedding the survey to a website. This would be a great resource to see how comfortable your students are feeling with certain content or as an assessment of their prior knowledge on a specific topic. This tool also shows you results and how common each response was. The only downfall is that you cannot use more than ten questions in your survey without paying. Here is a link to assist you in case you are having trouble getting started. Survey Monkey Assistance

Permalink Reply by Liz Klein on March 25, 2012 at 9:40pm

Getting student feedback can be hard in a classroom. Sometimes it takes so long to analyze the information that you receive. However, after learning about online surveys, getting instant feedback is so easy! Online surveys will analyze the data for you and even create charts to display the information. I attached a survey that I created on my classroom blog. I felt that it was a great place to put it because all of my students access my blog on a daily basis. I plan on using survey monkey to create more surveys to put on my blog to get student feedback on things that I do in class. After discovering google forms and survey monkey I felt that survey monkey was easier to use. Here is the website to survey monkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com

Permalink Reply by Elise Fiechtner on March 27, 2012 at 10:05am

I LOVE using Google Forms with students and to collect information from staff. When I use Google Forms with students and they have submitted their work, I like to have them analyze the results. Google Forms creates really great graphs and with middle-schoolers that need more practice analyzing data, this is a great tool. I feel like I get a lot more bang for my buck when using Google Forms because I can extend the learning to this type of graphical analysis. When in Google Forms, you simply click on the "Form" tab on the tool bar and then choose "Show Summary of Responses." Because our district has created student accounts, I've been working with kids to create and analyze their own forms. Analysis of their own forms has been really interesting. Because the kids have created the questions and really understand the information they are seeking out, they are extremely in-tune with the results and look at the data much more critically.

Permalink Reply by Brian Jenks on March 27, 2012 at 10:51am

My Survey Experiences

I have created and used various types of surveys over the past 20 years to poll my student's/end user's experiences and opinions on the instructions and content I have provided them. I've found that what I get back depends on both the effort I put in to create thoughtful and pointed questions, along with an explanation on why I am providing the survey, and what I plan to do with the results. Some things to consider:

1) Ask concise questions (and answers, if you provide selectable answers), that can be clearly interpreted by the people you are surveying. If you ask vague questions, expect vague answers.

2) When providing selectable answers to survey questions, consider also including free form text areas, where the responder can add their specific comments to why they answered a certain way.

3) Recognize that survey responses may not be as expected; some folks do not like to "make their voice heard" and some folks may answer differently than they normally would, if they believe the survey results might provide them with some sort of benefit at a later time. I've found instances where responders gave me what they thought I wanted to hear (not what they truly felt) or what the general consensus was for their group.

4) Tying in with #3 above, you may want the user to identify themselves by something other than their name (age, male/female, role, etc.). I've found anonymous surveys provide "truer" expected replies.

5) As mentioned, it is helpful to provide instructions on how the survey results will be used, and then publicize the results to the group that was surveyed.

Recently I've used Survey Monkey (free version is limited to how many questions and responses), and Google Forms. Both are recommended, although I would use Survey Monkey for small, one-time surveys, and Google Forms for more involved and/or long-term surveys.

Permalink Reply by Brian Jenks on March 28, 2012 at 9:11am

It was easier for me to have the survey questions (and survey format) identified/written out ahead of creating it. Survey Monkey offers different ways to select answers (multiple choice, text box, ratings, etc.) and different ways to display them (horizontal, one column, multiple columns). I think changing the design makes for a more interesting survey.

Permalink Reply by Lauren Wasiloff on March 27, 2012 at 10:59pm

I really haven't had much experience with creating surveys in the past. Recently I have learned a lot about surveymonkey and Google Form (google docs). After reviewing both, I think they are each fantastic tools to incorporate into the classroom. I tried creating a survey in both formats, first in Google Form then survey monkey. Both have great benefits. One downfall I did find in Google Forms is in the question/answer formatting. For example, if you wanted to create a scale question, you can only add the weight for the highest and lowest number. Besides this small disadvantage, the use of surveys can not only assist teachers in keeping track of student understanding, but can be an educational tool for students. Students could also easily create their own survey, or learn strategies to analyze results. I hope to incorporate a survey into my kindergarten classroom, for students to analyze data. We have been practicing this skill, and creating a survey would be an effective tool to support meaningful learning.

Permalink Reply by Mary Ewald on March 28, 2012 at 1:36am

Surveys

1) I embed the concept of surveys into research papers for primary research. First, I teach my ESL students how to make questions, i.e. the grammar of questions, Then, we learn how one question can elicit different kinds of information.

2) They decide on one topic question for their research paper. Then, they write 10 questions based on the main topic. They have to evaluate which questions that they use in the survey. They must look at redundancies. They must look at which question format is the best.

3) Next, we look at whether the questions are written in a logical order. If, for example, one is doing a questionairre about smoking habits, and they don't have the question in the survey, "Do you smoke?" Then, they are going to be wasting their time.

4) While doing their surveys, I have used Survey Monkey to some extent. It depends on the time left in the year. Students use Survey Monkey to send their questions to two groups: Family/Friends and Non-ESL Students. In this way, they get an objective viewpoint since during a n actual face to face survey, both groups might not be as objective as the researcher might like. We use the results from these two groups to then write the first set of reports detailing the data gathered into the graphs and bar charts. I like Surveymonkey because it complies the data into the graphics so that students can then see which GRAPHIC best represents the information, or how they want it to be presented.

5) The next two groups of the survey are usually done in person: Faculty/Staff (to help the kids get to know future teachers) and (General Public) to practice approaching strangers to elicit information. These two groups tend to answer more objectively than the first two.

6) By doing surveys online and in person provides for a more balanced picture of the data collected.

Survey Monkey has evolved over the years and it's question base is easier to use. In addition, one of the most difficult tables to set up by hand is the rating scale, and an online tool makes this step very easy.

Permalink Reply by Christine Novak on March 28, 2012 at 7:49pm

I just created my first survey using Google Form. The survey was user friendly, and easy to create. It gave you the option of several different types of question/answer styles including multiple choice and opened ended questions. I created my survey, adding as many questions as I wanted, and when complete "published" the survey. When published, all you had to do, was take the link to be able to complete the survey. When the survey was complete results were available through Google Docs.

This was a great tool, that was easy to use and could be easily applied in the classroom. This would be great for quickly evaluating how students are doing and where to focus your attentions. As all things go, I learned there were several things I had not thought about when creating my survey. The main problem I ran into was with my ESL students. Many of my ESL students struggled with the "literal" meaning of the questions as opposed to just getting a feel for where they are. Also many of them do not have a computer at home and were not familiar with how to take a survey online. I had to go over how to move the mouse, and what to click. My conclusion, think about your survey and what you really are looking to get out of it. Make sure your questions are concise and illustrate the point you are trying to make.

Permalink Reply by Cory Lammers on March 29, 2012 at 10:41am

The w3schools website is a great resource for a wide range of people. The information covers a number of topics and technologies. This site offers a wide range to topics from the beginnings of web design, or starting an RSS reader, to complex HTML mark-up and SQL. The information is presented very well, and quite is easy to follow. Additionally, the site offers examples for just about every topic, interactivity, and offers links to external resource so you can continue the learning experience.

I have used the information on this site numerous times in the past, and for varying topics. It is easy to navigate, well-organized, and very intuitive. I would recommend it primarily to beginners, but it is also a great resource for more advanced users who are looking for refresher information.

Permalink Reply by Tracy Marshall on April 2, 2012 at 4:03pm

Thanks for posting this, Cory. I have used this site a couple of years ago for some things and really found it helpful. I forgot about that site and will certainly make use of it now that it is back in my brain.

Permalink Reply by Guy C. Larcom on March 29, 2012 at 1:27pm

If you are looking for a new and interesting presenting tool I think Projeqt.com is pretty cool. Projeqt can be used to include "live" resources in a presentation. Twitter and RSS feeds will update themselves when they are embedded in the presentation. I think this would be a great way to get students thinking about contemporary issues when working on projects. Let me know what you think!

Permalink Reply by Craig Conley on March 31, 2012 at 3:14am

Wow... that site is very cool Guy... This will take the old Power Point presentations to a whole new level. I have been embedding video and sound for years, but live linked feeds from the internet makes it even more relevant.

You could create a base presentation that covers the curriculum and provide links or RSS feeds for more information on any given point.

Thanks for the tip!