iVoted Blogroll

The State of the Internet: E-Mail and Twitter at the Top

Here are the trends. Social Media, e-mail and text messages are by far the most popular ways to stay connected in 2010-2011.

Companies and organizations in general should adapt to people and not the opposite. What a better way to find out what they want than using their own communication methods? Try iVoted. Instead of using traditional audience response systems, including expensive and complicated clickers, people participate via the most popular tools: text messages, Twitter and E-Mail. Very simple.

Children Love Learning on Mobile Devices

Children love reading and learning on mobile devices. At least that’s what a study by Scholastic, Inc. recently revealed.

The report shows that about six out of 10 of kids between the ages 9 and 17 say that they are interested in reading on an electronic device like the the iPad, iPhone or Kindle. Interesting, specially given that the iPad was only released around 1 year ago. 

“Obviously, digital media is competing for kids’ attention…. There’s an opportunity to use technology to engage kids. … We can have great content presented in a digital way,” says Scholastic Book Club president Judy Newman.

Imagine level of participation that educators would get if they used those devices to cover the whole learning process, adding response systems and digital interactivity in and out of the classroom. Technology would help improve engagement and hence results.

For more info on response systems for education, visit iVoted’s website.

Polls Go Beyond the Grave

How easy it is to get people involved in the political system nowadays… Just take a look at Russia. Seventy percent of Russians voting in an online poll decided to remove Lenin’s body from his Red Square mausoleum. The Marxist revolutionary will now be buried.

Only 10 years ago the consultation process would’ve meant millions of dollars spent on expensive voting systems. This time United Russia organized the event through the website Goodbyelenin.ru. 

On Monday morning, 255,349 people had voted with 178,022 backing the idea of Lenin’s burial, or 69.7 percent. Apparently the Russian presidential administration supported Lenin’s burial and was very interested in testing public opinion.

What if Russians had been able to vote via their cell phones, Twitter or e-mail as well? Maybe they could’ve had more votes? iVoted knows!

Idaho Educators to Expand Student Response Systems to Every Classroom

Communities in Idaho have realized the need to engage students in new ways, in the ways that they’re used to. State superintendent Tom Luna is even proposing reforms to expand the specific use of cost-effective student response systems, tablets, smartphones and other technologies to every classroom in that state.

“I have learned through the years that kids are totally motivated by technology,” teacher Nicholette Johnson said. “You can inspire them to do all kinds of things in the curriculum just by offering them some technology to go along with their day to day school.”

“The vision is to bring schools and districts up to the 21st century so we can build these 21st century classrooms so students can have access to the digital tools that they normally have quite a bit of access to outside of school,” Takata said.

These news seem to go hand in hand to recent studies that show how children are quickly adopting smartphones and other new devices outside of the classroom.  A study by Scholastic, Inc. found that about six out of 10 of kids between the ages 9 and 17 say they are interested in reading on an electronic device like the Kindle or the iPad. 

When it comes to gathering student responses and bringing unlimited interactivity into the classroom, solutions like iVoted seem to be a perfect fit. Children and older pupils are able to participate and respond via the most popular methods: Twitter, sms, emails and the web in general. Any device -including phones, computers, e-readers- becomes an audience response system.

It’s cost-effective, easy to implement, fast and reliable. You can get started here. It’s FREE!

Image: Curtisav.com

Traditional Vs. New Audience Response Systems

We came across a pretty cool post by Corbin Ball Associates, a comparison between traditional and new audience response systems (ARS). It’s fairly accurate and the best thing is that most of the cons for the latest ARS (text messages, Twitter, email, etc…) have been solved since this page was posted in 2008. 

Here an improved version, probably the best comparison you will ever read between keypads (the old system) and the new tools. My comments in bold.

NEW ARS

Pros:

• Low cost and ubiquity (everyone carries around a text-messaging capable phone).
• There are few set up issues. You can simply ask everyone to pull out their phones, give them brief instructions, and off you go. All that is needed is a computer with an internet connection and a data projector.
• Probably the most significant advantage is that it works well with text questions – an electronic Q&A session.
• Text message systems can be used for conference agendas, group announcements, shuttle schedules, exhibit product information and other “on demand” requests for information.
• Real quick polling, just like with keypads
• Ability to ask several questions in a matter of minutes
• People use the devices that they’re more familiar with, hence engagement improves
• Interface is rich and fully customizable

Cons:

• There are sometimes connectivity issues (cell phone coverage is not everywhere). International texting may be costly.  Also, there can be a cost per person to send text messages. True, but there’s always a chance to use other methods, like email, Twitter or the web to cast votes. Possibilities are endless

OLD ARS

Pros:

• Connectivity is not a problem. These systems are designed to receive every vote from every keypad in the room instantly and very reliably. There are no “calling costs” per person. True but the latest systems offer reliable networks as well.

Cons:

• Higher cost (can be up to US$10/person/day). iVoted, a service that uses new devices, starts at no cost.
• Gear (the keypads, antennae, and the controlling system) is required. Commonly this is provided as a paid service involving a technician to set things up and run it. More costs.
• Usually keypad only respond to Yes/No or multiple-choice questions.
• These systems are designed for voting only. They do not designed to receive data on other aspects of the conference.
• The number of voters is always subject to the availability of the keypads. 

As you can see, new audience response systems were probably a bit limited when they first came out. Things have evolved, times have changed and they now offer the most reliable, flexible, fast and cost-effective results. Thoughts?

Images: Wikimedia Commons.

Four Reasons to Pick an Online Audience Response System

Whether you want to do market research, get entertainment feedback, educate or simply have fun, here are some common reasons why dozens of people have picked online Audience Response Systems. 

1) Web-based. The only element that we can count on for today and the future is the web. That’s why solutions like iVoted are the best choice for dozens of companies. No matter the platform, software or device, in this ever evolving tech world the web offer enough flexibility to support it all.

2) Cost-effective. Goodbye keypads, clickers or any other expensive gadgets. iVoted let educators, marketers and other professionals gather responses using systems that people are already used to: cell phones, e-mail, text messages, Twitter… Implementation costs go down to zero. Numbers? At least five times less expensive than an old-school Audience Response System.

3) It’s cool. Being able to get real-time response with almost no implementation efforts; using well-adopted platforms; getting answers in real time and at little or no cost. Isn’t that cool?

4) Be in control. Edit questions, manage answers, monitor results, keep them private or public… However you want to manage data, Online Audience Response Systems let you decide and achieve it.

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