Tech tool: ChimeIn

I continued on the thread of assessment and evaluation this week, and spent some time learning about ChimeIn, a response tool we have free access to through the University. Currently we frequently use zoom polls, mentimeter, padlet or jamboard for online responses during a course. We use Qualtrics surveys for online evaluations, post courses. 

I watched the Introduction video and experimented with setting up various response questions. Setting up questions seems very straightforward, and I was impressed that the tool will also allow photos as a response. (This makes it a potential tool to use for photo submissions for a Photovoice project, as mentioned in an earlier post.) 

There are two potential drawbacks to the tool, if I were to use it in my current work, which is not graded. First, there is no way to share all the answers with the group in real time as they are being generated, which is a nice way to generate discussion and feedback. We often use jamboards for this purpose. It’s not as visually appealing as jamboard, and answers can’t be moved around and grouped.

Second, is around accessing the ChimeIn questions in live classrooms.  While the link is easy to share out during a webinar, in an in-person space, it’s really nice to be able to incorporate a QR code in the slide deck, so learners can pull out their phones and access questions, quizzes, etc. I realize I could do a workaround and create a QR code in another app, but Mentimeter wins out on this. 

I do like that ChimeIn is integrated in Canvas. While I don’t currently use Canvas, it would be handy to use it for assessment, and there are specific instructions for this.