Thing 18: Survey Goodness

If you chose the cell phone adventure last week, you might have found that even cell phones can be used for surveys… but in this Thing we will be discovering some of the "survey services" (that's fun to say) that are available for free online.


Polls and Surveys can be used for polling 100 people (like on "Family Feud"), making money (Surveysavvy), giving some statistics to things like elections (Gallup polls), and educational feedback (end-of-class surveys, to name one). What do all of these have in common? They are set up because they want feedback. What they do with that feedback (or how they interpret the feedback) changes as often as the wind (Are we, or are we not, in a recession?)… but the first step is always to get the feedback.

So this is our Thing for today. You get to discover the inner-workings of the various survey sites and really get a taste and feel for how they work. The fantastic part is that these sites (for the most part) do most of the data collecting and crunching for you. So you set up your survey and get immediate results… fully tailored with statistical analysis.

Here are the sites we'll be working with:

Discovery Exercise

  1. Check out (trial run or tour) at least two of the survey sites. See what they have to offer.
  2. Choose a site and create an account and
  3. Create (and use) a survey! Create the survey, have people take it, and take a look at the sleek results you get.
  4. Blog about the experience: what you liked and didn't like. What you hoped for and how you can use this personally/professionally.

*Hint: Surveys are also named "Choice" in Moodle if you're using it!

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi there! This is a great exercise, and if any of your readers need any help using SurveyGizmo please send them our way!
Thanks - Brittany

October 17, 2008 at 10:09 AM

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Discovery is so much fun!

Have you ever thought, ”Gosh, I wish I had time to learn more about blogs, wikis, or (enter your Web 2.0 tool here)?” Well, this is your chance to take the time to focus on your personal and professional development around Web 2.0 tools. It’s fun to explore these tools and figure out ways to use them in school, with your personal Web sites, or in other ways.

SWC's 23 Things is a twist on the Library Learning 2.0 program developed by Helene Blowers at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenberg County and adopted or adapted by many other libraries (including Minnesota Libraries with 23 Things on a Stick) and organizations since then.Learning 2.0 is online learning program that encourages staff to learn more about emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society and schools access information and communicate with each other.

Over the course of the next nine weeks, this website will highlight “23 Things” and discovery exercises to help staff become familiar with blogging, RSS news feeds, tagging, wikis, podcasting, online applications, and video and image hosting sites.To familiarize yourself with this project, be sure to read the About page. The FAQs should answer most of your questions about this program. If not, then please add your question to the FAQ page as a comment.So fasten your seat belts, grab your mouse and get ready for a discovery adventure… and remember, it's OK to play with technology and have fun!