Tired of All the Grading....part 2, The Answer Pad

If you are just joining the 4:1 Tech Challenge, I am sharing about time saving grading solutions for the next three weeks. After reading about the resources available, I challenge you to choose one of the solutions and give it a try. Be sure to check out last week's post on ZipGrade. (Feel free to sign up over there on the right--you'll only get an email when a new post goes up.)

This week I'm sharing one of my favorite tools - The Answer Pad.

What it does: Automatic grading via digital answer sheets, analyzes results

NOTE: The Answer Pad is two tools in one - a digital grading system AND an interactive student response system. In this post I am only reviewing the grading system.

Tech level: High, each student needs a device - works for 1:1, BYOD, or shared carts

Commitment level: Low or none - you can just be friends, date a while, or commit!

• basic plan - free for teachers and offers a good bit - I’d probably be satisfied with this if I only used it for grading
• 30-day free upgrade
• like the upgrade? - pay $9.95/year (for the interactive response tool, I’d pay this, but I’ll review this at a later date)

Devices:

• teachers- browser based, work from the website
• students - use any device: a browser on a laptop/computer or an app on mobile devices

What it offers:

• create digital answer sheets to go with paper assessments for instant grading and analysis
• item analysis and detailed reports that are exportable
• code questions with standards, if required by your school
• variety of answer choices (multiple choice, yes/no, true/false, fill-in-blank, essay, coordinate grids and other math options)

Time to set up:

• less than ten minutes to create an account, choose the free upgrade, and upload my students via a .csv (Google Sheets) file
• can enter students manually, but it may bump set up time to about 15 minutes
• The Answer Pad has an option to let students self-register with a group name and group code you choose - super fast

What I did: Once my class was set up, I chose the library icon to create a new answer sheet. I quickly added six multiple choice questions and two essay questions. This took only 2-3 minutes. I attached a PDF so students could see the questions on their screen, but this is a paid option. You can just use your paper assessments.  I assigned the assessment to my class and got the test code to give my students. I had my students take the assessment. The multiple choice was graded immediately. I could even use Live Monitor to watch as they worked. I had to go to Reports, then Analysis, then  Item Analysis to score the free response essay questions (see next section for more info about this).

Why it’s a game changer:

• Obviously this saves loads of time. That is one of my goals--help teachers save time. The Answer Pad does that.
• One digital answer sheet can have a variety of question types so you are not restricted to only multiple choice (MC). Plus, when you choose to edit a MC question, you even have more options, like the ABCD, then FDGH choices some tests use.
• Grading essay questions is SUPER EASY because I can see every student’s answer at the same time. I don’t have to flip through papers or think about how I scored another student’s response for comparison. I can see all the answers at one time and just work my way down the screen assigning scores. I love this!!
• It provides item analysis and colored coded proficiency graphs. It gives results almost instantly to guide future instruction! Students can even see item by item results as soon as they finish the assessment. No more waiting to find out the grade.
• Results of each assessment can be exported to a .csv spreadsheet - AWESOME feature
• Students have space to show their work for every question. This is automatically saved and the teacher can see it.

What I learned that you should know BEFORE using:

• If you register students, they should choose “I Already Have an Account”  and use the Group Name, User Name, and Password you set up, otherwise they register themselves. “I Have a Connect Code” is for the interactive system.
• Click the little Answer Pad circle symbol in the top left corner to get back to the dashboard.
• You will only use the Groups, Library, and Reports icons. The other icons are for the interactive response tool.
• If you use the on screen PDF, be sure to tell students not to slide the box up too high or it gets stuck. I got it stuck and had to exit and resume the test. Thankfully it remembered where I left off.
• Click on the Proficiency pie graph to see a student-by-student list with proficiency levels - a great feature!

What are the cons (and possible solutions)?

• If you are very new to educational technology, it may take a little time to figure out the navigation. I am not afraid to just click on stuff and see what it does. If you are not that adventurous, click on +LEARN at the top right and The Answer Pad provides lots of resources to help you. Also, in the bottom right you can leave a message.
• The on-screen PDF is small if using a phone or iPad. If using mobile devices, you may want to have some printed tests available for students who get frustrated with the small reading space.

Bottom Line: If I still had a regular teaching position (see post from January 10 to find out why I don't), The Answer Pad would get a workout in my classroom, giving me time to get my own workout!

If you're in my area and are interested in using this resource or any others I share, and want some help setting it up, leave me a comment or find me on Google+.