Multimedia Response Systems

Lead author: Georgia Konstantinou || Co-author: || Editor/Contributor:

⏩ What are they?

Multimedia response systems are collaboration and communication tools used for both synchronous and asynchronous learning environments. They create discussion communities that give voice to every individual.

Multimedia response systems are web-based Student/Audience Response Systems (S/ARS) that have capabilities similar to those associated with clickers but allow students/participants to utilize mobile or other personal devices to respond to content (Kappers & Cutler, 2015; Shon & Smith, 2011). They create an interactive environment that helps students to engage with their learning (Simpson & Oliver, 2007) and can foster meaningful discussions among students (Beekes, 2006; Micheletto, 2011).


Multimedia response systems can be used in education but they are also powerful tools for every organization that wants to promote discussion, teamwork and interaction amongst its members. They can take a variety of forms from interactive presentations that collect input from the audience to activities focused around a video clip, image, chart, graph or website to even video (or non-video) discussions, but they all have one thing in common: the capacity to collect responses from the audience synchronously or asynchronously.

Multimedia response systems, according to research conducted independently on each of them (see below for each tool), improve the quality of academic engagement, promote writing and critical thinking skills, increase motivation and participation, personalize learning, stimulate critical thinking while in the meantime increase a sense of community and give everyone a chance to express their ideas, thoughts and reflections without risking the debate being dominated by the group’s more powerful members. They are widely used in distance learning as they give teachers and students the ability to better communicate with each other, discuss and reflect.


References

Beekes, W. (2006). The ‘Millionaire’ method for encouraging participation. Active Learning in Higher Education. 7. 10.1177/1469787406061143. Retrieved from ResearchGate.
Kappers, W. M., & Cutler, S. (2015). Poll Everywhere! Even in the classroom: An investigation into the impact of using Poll Everywhere in a large-lecture classroom. Computers in Education Journal, 6(20), 140–145. Retrieved from ResearchGate
Micheletto, M. (2011). Using Audience Response Systems To Encourage Student Engagement And Reflection On Ethical Orientation And Behavior. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 4, 9-18. Retrieved from Semantic Scholar
Shon, H., & Smith, L. (2011). A review of Poll Everywhere. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 29(3), 236–245. Retrieved from ResearchGate
Simpson, V., & Oliver, M. (2007). Electronic voting systems for lectures then and now: A comparison of research and practice. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 23(2) Retrieved from AJET

⏩ SOME EXAMPLES ⏪

What is Flipgrid?

Give voice to your students


Flipgrid is an educational platform designed to promote discussion and reflection around a topic amongst students. In Flipgrid the teacher posts a topic, an image, a video or a link and students are asked to respond with a short video of up to 90 seconds. These videos can be recorded as many times as needed before uploading, students can have their cameras on or off and add to their videos emojis, text, stickers, frames, drawings, or pictures. Students can also comment and reflect on the videos of their classmates triggering this way a fruitful discussion around the topic.



Price: Free

Research Studies

According to research studies, Flipgrid is useful for facilitating social learning, video content creation skills, and for creating classroom communities (Green & Green, 2018; Stoszkowski, 2018). It promotes online student engagement and community (Johnson & Skarphol, 2018) and student confidence (McLain, 2018). Additionally, Bartlett (2018) found that Flipgrid use increases students’ perceptions of connectedness in an online classroom.


References

Bartlett, M. (2018). Using Flipgrid to Increase Students' Connectedness in an Online Class. eLearn. 2018. Retrieved from ELearnMagazine.
Green, T., & Green, J. (2018). Flipgrid: Adding voice and video to online discussions. TechTrends, 62

Retrieved from ResearchGate.
Johnson, M., & Skarphol, M. (2018). The effects of digital portfolios and Flipgrid on student engagement and communication in a connected learning secondary visual arts classroom (Master’s thesis). Sophia: the St. Catherine University repository. Retrieved from University of Sophia.
McLain, T. (2018). Integration of the Video Response App FlipGrid in the Business Writing Classroom. International Journal of Educational Technology and Learning. Retrieved from ResearchGate.
Stoszkowski, J. R. (2018). Using Flipgrid to develop social learning. Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching

What is Mentimeter?

Make remote & hybrid work easy


The Mentimeter is an online software for creating interactive presentations that can be used in courses, lectures, events, workshops, seminars, either synchronous or asynchronous, in-person or remote. Its main advantage lies in the fact that it allows the integration of multiple choice questions, polls, word clouds, Q&As, etc., to which students answer at the time of the presentation. This enhances student engagement in the lesson and offers instantaneous feedback to the teacher.

Price: Free and Paid plans

Research Studies

According to research studies, Mentimeter offers students the opportunity to participate and engage without the fear of judgement in front of peers but it also gives them an insight into the thoughts, feelings and knowledge of the rest of their group (Little, 2016; Wood 2019). Furthermore, it creates an interactive teaching and learning experience for groups of varying sizes and promotes students’ engagement and inclusion (Hill & Fielden, 2017). Skoyles and Bloxsidge (2017) discuss that Mentimeter impacts the teacher’s attitude and role during the learning session and prompts teachers to rethink their way of delivering content and take advantage of the interactive features, so they switch from the traditional teacher centered classroom to a less passive approach. Moorhouse and Kohnke (2020) add that Mentimeter breaks up teacher monologues and can stimulate further discussion and support in incorporating students’ ideas in the lesson.


References

Hill, D. & Fielden, K. (2017). Using Mentimeter to promote student engagement and inclusion. University of Cumbria. Retrieved from the University of Cumbria.

Skoyles, A & Bloxsidge, E (2017). Have You Voted? Teaching OSCOLA with Mentimeter. Legal Information Management. 17 (04), pp. 232-238. Retrieved from LSBU Open Research.

Little, C. (2016). Mentimeter Smartphone Student Response System: A class above clickers. Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching

Moorhouse, B. L. & Kohnke, L. (2020). Using Mentimeter to Elicit Student Responses in the EAP/ESP Classroom. RELC Journal. Retrieved from SAGE journals

Wood, A. (2020). Utilizing technology-enhanced learning in geography: testing student response systems in large lectures. Journal of Geography in Higher Education. Retrieved from Newcastle University

What is Poll Everywhere?

Powering hybrid work and inclusive conversations

Poll Everywhere is a web-based audience response system that allows participants to vote or answer teacher/instructor-generated questions through any mobile-enabled device (smartphone, tablet, laptop etc.). Teachers/Instructors can create multiple choice, open ended or competitions questions. Competitions is a multi-question activity that brings out the competitive side of the audience since participants gain points for correctness and speed with each response. The questions as well as the responses of the participants are displayed live on screen in a leaderboard. Poll Everywhere is a formative assessment tool that can be used to improve and enhance classroom conversation, participation, and understanding. Site-generated polls can be integrated into PowerPoint presentations enabling real-time audience engagement.

Price: Free & Paid Plans

Research Studies

According to research Poll everywhere is “versatile and can easily be used as a warm-up or introduction to a topic, a reality check on students' level of understanding of a concept, or as a way to re-engage active participation later in a class session” (Shon, 2011). It can also help “instructors understand the audiences they work with, adjust their teaching on the fly, and foster learning behaviors that may lead to higher content retention and ultimately greater academic achievement of Millennial learners” (Deng, 2019). It fosters critical thinking among the participants, engages them in active learning (Gubbiyappa et al., 2016; Kappers & Cutler, 2015) and is especially effective in large group teaching (Sikarwar, 2015).


References

Deng, L. (2019). Assess and engage: How Poll Everywhere can make learning meaningful again for millennial library users. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 31, 55 - 65. Retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online

Gubbiyappa, K. S., Barua, A., Das, B., Vasudeva Murthy, C. R., & Baloch, H. Z. (2016). Effectiveness of flipped classroom with Poll Everywhere as a teaching-learning method for pharmacy students. Indian journal of pharmacology, 48 (Suppl 1), S41–S46. Indian Journal of Pharmacology

Kappers, W. M., & Cutler, S. (2015). Poll Everywhere! Even in the classroom: An investigation into the impact of using PollEverywhere in a large-lecture classroom. Computers in Education Journal, 6(20), 140–145. Retrieved from ResearchGate

Sikarwar, A. (2015). Flipped classroom with Poll Everywhere: Engaging students with active learning in large group settings. Journal of Asian Scientific Research. Retrieved from CiteSeerX

Shon, H. (2011). "A Review of Poll Everywhere Audience Response System. Journal of technology in human services (1522-8835), 29 (3), p. 236. Retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online

What is Verso?

One million voices

The teachers can use Verso to create "flips" or challenges that include videos, text documents, articles from the internet, instructions or questions they would like to ask. Every flip has a unique code that is given to the students so they may view it via the Verso app or the browser. While all the responses are visible to the teachers, they are anonymous for the rest of the class. This allows students to be held accountable for their behavior on the forum and receive credit from the teacher. The teacher's flip and the students replies can be commented, liked, and shared by other students exactly as it happens at social media. Students can also flag responses to alert the teacher about comments that are useless, harsh, or abusive.

Price: Free & Paid Plans

What is VoiceThread?

Amazing conversations about media

Voicethread is a cloud application, so there is no software to install. The only system requirement is an up-to-date version of browser (Chrome or Mozilla Firefox). It is a collaborative, multimedia presentation tool that allows users to create digital stories by uploading audio, video, images, files, links, and then add their own comments in the form of text, audio, video, or drawing. Stories are organized into slides that other users can see (depending on permissions) and comment. Voicethread facilitates discussions amongst friends, colleagues or students on specific images, videos or text.


Price: Free (for up to 5 Voicethreads) & Paid Plans

Research Studies

Research studies indicate that students feel more connected to their classmates and the instructor when using VoiceThread and they consider it helpful in building an online community (Delmas, 2017). Also, Voicethread seems effective in helping students learn course content and improve presentation skills (Joiner & Patterson, 2019). Finally, Brunvand and Byrd (2011) discuss that Voicethread gives students an opportunity for self-paced learning and could be used with students who are easily distracted, have learning disabilities and receive educational intervention strategies.


References

Brunvand S. & Byrd S. (2011). Using VoiceThread to Promote Learning Engagement and Success for All Students. Teaching Exceptional Children 43(4):28-37. Retrieved from Ebsco

Delmas, P. M. (2017). Using VoiceThread to Create Community in Online Learning. TechTrends 61, 595–602. Retrieved from Springer.

Joiner, J. M., & Patterson, D. (2019). VoiceThread as a Tool in Online BSW Education. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 39 (4/5), 440–454. Ebsco.

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