Today's Ed Tech Tuesday feature is a SurveyMonkey review. I used SurveyMonkey to poll my 4th and 5th graders this week. I had never used SurveyMonkey until a few days ago, but someone on my state's library listserv was asking for student survey samples, and I thought it would be more efficient to do one online.
SurveyMonkey is fairly easy to use. It offers a lot question type options. This could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. The different types of questions don't come with a lot of explanation on the main page. With a little bit of trial and error, however, you will eventually get the results you're looking for. There is a very good help page. However, if you're a person who likes to figure everything out before you just start clicking. I guess I'm more of a figure it out as you go kind of gal.
You basically choose your question type, type in answer choices (for multiple choice or check boxes), and choose whether or not a response is required. Pretty easy! You can even preview the survey before publishing. Once you're satisfied with the survey, just save and publish it, and SurveyMonkey will provide you with a URL you can put on your website or send via email.
The free version allows 10 questions and 40 respondents per survey. Not bad for a few classes like I used it for, but it you wanted to poll the entire school, you'd have to either create several different surveys or pay for a different plan. Here's how the pricing works.
SurveyMonkey in the Library
I liked the ability to go in and see the results after my students had finished the survey. You can view responses from the entire group (as percentages) or you can view each respondent's answers. My questions had to do with which genres my students enjoy, what they would buy for the library, and what they hope to learn in library class this year.
Give it a try! Already using SurveyMonkey? Share your innovative ideas and SurveyMonkey review in the comments.
Amy Kirkland says
What kinds of questions or what kind of information did you get from your survey?? I have actually thought of using Survey Monkey for the library. Curious as to your questions.
Jocelyn says
Amy, I just asked questions like what's your favorite genre, what do you wish our library had more books about, etc. It was really eye-opening!