{"id":14764,"date":"2026-10-02T08:57:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T08:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/?page_id=14764"},"modified":"2026-10-14T08:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T08:26:18","slug":"student-response-tools","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/student-response-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Response Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The University provides institution-wide access to the two student response tools: <\/span>Padlet<\/span><\/a> and Vevox<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>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\u2019s important to consider which one is best for what you want to achieve.\u00a0 <\/span>In addition, <\/span>MS Forms<\/span><\/a>, while not designed as a student response tool, can also be used for some forms of student response activity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Tool comparison<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Padlet<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Vevox<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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MS Forms<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Primarily a collaborative digital workspace for sharing, creating and organising content.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nPrimarily an audience response system designed for live interaction during teaching sessions.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nPrimarily a survey, quiz and data collection tool designed for gathering structured responses and feedback.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Strong focus on discussion, collaboration, resource sharing and content creation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nStrong focus on polling, quizzes, voting, and word clouds, which can be used to promote discussion<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nStrong focus on surveys, quizzes, questionnaires and feedback collection.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Best for extended activities before, during or after class.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nBest for interaction during lectures.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nBest for pre-class activities, knowledge checks and evaluation feedback collection.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Allows students to post multimedia content including text, images, video, audio, files and links<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nProvides structured question types such as MCQs, ranking, rating, numeric responses and quizzes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nProvides structured question types such as multiple choice, text, rating, ranking and quiz questions.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Excellent for collaborative knowledge construction, group work and shared resource creation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nExcellent for checking understanding, providing instant feedback, and peer discussion and learning.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nExcellent for collecting student feedback, conducting formative quizzes and gathering information at scale.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Contributions remain visible as an evolving board or canvas that can be revisited and edited.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nResults are typically aggregated and displayed instantly.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nResponses are collected and analysed through reports and exports, rather than being designed for live visual discussion.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Benefits of using a student response tool<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n