Let’s take a poll: Working towards a more equitable classroom

Immediate feedback is a successful engagement strategy that promotes active learning and fosters a supportive, inclusive classroom, especially when used with low stakes assignments or to gauge transfer of knowledge (Epstein & Brosvic, 2002, Goldstein & Wallis, 2015). The traditional approach is for students to purchase a physical device or license through an educational technology provider. The cost of these traditional services has been increasing, adding to the financial burden for our students in the midst of an ongoing global economic recession. If you have worked tirelessly and jumped through many hoops to adopt an OER textbook in order to bring down the cost of education for your students, you may feel guilty about adding back the expense of these educational tools. An alternative approach is to use a free or low-cost mobile app for student participation. In this article, we will present an array of free apps that we have used in various courses, and discuss the benefits and limitations of each.