Student response tools are digital technologies that enable students to actively participate in learning activities by submitting responses, questions, feedback or contributions in real time or asynchronously.
The educational value of student response tools lies not in the technology itself, but in how they can be used to support active learning, participation, feedback and inclusion.
The University provides institution-wide access to the two student response tools: Padlet and Vevox. Both tools can help with increasing student engagement, participation and active learning, but they are designed for slightly different pedagogic purposes and have different features so it’s important to consider which one is best for what you want to achieve. In addition, MS Forms, while not designed as a student response tool, can also be used for some forms of student response activity.
Tool comparison
Padlet |
Vevox |
MS Forms |
| Primarily a collaborative digital workspace for sharing, creating and organising content. | Primarily an audience response system designed for live interaction during teaching sessions. | Primarily a survey, quiz and data collection tool designed for gathering structured responses and feedback. |
| Strong focus on discussion, collaboration, resource sharing and content creation. | Strong focus on polling, quizzes, voting, and word clouds, which can be used to promote discussion | Strong focus on surveys, quizzes, questionnaires and feedback collection. |
| Best for extended activities before, during or after class. | Best for interaction during lectures. | Best for pre-class activities, knowledge checks and evaluation feedback collection. |
| Allows students to post multimedia content including text, images, video, audio, files and links | Provides structured question types such as MCQs, ranking, rating, numeric responses and quizzes. | Provides structured question types such as multiple choice, text, rating, ranking and quiz questions. |
| Excellent for collaborative knowledge construction, group work and shared resource creation. | Excellent for checking understanding, providing instant feedback, and peer discussion and learning. | Excellent for collecting student feedback, conducting formative quizzes and gathering information at scale. |
| Contributions remain visible as an evolving board or canvas that can be revisited and edited. | Results are typically aggregated and displayed instantly. | Responses are collected and analysed through reports and exports, rather than being designed for live visual discussion. |
Benefits of using a student response tool
Increase motivation and active participation
These tools move students from being passive recipients of information to active participants in the learning process. Rather than simply listening, students are asked to think, respond, discuss, question and contribute.
Student benefit: greater attention, engagement and involvement in learning.
Give every student a voice
Participation is often from only a small number of confident students. Student response tools allow all students to contribute, including those who may be reluctant to speak or to share their ideas in front of peers. Allowing students to respond anonymously in particular increases participation.
Student benefit: improved confidence, psychological safety and inclusive participation.
Support formative assessment and feedback
Gathering student contributions allows lecturers to quickly check understanding, identify misconceptions and adjust teaching accordingly. Students receive immediate feedback on their understanding and can compare their thinking and ideas with that of peers.
Student benefit: improved self-awareness of learning, earlier identification of misunderstandings and more timely support.
Enable peer discussion and learning
Students learn not only from teachers but also from one another. Polling questions, peer discussion activities and collaborative spaces encourage students to explain ideas, justify reasoning, compare perspectives and construct knowledge together.
Student benefit: deeper understanding through discussion, explanation and exposure to multiple viewpoints.
Build a sense of belonging and community
Large cohorts can make students feel disconnected or overlooked. Student response tools create opportunities for every student to contribute, see the contributions of others and participate in shared activities. Collaborative spaces help students recognise that they are part of a learning community.
Student benefit: increased sense of connection, belonging and inclusion.
Accommodate different learning preferences
Student response provide a variety ways to participate, including text, images, rankings, ratings, audio, video, quizzes and visual representations such as word clouds and boards. This variety can make learning more accessible and engaging for diverse groups of students.
Student benefit: more inclusive opportunities to engage with learning activities.
Other tools
Free versions of the Kahoot, Mentimeter and Socrative have been approved by the University. These have participant and usage limits so may not be suitable for large classes. TEL do not provide technical support for free tools. Before using any free app with students, review the guidance on the considerations and risks of using unsupported technologies.
