Classroom Response Systems for Action Research in the Classroom

In my Classroom Technology class, we have compared and contrasted different classroom response systems that can be used to get students involved in the learning experience. Most educators use these systems for simple review games and activities, but the real power of these systems is to use them as a way to do action research in the classroom. The classroom response system should provide the teacher with actionable information about each students' understanding of the standards. The information gathered with a classroom response system should be used to determine if additional instruction or activities are needed in order to help each student better meet a content standard. In our class, we have discussed a process of action research that can be used with a classroom response system.

In this process, a teacher sets a learning objective and then uses a classroom response system to take a baseline measurement of student knowledge about the learning objective. Then the teacher plans and implements a lesson, activity or project that will help students reach the learning objective. After the lesson, activity or project, the teacher uses the classroom response system again to determine whether students have learned the objective and makes any adjustments to the implementation that are needed. In this model, the learning activities are always tied to and adjusted based on actual learning data, rather than just anecdotal evidence or observations.

So far in our class we have compared four classroom response systems, Poll Everywhere, Plickers, Kahoot, and Socrative. Many of these have been covered in previous blog posts, which can be linked here (Poll Everywhere, Plickers, Kahoot) Here are some of the similarities and differences between these tools: