Summer break is quickly coming to an end. Yes, I can hear the collective sigh from all my fellow super hero teachers! Alas, due to a family emergency, it has been a bit quiet on the Tech Snack front. Fear not, all is well now in the household and Tech Snacks will have a new entry ready for you by Sept 5, 2015. I look forward to sharing all new Tech Snacks this school year.
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One of the challenges that teachers face deals with getting student feedback. In a typical classroom, students are asked questions and are expected to provide answers either verbally or on a worksheet within that class period. Some students are shy and don’t want to speak out in class, others monopolize the time and some are content to do the minimum. What if there was a tool that would allow you to receive feedback while also giving students ample time to formulate their thoughts about an issue? Well, there is! Today’s tech snack is called riddle and can be found at the following url: http://www.riddle.com. What is it? Riddle is a free student response system. With riddle, you can create polls, surveys, online quizzes, personality tests and commenticles. (Commenticles allow you to share an online articles and provide commentary on it.) In order to use riddle, you have to create a free account. After you have signed up for your account, you can start creating content. Riddle uses a click and drag interface that is fairly easy to understand. You can provide videos, images, and files from your computer or online to anything you create on riddle. Once you have finished creating, you will be asked to publish your riddle activity. Once the activity is published, you can share it with others via the url link, embedded code or social media outlet. Students DO NOT need to create a username/password to access your completed activity. They only need the url address to access the activity. **Note: By default, riddle activities are set up for anonymous access(meaning people can provide answers without putting their names on it). If you want to have a record of who is providing answers to your riddle activities, you can add this feature prior to publishing your riddle. After you provide your content on riddle, you click on the save button. At this point, you are given the option to customize your riddle. If you want to have a record of who is providing answers, click on Add Lead Form button. You will then see a form image. Put in the information you want then click on save. This will require participants to input their names and email addresses for your riddle activity. You will also get an e-mail notification when an answer has been submitted. Classroom implications
Riddle is easy to use, and can be used with students in grades 3-12. Since students only have access to the riddle urls you provide for them, you could easily use this tool to create a blended learning experience. If you have access to an lcd projector, you could project live results on the screen as students go through the urls. This way every student's voice is recorded but no student is singled out for incorrect responses. You could also have students access the urls from home, then use that information during the in-class session. ( Example: “So, according to the results, half the class feels that cats are better than dogs. Let’s dive into these results some more…). This way every student's voice is recorded but no student is singled out for incorrect responses. These exercises are meant to be quick and help the teacher "get a feel" for the room and gauge understanding. |
About the AuthorWendy Torres has been teaching for over 21 years and has a BA in Special Education and a Masters of Educational Leadership in Instructional Technology. She has taught at all levels from Kindergarten to Higher Ed. She is currently the Senior Instructional Technologist and Adjunct Instructor for Coppin State University. Archives
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