Here is another reason to start letting those mobile devices into the classroom. I saw this post from Mashable about a new, web-based student response system called Socrative. The idea is to create quizzes and students would use computers, iOS, or Android devices to take these quizzes. Teachers can see how students are doing in real time. Results from the quizzes are emailed to the teacher in an Excel spreadsheet format. There are free apps for teachers who have iOS or Android devices to give quizzes remotely. Right now the site is in beta testing and is free to use. Hopefully, this will continue for teachers or least an inexpensive price to use. Other sms devices, usually known as clickers, by companies such as CPS, Promethean, and Smart can run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Plus, the companion software can be complicated to figure out and take valuable time to setup a quiz. Socrative can be up and running within a few minutes at the most if you have to write questions. Quizzes can be multiple choice, true/false, or short answer.
Here are some screen shots to show you how Socrative looks:
This is the Teacher's main page where quizzes can be created and shared with students. Each teacher has their own room number to share with students so the correct quizzes can be taken.
Teachers can create, import, or delete quizzes.
This is the students' page where they enter a teacher's room number to start a quiz.
Once a student enters a room they need to identify themselves for the record. Teacher can tell students to enter other names if he or she is concerned about privacy.
This is a page from a multiple choice quiz. All the student needs to do is click on an answer.
Students get instant results when they answer questions.
If a student misses a question, he or she is shown the correct answer.