Quiz and Poll; A month later...

     So it's been over a month since I've introduced Quiz and Poll into my ESL class curriculum and I am here to say that I am satified! My students are now really engaged in learning and are very happy! I have noticed three things.  One, I was suprised to find that my students are up at all types of night,  just like me.  The leaderboard is a great option because, if I check it around two or three am, I can see that four out of six of my students have already taken the quiz.  I usually check my leaderboards around 10 or 11 pm, and then again around two or three am. What I have found that at least half of my students are completing thier quizzes between 12 and two am.  This means that students are willing to actively learn in the middlle of the night.  Speaking of the leaderboard, I have also taken advantage of it's competitiveness by giving those individuals with the highest scores all week two bonus percentage points towards their final class grade.  Finally, I find that my students are spreading the word of Quiz and Poll amongst their friends in school, as I have had numerous students outside of my class ask me if I could 'show' their teachers how to use Quiz and Poll.

     I have had a few problems with this app however. For one, when I am creating questions in the spreadsheet, sometimes the screen freezes up in the middle of my typing.  It usually takes a minute before I am able to type again until the screen freezes back up. This can be very annonying and turn a ten minute quiz prep into a fifteen minute one. I think that it would be nice if there were an option to batch list a group of emailed students. I tried to copy and paste but was only able to keep the first student I highlight. Finally, I have more experience with the quiz aspect of this app but have only two or three attempts at the poll side of it.  My attempts to use it in class has brought a few things to my attention. For one, the projected image and my students phone image are not always coordinated and at least two out of 12 slides are forced ahead before my students can answer them. The graphs are good, but a little basic looking and are often confusing when we are reviewing the answers in class.  The students do however like to see their names under their elevated chart scores after we finish!

     I will stay commited to this app since it is my first real experience with m-Learning, But I will also be looking out for something better if the issues above continue into the end of this session.

Best,
#mr.ford