1. The interactive classroom:
Google Forms and Text Polling
Elizabeth Price
Jefferson Community and Technical College
Downtown Library
S
2. Goal: Increasing interaction
S Make classes less lecture-driven and more interactive
S Make classes more inquiry-based
S Adjust to student needs
S Eliminate disconnect in large lecture halls
3. Clickers: The traditional tool
S Primarily used “clickers” or student response systems
S Ensure students understand fundamental concepts
S Give shy students a chance to be heard
S Allow instructors to adapt lessons to meet student needs
S Data can be stored and evaluated later to supplement
curriculum development
(“Seven Things You Should Know About Clickers”)
4. Clickers: Downsides
S Student response systems can be expensive to install
(may run several thousand dollars)
S Require students to purchase (simplest ones are about
$10)
S But if lost, then they have to buy and register new devices
S Good questions are required for effective use
(“Seven Things You Should Know About Clickers”)
5. Harnessing new tools
S Google Forms
S Create questionnaires and have students respond
during/after lecture or as a group activity.
S Require computer-equipped classroom or students to have
laptops or mobile devices with internet access.
S Text Polling
S Create multiple choice or open-ended polls that can be
answered using mobile phones.
S Require students to use their own phones, text messages.
6. Google Forms
S Part of Google Docs - a free,* Web-based software office suite.
S Forms-creating software
S Presentation software
S Spreadsheet software
S Word processing software.
S Can access from any computer with internet.
S Requires a Google or Gmail account.
*Free at the cost of whatever Google does with your information
8. Google Forms: Classroom
S Create and administer quizzes
S Have students work through problems and submit
answers
S Poll students on lecture
S Evaluations – Peer, instructor, assignment, course
S Anonymous surveys
9. Google Forms: Results
S Delivery
S Can be embedded in blog or website
S Can be emailed to students
S Can use a URL shortener to give them a website
S Results
S Can be viewed in Google spreadsheet software (and/or
downloaded to Microsoft Excel)
S Can be viewed in chart or graph form
10. Google Forms: Try it out
S Take this form survey, and we’ll look at the results:
S http://goo.gl/wj8Ye
11. Google Forms: My
applications
S Reading quizzes
S Syllabus quiz - GEN 091
S Student polling: Types of persuasion
S Review slideshow and vote on each type
S Emailed link to students
S Library (or division) workshop evaluations
S Staff surveys
12. Google Forms: Resources
S Google has many resources available to help you use Forms:
S Create, send, share and edit a form
S Page navigation and how to embed a form
S Add a theme to a form
S Collect and view form responses
S This self-paces learning unit from Boise State looks at applying
Google Docs in the classroom
S Google Docs for Educators
S This handout goes over the basics of Google Forms.
S Handout - Collecting data using Google Docs Forms
13. Text polling
S Web-based student response system
S Turns mobile phones into “clickers”
S Requires computer, projector to see results
S A couple of services available:
S Poll Everywhere
S Text the Mob
14. Text polling: Classroom
S Short multiple choice or open-ended quizzes
S Anonymous, so can’t be tied to particular student
S Can be embedded in PowerPoint or Prezi*
* I had trouble making Prezi work. PowerPoint worked
successfully on my Dell.
15. Text polling: Downsides
S Not every student has free texting
S Work around: Put students in groups of two
S Can take time to run smoothly
S Crafting good questions is paramount
16. Text polling: Service providers
S Text the Mob (www.textthemob.com)
S Requires account
S Free plan:
S Allows you three questions,50 responses per question
S Ad-supported
S Pro plan ($5 per month):
S Allows you 10 questions, 200 responses per question
S No ads
S Still in Beta (so changes can come to platform)
17. Text polling: Service providers
S Poll Everywhere (www.polleverywhere.com)
S Requires account
S Free plan:
S Unlimited questions, 40 responses per question
S Individual plan ($15 per month)
S Unlimited questions, 50 responses per question
S Allows you to identify users
S Plans available for students ($14 per year)
and educators ($399 per semester, no cost to students)
20. Poll Everywhere: Tips and tricks
S Wait until everyone is in the classroom.
S Hide responses until most students have answered.
S Change your instruction based on feedback
S Make sure students know it’s voluntary
S Remind students to put phones away afterward
(Rimland and Whiteside)
21. Poll Everywhere: Resources
S November Learning blog
S Introducing Poll Everywhere
S Ohio University Libraries website
S Poll Everywhere video tutorial (3 parts)
S MERLOT website
S Poll Everywhere – Peer Review
S Handout from workshop
S Poll Everywhere Tutorial - Adelphia University
22. Works Cited
S Burkhardt, Andy, and Sarah Faye Cohen. "The Librarian Says, 'Turn Your Cell
Phones On!'" Lecture. New England Library Instruction Group Conference. Lowell,
MA. 3 June 2011. Information Tyrannosaur. Andy Burkhardt, 6 June 2011. Web. 20
Feb. 2012.
S "Engage Your Audience." Text the Mob. Urban Interactive Studio, 2010. Web. 20
Feb. 2012.
S "How Poll Everywhere Works." Poll Everywhere. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
S Novicki, Andrea. "Instant Class Feedback without Clickers." Center for Instructional
Technology. Duke University, 21 Apr. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
S Kim, Dong-gook. "Using Google Forms for Student Engagement and Learning."
EDUCAUSE Quarterly 34.1 (2011). Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
S Byrne, Richard. "OMG! Texting In Class?." School Library Journal 57.3 (2011): 16.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.
S "Poll Everywhere." MERLOT. California State University, 25 Oct. 2011. Web. 20 Feb.
2012.
S Rimland, Emily, and Alice Whiteside. "What Is Poll Everywhere?" Penn State
University Libraries. 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
S "Seven Things You Should Know About Clickers." EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.
EDUCAUSE, May 2005. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
S "Text the Mob." MERLOT. California State University, 9 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Feb.
2012.
23. Contact information
S Elizabeth Price
S Librarian/adjunct instructor
S Jefferson Community and Technical College,
Downtown Library
S eprice0003@kctcs.edu
S (502) 213-2142
S Professional blog (will be updated with today’s session
soon): http://web2point0intheclassroom.blogspot.com/
Editor's Notes
http://youtu.be/IzgaUOW6GIs
Press F5 or enter presentation mode to view the poll\r\nIn an emergency during your presentation, if the poll isn't showing, navigate to this link in your web browser:\r\nhttp://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/MTk3OTg4OTM5NQIf you like, you can use this slide as a template for your own voting slides. You might use a slide like this if you feel your audience would benefit from the picture showing a text message on a phone.