Mentimeter trial - Call for expressions of interest
The E-Learning Unit recently ran an event on engaging large student cohorts. This event was well attended and we saw many people that we wouldn’t necessarily expect to come to a technology-focussed event demonstrating a common theme of interest across the university.
We have also noticed an increasing interest in audience response systems at QMUL. While we continue to support our current hardware-based system, TurningPoint, it is limited both in terms of cost and in flexibility. Recent developments in the availability of robust wifi and student ownership of internet-enabled devices make web-based tools much more viable.
Our event demonstrated that there are already a significant number of staff making use of a variety of different web-based tools, mostly free, to engage their students during their teaching. One system which was mentioned several times is Mentimeter.
We have therefore managed to fund 24 Mentimeter pro licences for the 2018/19 academic year and we are now calling out to colleagues who would be willing to commit to using it in their teaching over the year. In return for a pro license, we would expect staff to feed back at regular intervals during the year, at least at the end of each semester, to allow us to determine how useful the tool is. The E-Learning Unit will provide assistance in using the tool to those who might require it. So if you feel really keen to give it a try but nervous about how it might go, we are happy to help!
At the end of the year of the trial we will collate the findings from our users which will allow us to make a decision as to whether we seek continued funding for this type of tool and if so:
- What an appropriate level of license might be - do we have enough interest to justify a university-wide system?
- Whether Mentimeter is the right tool to continue with
If we have more applicants than we have licenses we will have to make a decision which will be based on the following criteria:
- How many applicants there are from a specific department - we would like to ensure a good spread of experience across faculties and departments, including professional services
- The number of students you'll be teaching - we are specifically interested in the use of this tool with large student cohorts so we will prioritise based on cohort size. We will also prioritise those who are using this with students (as opposed to use with other members of staff)
- When you can commit to using the software
If you are only going to be teaching for part of the year, you can still apply. We may ask you to give back your license when you are not using it so that we can allocate it to another user. It's therefore important that you tell us when specifically you intend to make use of it.
If you are interested in being involved in this trial then please fill out this short survey. (we may need to provide what extra pro version provides)
If you need to know more about what Mentimeter is and does, please have a look at the information on their website. The section on uses in education is particularly useful.
If you'd like to chat to a member of the E-Learning Unit before applying...contact us on elearning@qmul.ac.uk.