Hi
In our school we are hoping to use voting pads with Moodle. This is where students viewing a multiple choice question on the whiteboard can choose the answer through use of the "voting pad". Do you know of any software that may be plugged in or embedded in Moodle? Since we are encouraging reluctant staff to embrace Moodle if we have to run voting pads outside of Moodle it will detract from our VLE.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Dominic Bond
Dominic - I have never seen Moodle interact with "voting pads"; however, that is because I have never seen the voting pads use anything other than their own proprietary interface. Granted I have only seen a couple demos but they tend to have their own software. It would be interesting to see how their software exports the data and how that data might then be imported into Moodle. I had envisioned using Moodle in this way with something like the feedback or choice modules but I was presuming that the students would have a laptop or a tablet. As phones get smarter, I would not think it too far fetched to imagine a student completing and responding to questions via their iPhones without the voting pads altogether. So I am tempted to ask the same question the other way around. Is the "voting pad" you are looking at capable of running inside of a VLE (such as Moodle)? Peace - Anthony
Anthony, the phone network is uneconomical at present. In Australia the phone carriers charge (20-50 cents) per message. In typical classroom use, there is at least several 'votes' an hour.
It is conceivable that an app could be developed for compatible bluetooth-equipped phones, but seems unlikely as there are now several operating systems and many unique implementations of bluetooth in widespread use.
However, mobile phones with wifi are becoming common and I think it might be possible to set up a poll in Moodle and tell the students to vote in the poll using their mobile phones over wifi. You could prepare the polls well in advance and hide them, then 'Show' them at the right time. It is trivially easy to change the wording of a pre-made poll: you could adapt the poll question during the class.
I can't test this on live learners yet due to a school mobile phone use policy, so I'd love to hear from anyone who is doing something like this.
It is conceivable that an app could be developed for compatible bluetooth-equipped phones, but seems unlikely as there are now several operating systems and many unique implementations of bluetooth in widespread use.
However, mobile phones with wifi are becoming common and I think it might be possible to set up a poll in Moodle and tell the students to vote in the poll using their mobile phones over wifi. You could prepare the polls well in advance and hide them, then 'Show' them at the right time. It is trivially easy to change the wording of a pre-made poll: you could adapt the poll question during the class.
I can't test this on live learners yet due to a school mobile phone use policy, so I'd love to hear from anyone who is doing something like this.
Russell - Yep, using the wifi capability would be ideal. I have shied away from SMS (texting) type things precisely because not everyone has or can afford a texting plan. Although I often think of the story of the zero gravity pen designed and tested by NASA for however many millions of dollars of research and development that it took to produce and then hearing that when the Russia was faced with the same challenge of writing in space they used a pencil. If I am taking a lot of surveys like that in a class, I would be tempted to just ask students to raise their hands. Nevertheless, I like being able to give teachers options so hopefully things will move forward with this type of integration/functionality. Peace - Anthony
Anthony,
I could take a completely different lesson from the pencil analogy.
Pencils are not really 'low tech': they just look that way because they are familiar.
The pencil was a controlled military export in Napoleon's time and a national monopoly before that; production methods were closely guarded secrets in the 18th and 19th centuries. Milton Friedman explains that 'not a single person in the world can make a pencil' on
The NASA pen and the IKI pencil story is unreasonably smug: many new pen technologies have been developed in the C20th, and found profitable markets, delivering many effects not achievable with pencils. (Adhesive application, lubrication, chemical sampling, ball mice, plotters, to name a very small sample.) Pencils still work as they ever did, but in ever fewer applications.
The interactive whiteboard and Moodle have changed classroom interactions. I still remember how to use chalk and flash cards, but my students are learning interaction skills for a culture that rarely uses raised hands.
Regards,
Russell
I could take a completely different lesson from the pencil analogy.
Pencils are not really 'low tech': they just look that way because they are familiar.
The pencil was a controlled military export in Napoleon's time and a national monopoly before that; production methods were closely guarded secrets in the 18th and 19th centuries. Milton Friedman explains that 'not a single person in the world can make a pencil' on
The NASA pen and the IKI pencil story is unreasonably smug: many new pen technologies have been developed in the C20th, and found profitable markets, delivering many effects not achievable with pencils. (Adhesive application, lubrication, chemical sampling, ball mice, plotters, to name a very small sample.) Pencils still work as they ever did, but in ever fewer applications.
The interactive whiteboard and Moodle have changed classroom interactions. I still remember how to use chalk and flash cards, but my students are learning interaction skills for a culture that rarely uses raised hands.
Regards,
Russell
Russell - Your points are well taken and I appreciated the history on the pencil which is deceptively simple. Having taught with an interactive whiteboard I cannot imagine using chalk. I think my real point was that sometimes I have seen a lot of effort spent on trying to get something done in a computerized way for which there is little benefit or gain in doing so. Obviously I love seeing technology used in innovative and creative ways but I occasionally try to remind myself that technology is a tool trying to help us to reach a particular end. So we ought to use the best tool for the job. Sometimes that may be a pencil, sometimes a pen, and perhaps there are applications which require even a zero-gravity space pen. The goal is to use the instrument that works best for the job at hand. Peace - Anthony
Thanks for your your feedback. Perhaps I am thinking too much out of the box!
Dominic - Thanks for thinking. I was not sure if you meant that your thinking was outside the normal boundaries or if you were making a reference to software that you purchase and use out of the box. There is likely a way to get the functionality you want but it may require some creativity and a little effort. The important thing is to keep the ideas flowing. Peace - Anthony
I received this positives information from Turning Point Voting Pad company.
"We are currently in the midst of integrating fully with Moodle and expect a public release by October".
"We are currently in the midst of integrating fully with Moodle and expect a public release by October".
I've just finished a project that allows a PC and up to 20 mobile devices connect bidirectionally by Bluetooth at the classroom, similar way to "voting pads". Now I've discovered moodle and I will be very interested to explore if it is possible use moodle quiz and/or export the data from my application.
Hi Joaquin
I'm interested in your project - do you have any further details about successes or not etc. Also - what software and equipment did you use to achieve this.
Many thanks
Matt
Hi Matt!
I've made a JavaME server application and a j2me client. The server can send questions to a number of mobile devices (at this time only "exclusive option" type). The answers are send back to the server as a string to a hsqldb database. Then i can export from the server a csv file with the data. I think it woul be possible connect my database with my moodle course, but this year I have not the time to explore moodle structure and I don't know how.
Thanks for your attention.
Dominic
I know that it has been some time since you posted about using voting pads with Moodle but i have just found the forum as we have now developed exactly what you describe.
Please have a look at http://www.youtube.com/optivote#p/u/0/dYbms0sbutI
Optivote for Moodle is the first system to truely integrate voting systems with Moodle.
If youwould liek a full demo please feel free to reply.
Thanks
Phil Stanley