TIming Out?

[jlbmagic]

Forgive me if this is redundant:

I know how to set the default timing on a voting session, but is there any option of having the timer stop and the results be shown or whatever comes next when ALL votes have been tabulated?

I certainly don't want to disenfranchise any of my students. clwn
I'll give them plenty of time to vote, but to adjust to all needs, I have no idea what time to use per question to make sure they ALL vote AND we don't wait for the cute timer bar to fill up. :)

Thanks.

[Lara]

if you have the number of devices set to the number of children participating, when the last vote is in, then it should display the results automaticlaly. Are you using it in named mode? If so, you need to mark any absent children as absent.

[jlbmagic]

Okay, i think i understand. I'll have to check that. In anonomyous mode, with 27 kids we use 27 pods, as the window at the beginning says. I assume that means that only voters 1 - 27 will be looked for by the computer, but i may be wrong.

I have 31 voters, does that mean the computer is expecting 31 votes, even though the activote bar at the top showing the session and the people who've responded? As i understand it, if there's only 27 kids, then I set the number of used pods to 27 which is then the last number on the voting session that i see in the bar during a session.

When the last voter has voted, the timer still runs, so we sit around for 5 to 10 seconds waiting for the timer to end, to get to the 30 seconds or so.

Does this make sense? I hope i am explaining it.

I'd like to know if all the registered pods have inputed a vote, can the timer stop even if there is still time left in the session.

thanks

[LisaD]

Is there any reason why you are using the timer at all?

I rarely do but manually start voting and stop it when I either see everyone has answered OR I'm tired of waiting for those to answer.

I've always found it too difficult to try to judge how long I should give folks to answer. You just never know what interruption will take place.

Lisa

[Lara]

I'm sure it should stop when it has received the number of votes that it was expecting in the session. The only difference is the first time you use it in a session it can't tell which 27 devices are in use.
But I'm with Lisa, I hardly ever use the timer settings - i just stop it when I've had enough/we're all there depending how important it is that I have all the answers.

[Daniel Bunker]

The key setting to tick is the Take users first answer only option, this way the voting stops hanging around waiting for anyone to change their minds and immediately moves on.

Dan

[ELJ]

Hi,+wave+
Dan's advice is spot on (as always Daniel!) - by activating that setting you will find that the vote stops when all the votes are in. You will need to adjust your session setting to the number of votes being used as has also been discussed. The first time you vote the bar will show ALL the devices registered and then take the first however many you have told it is the session - it needs to work out which ones they are. That's why the numbers left aren't nescessarily sequential. Making any sense?! Or clear as mud?!
Another good tip when using Activote for a quick summative test is to set the timer and te Automatic page advance. It makes it fairly independent then...I used it alot like this for Mental Maths tests first thing in the morning. the timed questions provided good practice for SATs.[clap]
Emma+wave+

[Margaret Allen]

SATS for those in the "non UK" are Standard Attainment Targets which are the test which we have to run in the UK every year, with 11 year olds, for reasons most teachers are not really sure about.

I am sure someone in an office somewhere thinks its a good idea though +wave+

[Lara]

[clap] Margaret, couldn't have put it better!

[jlbmagic]

AHHH!
the "Change their vote" feature is what hangs us up.

That makes sense.

Thanks, Dan, for that advice.

But you're right, all of you. The timer settings are kind of odd since you don't know how long a question will take to answer. I am listening to that advice and getting away from it, instead, just counting verbally to 10, my normal way of handling things.
thanks so much!

[scaulfield]

So much timer bashing! :(:(

So I must stick up a bit for the timer. While I agree that it is hard to find the right amount of time to put on the timer, I have found some great uses for it. Sometimes you have students that want to be the LAST one to vote. So they all stick around and wait for everyone else to vote.

But I personally like the timer, because it is a workaround which allows you to start/stop a vote using the Activslate. You start the vote, then once the timer is done, the results pop up, and the slate is working again. [clap]

(Hopefully this will no longer be an issue in the future with 2.4 gh votes and slates)

[ELJ]

Let's not disregard the timer feature altogether folks...it does ave some good uses - especially for keeping the pace of a lesson when set to a reasonable setting.
It was something requested as a feature in Activexpression - and is now indeed there too![clap]
Em

[Alison]

I'm with Scott, I have the same thing in my current class, there are a few who always have to be the last person. Putting the timer on stops this. I do always give them working out time before I start the voting though.

Also, like Emma says, very useful for mental maths! Although we don't have timed questions in Year 2 (6-7 year olds), we do still have the aural questions in our SATs paper! :eek:

[scaulfield]

Alison does bring up a great point about timed questions for state testing.

Here in Missouri, parts of the state test are timed. So the timer is a great feature to help prepare the students for the timed part of the test.