Educational Technology Usage Within a Classroom: Educator Perspective
Mentimeter is an interactive website that enables educators to gather meaningful feedback and engage with their students. When first entering the site, users must create an account. After a few clicks, I was able to access the free version of the account, which allows users to create polls, open-ended questions, scales, rankings, etc. Clicking on each tab will enable the user to develop their questions and a joinable link/ QR code that other people can access. Some features enable collaborative workspaces, allowing users to create shared documents.
I can see any educator in any classroom or grade level using this platform. The design of the product is less about a specific subject area and more about how to utilize the features of this particular application to engage all students in any class.
Usefulness in a School Library
Mentimeter is flexible for any class, thus it would work perfectly in a library environment. The generalizability of the website allows it to serve at a smaller, micro scale, for example, a librarian when teaching a lesson. And for larger school and district-wide projects, for instance, Mentimeter can be used for a school-wide poll and program that the librarian is running. Either way, the platform can be flexible to cater to the needs of whatever age group it applies to.
Implicaitons
The website runs smoothly and is relatively easy to navigate; however, for me at least, I find the process of creating an account tedious and unnecessary. The website is straightforward in terms of the features it offers. Since it was relatively easy to navigate, I wonder if Mentimeter can provide more options for pre-created templates. For example, a feature that allows the user to see pre-existing content available for teaching a subject at a specific grade level.
Accessibilty
The website is pretty accessible; it is easy to navigate and create an account, but Mentimeter does have premium features. Again, I understand these websites are business models. Still, from an accessibility perspective, it eliminates features that are already available to the majority of the public. A monthly subscription to a website like Mentimeter can be pretty costly when you consider that the application is primarily used for tracking and creating interactive data in a classroom setting, which is only one aspect of the multifaceted experience of teaching. The free features are valuable and should be utilized; however, from an accessibility perspective, they become less attractive as users are aware that the website can be more helpful but intentionally is not for profit.
Overall
I like what Mentimeter has to offer. It can be super helpful for any class at any grade level and beyond. It was easy to navigate, and I can see myself using this feature in the future. While there are some minor implications considering what is available in the free version, I do think this is something educators should be aware of.