Solution:

The school chose to use the Qwizdom Classroom Response System to further engage and motivate students whilst providing live feedback and reports which monitor each pupil’s progress over an academic year. Each student in the class is given a Qwizdom handset and responds the teacher’s questions posed via PowerPoint of the self paced learning function (AnswerKey.) The Music Department has incorporated the Qwizdom system into their sessions with excellent results. Sara Lyons, Head of Music explained how by using the handsets for class tests and to prepare students for end of year exams, they have seen how it has helped those students who sometimes have timing problems and would have normally been unable to finish a written test in the allocated time.

"Using Qwizdom the whole class works together at the same time and everyone has the chance to answer. I can see in real time if I have 100% feedback from the class. This has resulted in considerably fewer missed answers than would be the case with a written test."

Music lessons are now more interactive and the ease of use of the software has meant that using PowerPoint , teachers are able to embed sound files into their presentations and then pose questions straight to the handsets to assess student’s knowledge on the instruments, notes and music styles.

Sara added:

"I have also posed open-ended questions where I have played a piece of music and give the pupils a choice of adjectives to describe what they have just heard."

Positive Reaction from Students:

"As well as helping the students to develop their understanding of music they really enjoy using the handsets and they are more interested and engaged when the handsets are in use."