Increasing Interactivity to Engage Studentspdo.ascd.org/LMSCourses/PD16OC001M/media/Enhancing... · a video tutorial for using Socrative that may help you. Before you allow students

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Enhancing Teaching with Technology > Module 4 > Reading 1: Increasing Interactivity to Engage Students

Increasing Interactivity to Engage StudentsWhen conducting professional development with teachers for the first time, I always start by ask-

ing them why we need to use technology. One of the answers I always dread is that technology

keeps students’ attention. As much as our students love tech, if the lesson is bad or boring, tech-

nology will do little to help. During this reading, you are going to learn about technology that will

keep students engaged or get them to interact with each other. You’ll learn that simply throwing

technology into a lesson isn’t going to keep their attention and can actually be more of a distrac-

tion if it’s not used properly.

Many schools and districts are finally seeing the value of implementing a “bring your own

device” (BYOD) policy. They recognize students have devices in their pockets that are more

powerful than the computers that sent Apollo to the Moon. For years, phones were a “no no” in

schools. But with the creation of apps that focus on formative assessment or productivity, stu-

dents are able to communicate what they know to teachers. Some schools are fortunate enough

to have a 1:1 ratio with school or mandatory student-purchased tablets or computers. Both are

ideal situations that can empower students to connect with each other as well as with the world.

Not every school is this fortunate, but most schools have a computer lab or a mobile cart with

tablets or laptops. If you are in a school that offers these resources, be sure to use them. I often

see schools with two or three carts that either sit in the library or are monopolized by one teacher.

I’ve noticed that when teachers take advantage of available technology, the administration is

more likely to look for money or grants to get more carts or computers.

Ground Rules for BYOD

First let’s go over some ground rules that will help with classroom management when each stu-

dent has a device. Let’s start with phones. I always had a rule that if students were not using the

phones for class, especially during a test or if I was lecturing, they had to keep their phones on

the corner of the desk facedown. This practice really made a difference in my class. Before, I was

always battling for my students’ attention. Half of my students would spend the majority of class

looking at their phones under the desk. Once I instituted this rule, they would stop reaching for

their phones because it was obvious they were picking them up. It also forced them to turn off



the vibrate mode on their phones because of the additional noise, so they had no idea when they

would get a text or e-mail.

I visited a school in a neighboring district a few months ago that had a “lock it, dock it, rock

it” policy. Teachers would hang a sign on the door or in front of the room indicating the use of

personal devices for the day. For example, a “lock it” sign means they are not using personal tech

that day. The teachers had baskets or calculator holders near their desks for students to store

their tech. On “dock it” days, the students can keep their personal tech, but the lessons more

than likely won’t require their use. Those days, students must keep the tech on the corner of the

desk. On “rock it” days, students know they need to have a device for that day’s lessons.

You also need to establish consequences when students misuse personal devices. Have

students set rules for the use of devices. I lead a discussion about phone etiquette—turning the

ringer off in public places, not answering calls during class, and not texting while talking to some-

one. We talk about how in-class devices are used for school only, even though you can’t always

help if you get a message or not. In my classes, we use the district policy and have a three-strike

system. For each quarter, the first time someone breaks the rules, they get a warning. The sec-

ond time it happens, the student loses the privilege of using the device for that class. When they

receive a third strike, the device is taken away and the parents have to retrieve it. These ground

rules are important to establish before students bring devices. Also, make sure that parents have

signed a release so that you will not be held responsible for broken or stolen devices on campus.

Formative Assessment

Now, let’s look at different ways students can use devices to interact and engage in your lessons.

The first is for formative assessment. Formative assessment is not a product or a final test. This

assessment delivers information during the instructional process, before the summative assess-

ment. Both the teacher and the student use formative assessment results to make decisions

about what actions to take to promote further learning. Formative assessments help teachers

know whether students are really understanding the material in class. The problem is that quiz-

zing students or getting feedback can be very time-consuming for the teacher. If teachers have

to grade or check for understanding in a class of 30, especially if they have six classes a day, they



will have mountains of paperwork to look through. This is where technology can not only give

teachers real-time feedback that can help change the direction of the lesson, but can also give

students immediate feedback on whether they are moving in the right direction (not days later

when the teacher has finally graded everything). Knowing immediately where your students are at

a given time can help plan the direction of future lessons.

Below are formative assessment apps or sites that are easy to use, have free versions, and

provide quick feedback. Try a few of them and decide which is best based on what tools your

students have available.

Socrative is an app that can be used on most devices, such as tablets or chromebooks. Stu-

dents should download the app before a lesson. If you are in a computer lab or using laptops,

students can go to socrative.com and click “student log in.” The students can then use their

teacher’s code to access the “quizzes.”

Teachers can create an account by visiting the Socrative website. You can sign in with your

Google account for single sign in. Once you create your profile, you are ready to start. Here is

a video tutorial for using Socrative that may help you. Before you allow students to log on, you

need to create the quiz for that day’s lesson. To do this, you need to click on “manage quizzes.”

You can create a quiz on the website or import a quiz from another teacher or Excel file. In the

“manage quizzes” area, you can view premade quizzes and get results from previous quizzes.

There are four different options to choose from: quiz, quick question, space race (this one is a

game), and exit ticket. I love using exit tickets with my students. At my school, we had to show

how we used formative assessments with our lessons and this was easy with real data. I also used

quizzes as exit tickets. The exit ticket has three questions:

1. How well did you understand today’s material?

2. What did you learn in today’s class?

3. Answer the teacher’s question.

Once your students have completed quizzes, you can export data into an Excel file or you can

view live data. I like showing my students live data so that they get the same feedback I get. In my

class, we discuss the results. It is good to give them praise for doing well as a class. I also find it use-

ful to probe wrong answers, which gives me invaluable information about student misconceptions.

http://socrative.com

https://youtu.be/1wkDwbWM_YQ



Poll Everywhere is a site that allows you to get quick feedback from your students. With the

free version, you can only push out one question at a time. Your students can respond one of two

ways: by sending a text message to a given number or by going to a unique URL. Since it only

takes a minute to create polls, you can make them on the spot or ahead of time. If your students

are answering by text message, you will need to put the questions on a projector for them to see.

The answers can be multiple choice, open-ended (the answers will make word clouds around the

page), a brainstorm, or questions from an audience who can then respond and collaborate with

one another.

Once you sign up for a free account, you can access a dashboard where you can create your

poll. Once you’ve created the poll, the site will direct you to a second console where you can view

results and activate your polls. Here is a great video tutorial on how to use it.

When the students respond, the results are shown in real time so that you get immediate feed-

back. Since you are using a projector, students also see immediate results. Unlike Socrative, the

answers are anonymous. You have no way to track who responded, which can lead to more hon-

est student responses. You can also download the poll as a slide for a PowerPoint presentation.

Poll Everywhere is easy to use. Since I gave up the fight of saying no to text messages in class,

I have been using it for at least five years. My students loved using their phones to send informa-

tion, and classroom interaction grew. One thing to remember is that standard messaging fees

apply. So if a student has a text limit, this counts against it. I didn’t use it more than once a week

for this reason, and every student’s parent had to sign a release.

Kahoot! takes a little more time to use with students. It is more like a “game show” than a fast

quiz. Students respond to questions and get points based on correctness and how quickly they

responded. By the end of the game, there is a winner. Students that I have used this with love the

competitiveness of the game. Actually, adults love it too. Kahoot! has two sites, one for teachers

to create a quiz—getkahoot.com—and one for students to respond to the questions—kahoot.it.

There is also a phone/tablet app that students can use to answer questions.

To get started, visit getkahoot.com and create a free account. Once you log in, you will

be directed to a dashboard. To return to this dashboard later, you can use getkahoot.com or

create.kahoot.it. On the dashboard, you can choose to create a quiz, a discussion, or a survey.

https://youtu.be/cZIwcgwk8MQ

http://create.kahoot.it.

https://kahoot.it/

https://www.getkahoot.com/



Teachers most commonly use the service to create quizzes. Quizzes have a timed mode and stu-

dents get points in a competitive way. Surveys work the same way as quizzes but don’t keep score

(since some students don’t thrive in competitive environments). Discussion modes are great to

use to start class discussions because they only involve one question without a timer. You can ask

a multiple-choice question, see the results, and then discuss with your students why they chose

their answers.

Not only can you create your own quizzes using this service, but there are also thousands of

quizzes already made that you can copy and modify to meet your students’ needs. Sometimes this

is a great starting point. Once you have chosen or created a quiz, you must put the questions on a

projected screen. Your students will not see the questions on their screen. When you start the quiz,

your students will receive a game PIN. The students will be prompted to type in their names. If a

student puts in an inappropriate name, you can delete it with one click. After everyone has logged

in, you can start the quiz. The students will see the color and shapes that correspond with the

questions and answers on the projected screen. Your screen will look like the pictures below.

Teacher Screen Student Device Screen

Students will choose the answer they feel is correct. Once time is up or after everyone answers

each question, the teacher’s screen will display a graph of the answer and the top scores. The

teacher will begin the next question and repeat this process until the end of the quiz. At the end,



the screen will display the points and the winners. After the quiz is over, you will have the oppor-

tunity to download a spreadsheet of student responses. This will help you determine what your

students are learning. Here is a great tutorial on how to use Kahoot!.

What if you are in a school that only has one iPad and one projector/computer per classroom?

Or what if you only have a computer and a projector? If you have a smartphone, Plickers is a per-

fect way to use technology to get fast, formative assessments with real-time data.

To begin, sign up for an account at plickers.com. Once you are logged in, click “classes” and

put in your roster. You can copy and paste your roster in or type in each name. In the top right,

you will see “cards.” This is where you will print off cards for your students. The cards will have a

different shape and number, so make sure your students use the card with their assigned number.

Each card has A, B, C, and D on each of the four sides. These cards look like the pictures below.

Next, you’ll set up a quiz in the “library,” where you can create your questions by clicking

“New Question.” Once you create each question, it will get placed in the que. To start the quiz,

you need to put the Plickers app on your phone or tablet. Once you sign into the app with the

account you created on the computer, you will click on the class that will be taking the quiz. On

the computer that is connected to the projector, you will click on “live view.” It will show the

question on the screen as well as the students with their numbers. On the app, you can change

the questions on the screen. Once you have chosen a question, tap the camera icon. Scan your

phone across the room while the students hold their cards with their answer at the top. The cam-

era will recognize the answers and each student’s name will get a checkmark. You will also see on

https://youtu.be/pFFv6_6was4

https://plickers.com/



your camera screen whose cards are recognized. On the projected screen, you can see a graph of

the answers. Though you cannot download the students’ answers as a report, you can print them

off and archive the results.

My 2nd grader uses Plickers in his class at least three days a week for math problems. The

teacher gives them a math problem, students work it out on their paper, and then they hold up

their answer cards. Their teacher gives them feedback and they discuss how to get the correct

answer. I know many high school teachers in my district that use this service with their students

with great results.

Learning Management Systems

Another way to get students engaged and interacting with each other is through a learning man-

agement system (LMS). These are websites where teachers can post questions and assignments

and students can respond. Two of the most popular services are Edmodo and Google Classroom.

These systems have started to take on the look of social media sites instead of the bulky dash-

boards you may have seen in Blackboard, a popular LMS used in colleges. An LMS is also a great

private place for students to practice proper use of social media.

Edmodo is one of the most popular systems because it’s easy to use (and looks a lot like Face-

book) and has a large number of available features. To get an account, sign up at Edmodo.com.

Once you set up a teacher account, you can add your classes. Your students will then set up a

new account if they don’t have an existing one and add your class code so that they can join your

class account. Every student also has a parent code (found in the student’s profile) so that parents

can see announcements.

Once you are in the dashboard, you have different options for posts. You can post a note to an

entire class, multiple classes, or to one student. A teacher can post privately to a student and vice

versa, but students cannot post private messages to one another. These notes can have attach-

ments or links and can be scheduled to post at a certain date and time. Students can reply to the

notes as well. You can also post assignments and quizzes. Assignments can have attachments and

set due dates. Students can turn in the assignments from their account. I use this feature often

with my classes and it cuts down our paper use by 50 percent each year. You can also give grades

http://Edmodo.com



to students when they turn in assignments and students will see that feedback. The students can

also take quizzes from inside the Edmodo site. If the quiz is multiple choice, the service will grade

it for you. There is also a poll that gives students immediate feedback, which teachers can use as

formative assessments.

Edmodo also has a library to save documents and information. In the students’ accounts, this

is called the “backpack.” You can connect the library with your Google Drive and your Office 365

accounts. This makes it easier to turn in materials or to give out materials to students. It also gives

students a place to store links while researching online.

I post every classroom or homework assignment on Edmodo. Students have the option of

completing these assignments online or on paper; since there is a phone/tablet app, most of my

students chose to do them online. Also, since parents can set up alerts for when you post assign-

ments, the actual number of assignments completed, and even completed on time, increased.

Students became more comfortable using the site and checking it became natural. The other

thing I love about using Edmodo is the student conversations that happen when I or other stu-

dents post questions. You can put students in groups and they can post to their group. They are

always more eager to ask and answer in a private setting than aloud in class.

Google Classroom is new and is Google’s LMS. The best part of Google Classroom is its con-

nection with Google Drive. You must have a district Google account to use it for free. If you have

an account, visit classroom.google.com and choose ‘teacher.’ It will automatically sign you in and

you can start creating your classes. Like Edmodo, you are given a class code for students to use

to sign in to your account. They can also use their Google account to sign up. Here is a tutorial on

using Google Classroom.

Once inside Classroom, the dashboard has three pages to choose from. The first is the

“stream.” This is where you will see the class code and can post. At the bottom right of the

screen, you will see a (+), which will open four options: reuse a previous post, ask a question, post

an assignment, or post an announcement. To ask a question, you can post a question and your

students can respond. You could use this function as a quick assessment. Posting an announce-

ment is like creating a note in Edmodo. You can attach links or documents and students can reply.

https://classroom.google.com/

https://youtu.be/VTWYf4PTLPw

https://youtu.be/VTWYf4PTLPw



You can also post assignments. This function is similar to Edmodo, where students can turn in

their work from the console and you can enter grades. But the one difference that sets Classroom

apart from other systems is that you can post directly from your Google Drive. When you sign into

Classroom for the first time, your drive automatically creates a “Classroom” folder. For every class

you create, Drive creates a folder for it inside the Classroom folder. When you create an assign-

ment and attach a document from Google Drive, the system creates a folder for that assignment.

When you attach something from Drive, you have the options of “students can view file,” “stu-

dents can edit,” and “make a copy for each student.” If you use Google docs with your students,

this will make your life easier. You and every student gets their own copy of the document you

shared and the system automatically puts it in the assignment folder with the students’ names in

the titles. The student is the “owner” of the document but when they turn it in to you, their edit-

ing rights are taken away and you become the owner until you return it to them. You can monitor

students’ progress while they are completing the project since it is shared with you. This is very

helpful when students have not turned in the assignment. One of the biggest stresses I had when

teaching middle school was getting students to turn in an assignment. In Edmodo, I would beg

for them to turn it in because I could not grade it until then. With Classroom, for those students

that forget to turn in digital work, I can access the work, grade it, and give students feedback.

One of the other two screens that Drive provides is the “student” page. Here you can set

student permissions. You can also e-mail one student or the entire class. The last screen is the

“About” page. Here you can post a class syllabus, teacher information, and materials. You can

also add another teacher to the class, which is great if you have an inclusion teacher or aide.

There are other learning management systems available. Canvas is a great open-source LMS

that is similar to Blackboard. The two listed above, however, are easier to use and offer the full

version for free. Find out what your district LMS is and test it out. Students are quick to use tech-

nology to complete assignments and are more likely to join conversations in these systems.

Connecting to Student Devices

Last, we are going to look at sites/apps that connect you to students’ devices. These sites, Near-

pod and Classflow, allow you to project slideshows not only on your projected screen but also on



your students’ screens. They also allow students to respond to questions and give feedback like

the formative assessment apps. These sites take some practice but can be very powerful once

mastered. Both offer free versions as well as paid versions with more options. We will be looking

at the free versions.

Nearpod allows you to create lessons that you can share with your students. Once you sign

up for an account at nearpod.com, you can start creating lessons. You can upload slideshows you

have already created or start from scratch. If you start from scratch, the system opens a screen

where you can add slides. When you add a slide, you can add a picture, a PDF (you can download

PDFs from PowerPoint), or type your own text. You can also add activities, a quiz, a poll, open-

ended questions, and a “draw it” functionality, where students can draw or write their answer if

using tablets.

Once you finish creating your lesson, you are able to publish it. When you’re back on the main

dashboard, you can find your lesson and click “live session.” This will give you a log-in PIN for

your students. You can also share files by e-mail, links, or Google Classroom posts. Students can

access Nearpod from an app on their smartphones, tablets, or chromebooks. They can also log in

from the website. Once students log in, you can start the lesson. You control the presentation and

what the students see. On your end, you can view a list of students who have joined the lesson.

Then, you can send out the slides and the questions to your students for their responses.

Nearpod is a great way to keep students engaged and on track because it helps keep them

focused on what you are pushing out to them. Here is a great tutorial for Nearpod.

Classflow is from Promethean, a company that many teachers are already using for their

interactive whiteboards. ActivInspire, the Promethean software, is compatible with Classflow.

Start by either visiting classflow.com, or click the Classflow button in ActivInspire to sign up for

an account. Once logged in, you will have to set up a class before you can go to your “drive” to

create lessons or assessments.

When creating a lesson, you can upload slideshows or choose a theme and create one from

scratch. The slides can have links and pictures, as well as a lesson or an assessment, which can be

added later.

http://nearpod.com

http://classflow.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qCLeNB2cDA



Once you have created a lesson, you’ll receive a PIN for your students to use to log into your

lesson. There is a student app for iPad, but on phones and computers, students can just go to

classflow.com/student and enter the PIN. Once logged into the session, they will see what you

sent to their devices. You can either create an assessment ahead of time or send out a quick

assessment with a slide you’re sending to student devices. You have lots of options for customiza-

tion, including annotating what is on the slide, sending a picture, making a mind map, or

including a poll/quiz. Students can see the immediate results live on the screen. You can also save

class data in color-coded spreadsheets. Or you can create an instant whiteboard that will allow

you to do all that was listed above without creating the slideshow ahead of time. Here is a

library of tutorials to get you started.

All of the tools described will help you keep your students engaged and encourage them to

interact with you and each other. Engaging students is the best way to get information to them

and to find out what they know. The more feedback you get from them, the more you can tailor

lessons to meet the needs of your students without leaving them behind.

For Your Convenience

We know that embedded links may break. For your convenience, the URLs for each embedded

link are provided here along with an archived link, when available. You can use these URLs to

search for the sites suggested.

Embedded Link Original Site Archived Link

Socrative Video Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wkDwbWM_YQ&feature=youtu.be

Poll Everywhere Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZIwcgwk8MQ&feature=youtu.be

Kahoot for teachers https://getkahoot.com/

Kahoot for students https://kahoot.it

Kahoot Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFFv6_6was4&feature=youtu.be

Plickers https://plickers.com/

http://classflow.com/student

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2EvbThMIw8&list=PLhwwHcD-d_U6Vex_UpuKEYlsKgqvtyFJW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wkDwbWM_YQ&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFFv6_6was4&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZIwcgwk8MQ&feature=youtu.be



Embedded Link Original Site Archived Link

Google Classroom https://classroom.google.com

Google Classroom Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTWYf4PTLPw&feature=youtu.be

Nearpod Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qCLeNB2cDA

Classflow Library of Tutorials


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTWYf4PTLPw&feature=youtu.be


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Increasing Interactivity to Engage Studentspdo.ascd.org/LMSCourses/PD16OC001M/media/Enhancing... · a video tutorial for using Socrative that may help you. Before you allow students