As part of the progressive modernisation and greater development of interactivity in classrooms, some teachers are making use of classroom voting systems in lesson. Voting systems allow teachers to collate results from children, gathering answers to questions, opinions as well as providing data about school trips and attendance. These systems can be entirely web-based using iPads and laptops to collate data or can be based around the use of dedicated handsets to vote for provided choices. This is a much more expensive option with many classroom options not being compatible with other voting systems equipment. 

 

Examples of these systems are the free sites Kahoot and Socrative, which allow teachers to produce tailored, engaging and individual quizzes to test children's knowledge on set topics. Children then provide answers to these which are then discussed. Kahoot also offers the opportunity for individual users to examine against previous performance in quizzes and to see progression. Given the cloud-based application, teachers can use generated data and votes to see how classes are progressing in given topics, or as summative reflections of how children have performed in units of work.

 

I have not yet had the opportunity to develop and use these kinds of websites in my teaching practice, although I look forward to the chance to employ them in my later work in KS2. They appear to be involving and interactive in a way that may produce a more engaging plenary for lessons or an alternative starter.