TechTalk

The great Greek philosopher Socrates is

quoted as having said, “To find yourself, think

for yourself.” Software developers of the 21st

century took this profound bit of wisdom and

channeled it into the creation of a revolutionary

educational app called Socrative, named

after the ancient philosopher. This app is

broken down into two versions, the teacher

and student version. As the name implies,

they are useful for both parties and allow for

rapid responses for a variety of questions.

However, this article we will focus on the

tools and benefits the teacher version has.

With Socrative, you can set up a variety of

channels (called rooms) for different classes

and subjects, keeping the professor organized

and making this app applicable for a wide

variety of classes. Quizzes, timed question

races and quick questions are all facets of the

application, and the results can be tracked so

you can see who is participating. This will help

you plan on what to do next in relation to how

your class is doing presently, and gives the

instructor the freedom to modify the lessons

accordingly. Perhaps the most important tool,

especially in a college setting, would be the

Quick Question Tool.

APP

SPOTLIGHT

We are all aware of the long, mind-numbing

pauses in dialogue that sometimes fall over

college classrooms, especially in the early

morning hours. With the Socrative app, hard

data can be gathered with a click of a button

and used to spur the conversation forward. It

can also be used to poll the class anonymously,

an especially useful tool when talking about

subject matter that is delicate or heated in

nature. A political systems class would find

this especially useful, as you could gather data

on what the class thought, even though most

college students would rather not discuss their

political views in a room full of strangers.

Dr. George “Byron” McVay is one professor at

Southeast Missouri State that uses Socrative in

his Agriculture Sales Classes in order to gather

quick responses and steer the conversation

of the class. “I think it’s a great tool in

collecting information on sensitive subjects

anonymously,” says McVay, when asked about

Socrative’s place in the classroom. “We just

recently used the software to collect data about

what students in my Ag Sales class thought

about possible presidential candidates. The

results helped the class understand how these

candidates sell themselves.” Anonymity can

be toggled on and off via the teacher account,

so you can change your approach for different

situations. Another interesting feature from

Socrative is that quizzes you create can be

uploaded and shared with professors around

the world. Likewise, you can download quizzes

to match your own teaching criteria. The

software can be applicable for college level

classes as well as grade school, making this

a very powerful application for entire the

education community.

On the subject of the app’s role on student

interactions in the classroom, McVay says, “It

allows students to fail and recoup without fear

of embarrassment.” He is confident that this

tool helps students more actively participate in

exchanges of ideas. McVay learned about the

software during his new faculty orientation and

plans to continue using the polling feature and

quiz maker. He is the only professor he knows

of that uses this software, but hopes that the

rest of the university can make use of it as

much as he has.

Currently, Socrative can be acquired for free on

Apple, Google and Android devices for students.

A free version is also available to professors

and k-12 teachers, with a pro version costing

$49.99 for dozens of more advanced features.

You can find more information about Socrative

by following this

link .

- Jacob Hill, User Sevices