The Wizard of OT

OT education with courage, heart, and brains.

Enhancing OT Education with Vevox

Heather Kuhaneck* July 24, 2024

(*The author has no financial interest in Vevox, and no conflicts of interest in presenting this information).

The category of OT education with brains focuses on specific tools and strategies educators can use to improve student learning and enhance classroom time. Most of the tools and strategies also are supported by evidence based practices in education. For the first tool in the series, let’s chat about Vevox. This post explores how you, as an OT educator, can integrate Vevox into your teaching to improve student engagement and foster an interactive learning environment. But first ……

What is it?

Vevox is a cloud based audience response system (ARS).  ARS just means a technology that allows a presenter to gather feedback from an audience in real time. Older ARSs included a variety of hardware and software with the most common type using handheld devices known as clickers.  Newer systems are often run with mobile phones, and QR codes.

What exactly can Vevox do?

Vevox allows for instant real time polling in the classroom, interactive quizzing, anonymous Q & A, live word clouds, and surveys.  It integrates with MS Teams, Zoom, PowerPoint, and most LMS’s.

Why use it?

Tools such as Vevox, that offer an online method of audience response have tended to replace the earlier student response tools such as clicker systems. In occupational therapy, clicker systems were reported to be positively received by students (Benson, Szucs, & Taylor, 2016). However, there are no studies currently in occupational therapy literature regarding online polling specifically. Multiple studies across other fields have indicated the benefits of audience response systems (ARS) for student engagement and learning (Wood &  2020). These benefits may increase when ARS are used in conjunction with peer interaction and group answering. Students perceive interactive polling to help their learning and they find it engaging, and enjoyable (Phelps & Moro, 2022; Rose, 2019). Polling systems may also increase class participation, particularly in larger classes (Malekjafarian, & Gordan, 2024). 

So, the reasons for you to use an ARS such as Vevox are to:

  1. Increase Student Engagement: Interactive polling and Q&A keep students actively involved in the learning process.
  2. Provide Instant Feedback: Real-time feedback helps educators gauge student understanding and adjust their teaching accordingly.
  3. Enhance Participation: Vevox allows all students to participate, including those who may be reluctant to speak up in class.
  4. Improve Learning: Active participation and instant feedback contribute to better retention and understanding of the material.

How to “do” it?

If you would like to view a demo of how to actually use Vevox and what it looks like for students, this 15 minute webinar shows a demo of the word cloud feature and multiple choice polling  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXRhOfYwYT0 .

Using Vevox in OT education

The most common way to use a tool like Vevox is during a lecture or presentation (in-person or online). During the lecture, the instructor would pause and have students respond to a question and the combined answers show on screen, allowing faculty and students to check student understanding and allowing students to perhaps discuss or debate their answers.

For example: During a lecture you present a case study of a client with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Using Vevox, you polls students on the most appropriate cognitive assessment tools (of those that they had learned in lab). Students select their answers, and a class discussion follows where you clarify any misconceptions and reinforce key points about specific tools.

Another way to use Vevox in class is to encourage students to submit questions anonymously during or after lectures. This can help address common questions and concerns that might not be voiced openly.  Students can also submit questions from their readings and peers can vote on which questions they find most relevant or challenging to facilitate in class discussions on complex topics.

For example: In a lab on adaptive equipment or technology devices, students view /demo a variety of devices and use Vevox to submit questions about specific devices and their applications they are unsure about. You address the most upvoted questions, ensuring that the discussion is focused on the areas of greatest interest and need.

Vevox can be used at the end of class to gather feedback on class effectiveness or to plan future class activities. You can ask students what topics they found most challenging and what areas they would like to explore further.

For example: After a workshop on splinting, you use Vevox to ask students about their confidence regarding  specific methods. The feedback indicates that students need more practice with a certain type of splinting material that was more difficult to work with, prompting you to schedule additional hands-on sessions.

In classes with peer presentations, Vevox can be used to provide peer feedback.  Students can be given a rubric to rate each other’s presentations, providing helpful comments to help their peer’s improve presentation skills, while also helping themselves learn about what makes presentations ‘pop’ or ‘flop.’

Lastly, you can show video clips of clinical scenarios and use Vevox to poll students on their observations and interpretations and then discuss the results to highlight key points and correct misconceptions.  OR, similarly, you can have students engage in role play, while peers observe.  Vevox can then be used to poll the observers to gather feedback on what they noted during the role play.

Conclusion

Vevox may promote interactive learning, real-time feedback, and active student participation. By integrating Vevox into your teaching, you can create a more engaging and effective learning environment that supports the development of essential skills and knowledge.

Cost

There is a free plan available for educators with the basic features. https://www.vevox.com/pricing/education-pricing A variety of remiums plans are available with additional features.

Similar  or alternative tools

SMS Poll, Socrative, Slido, Poll Everywhere and Kahoot are other examples of similar audience response systems.  They vary in their costs, and features. Vevox states that it is the #1 ARS, (but this author can not verify that statement).

BONUS

Scroll down below the references for an example of using AI as a teacher with limited time, the benefits and the pitfalls.

Hope this was helpful!  Stop back  for the next Wisdom Wednesday (or subscribe).

References 

Benson, J. D., Szucs, K. A., & Taylor, M. (2016). Student response systems and learning: Perceptions of the student. Occupational therapy in health care, 30(4), 406-414.

Kay, R. H., & LeSage, A. (2009). Examining the benefits and challenges of using audience response systems: A review of the literature. Computers & Education, 53(3), 819–827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.05.001

Malekjafarian, A., & Gordan, M. (2024). On the use of an online polling platform for enhancing student engagement in an engineering module. Education Sciences, 14(5), 536.

Phelps, C., & Moro, C. (2022). Using live interactive polling to enable hands-on learning for both face-to-face and online students within hybrid-delivered courses. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 19(3), 8.

Rose, S. (2019). Exploring the impact of in-class polling tools on student engagement in higher education. Technology and the Curriculum: Summer 2019.

Vevox. (n.d.). About Vevox. Retrieved from Vevox

Wood, R., & Shirazi, S. (2020). A systematic review of audience response systems for teaching and learning in higher education: The student experience. Computers & Education, 153, 103896.

BONUS

I was about to go through all of the websites of the various alternatives to Vevox to compare their free features for teachers, when I thought, let me see what AI can do…….(I used ChatGpt for this).

My prompt was:

Can you make a chart comparing the features of Vevox, SMS Poll, Socrative, Slido, Poll Everywhere and Kahoot – of just their free versions for teachers?

And here is the response I received:

Sure, I’ll create a comparison chart for the free versions of Vevox, SMS Poll, Socrative, Slido, Poll Everywhere, and Kahoot specifically for teachers.

Here’s the information I’ll compare:

  1. Audience Size: Maximum number of participants.
  2. Question Types: Variety of question types available.
  3. Reporting: Availability of reporting or analytics features.
  4. Integration: Integration with other tools or platforms.
  5. Accessibility: Mobile and web accessibility.
  6. Customization: Customization options for polls or quizzes.
  7. Additional Features: Any unique features or limitations.

I’ll first gather the necessary data for each tool and then create the chart.

Vevox (Free Version)

  • Audience Size: Up to 100 participants
  • Question Types: Multiple choice, word cloud, text, ranking
  • Reporting: Basic reporting available
  • Integration: Limited (Microsoft Teams, PowerPoint)
  • Accessibility: Mobile app, web-based
  • Customization: Limited
  • Additional Features: Real-time polling, Q&A

SMS Poll (Free Version)

  • Audience Size: Limited (typically fewer participants)
  • Question Types: Multiple choice, text
  • Reporting: Limited
  • Integration: Limited
  • Accessibility: SMS-based, web-based
  • Customization: Limited
  • Additional Features: Text message-based polling

Socrative (Free Version)

  • Audience Size: Up to 50 students per room
  • Question Types: Multiple choice, true/false, short answer
  • Reporting: Basic reports available
  • Integration: Limited
  • Accessibility: Mobile app, web-based
  • Customization: Limited
  • Additional Features: Space race game, exit tickets

Slido (Free Version)

  • Audience Size: Up to 100 participants
  • Question Types: Multiple choice, word cloud, Q&A, ranking
  • Reporting: Basic analytics
  • Integration: Limited (Google Slides, PowerPoint)
  • Accessibility: Mobile app, web-based
  • Customization: Limited
  • Additional Features: Live polling, Q&A

Poll Everywhere (Free Version)

  • Audience Size: Up to 25 participants
  • Question Types: Multiple choice, word cloud, Q&A, ranking
  • Reporting: Basic reports
  • Integration: Limited (Google Slides, PowerPoint)
  • Accessibility: Mobile app, web-based
  • Customization: Limited
  • Additional Features: Real-time audience feedback

Kahoot (Free Version)

  • Audience Size: Up to 50 participants
  • Question Types: Multiple choice, true/false
  • Reporting: Basic reports available
  • Integration: Limited
  • Accessibility: Mobile app, web-based
  • Customization: Quiz themes, game-based
  • Additional Features: Game-based learning, quizzes

Comparison Chart

Now, let’s create the chart to visualize this information:  

Output image

That just saved a LOT of time. However- if you are someone just starting to play with what AI can do, know that it makes mistakes and you can not trust it to be correct. As just one example, if you go to the websites for these tools, the first error in the answer above is that the free version of Vevox does NOT provide the word cloud. You must pay for the next level version to get that feature. SMS poll free version only allows 15 votes per poll, much too few for most OT classrooms. Socrative allows 50 students and 5 quizzes. Slido for Zoom allows 100 students, and 3 polls per event, and it integrates with more tools that what is listed above. Poll everywhere does have a 25 student limit with the free version, but unlimited questions. The free version of Kahoot appears to be limited to 10 participants for higher-ed basic plan (free). Kahoot did not make it easy to find out this information however.

So- as you can see, AI is fast, but it is not always accurate! Always make sure to check its work!

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