Tired of All the Grading.... part 3, Socrative

If you are just joining the 4:1 Tech Challenge, I have been sharing about time saving grading solutions. After reading about the four resources I review, I challenge you to choose one of the solutions and give it a try. (You can check out my past posts on ZipGrade and The Answer Pad to get caught up.)

This week I'm sharing one of my husband's (he's a teacher, too) favorite tools - Socrative.

What it does: Test/quiz delivery and automatic grading, analyzes feedback

NOTE: Socrative is really two tools in one - a test/quiz delivery and grading system AND an interactive student response system. In this post I am only reviewing the quiz/test grading system.

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

Commitment level: NONE!

• completely free! (Gotta like that on a teacher’s budget!)

Devices:

• ANY - students and teachers use a browser or app; I tried it with a Chromebook, desktop, iPad, and Android phone - all worked great.

Pros:

• create digital assessments
• view live results as students complete questions
• assessments are graded as students submit answers
• downloadable/exportable results for each assessment
• tag assessments with standards
• variety of question choices (multiple choice, true/false, short answer) can be combined on each assessment

Time to set up:

• No time at all - choose “Get a Free Account” from the main page and fill in your information.
• Unlike the other grading solutions I’ve written about, you do not have to add students or set up classes. Students use your classroom code anytime you want them to use Socrative.

What I did: 

• I got my free account going and made my classroom code.
• I chose “Manage Quizzes” (it has a little wrench picture) from the top tab bar.
• I chose “Create a Quiz.” From there it was pretty self explanatory. It took me just a few minutes to make a quiz. I combined all three question types.
• I entered the classroom as different students using different devices and took my practice quiz. It was all super easy and super fast.

Why it’s a game changer:

• It’s a time-saver and here’s proof. My husband, who is also a teacher, used Socrative for his final exams recently. When the students were done taking the exams, he was basically done with the semester, too. No more papers spread out across the kitchen table. No more late night grading. No more deciphering student handwriting. All he had to do was enter the grades in his school’s learning management system, and his semester break began!
• You can do more than multiple choice.
• Assessment reports are color coded - you can see at a glance how students performed.
• From the results table, you can click on individual question numbers and anonymously review the results with your class by projecting the teacher screen - just be sure not to project the results table because it has student names. (Practice with this first to make sure you maintain student privacy.)
• You can get a variety of results for each assessment - individual student results (which is really a printable graded copy), whole class results (spreadsheet), and individual question results for item analysis.

What I learned that you should know BEFORE using:  

• Be sure students enter their real first and last names.
• To make an assessment or view reports, choose the “Manage Quizzes” in the top tab bar. 
• To give a quiz, choose “Dashboard” in the top tab bar and choose “Start a Quiz.”
• You can include an image with questions!!
• When starting a quiz, you have several options.
• To discourage cheating, you can choose to “Randomize Question Order”.
• Student Feedback - after each question, students will be told if their response was right or wrong--know your students before leaving this on. Some students will stress out and shut down at the first signs of failure. Also, it tells them the correct answer, so if you use the same assessment for different classes and don’t want students giving out answers, turn this option (“Disable Student Feedback”) ON.
• Student Results - students see final grade when they finish the assessment. If you want this, leave this option (“Disable Student Results”) OFF.
• You can tag an assessment with standards - it’s really easy. When you choose “Create Quiz,” you’ll see a pink box asking you to name the quiz, just below that box you’ll see “+ Add Tag.” Click it, be patient, and a blue CCSS box will pop up. Just keep clicking on the arrows on the far right to get to the standards you need.

What are the cons (and possible solutions)?

• Reports are based on individual assessments, making it a little harder to track student performance over time, but I’m sure that can be solved once the grades are entered in your learning management system.
• You are limited to three types of questions (multiple choice, true/false, and short answer), but if you carefully craft your questions and make use of adding images, you can do much. Also, Socrative lets you have more than three or four choices with multiple choice questions.
• You have to type your assessments in Socrative. You can cut and paste, and Socrative saves the quizzes so you can use them again. If you have always used paper tests, you will have to start doing some typing, but, in the long run, it will save time at the copier (which jammed half the time when I would use it), save time grading, and save money on paper. I say it’s worth a little typing!!

If you've used Socrative, feel free add a comment to share you experience.

If you need some help or tutorials, try the Help Center.

UPDATE: You can use shared quizzes on Socrative. Find more information at Socrative Garden.