Abstract:

Polytechnic University of Madrid, to improve the educational processes and incorporate the information and communication technologies (ICT), calls grants regularly for the educational innovation and for the improvement of quality of education. The teaching experiences reflected in the present work take part of a project of educational innovation called: Implementation of an android mobile-based system to anonymous communication and real time evaluation in classrooms, selected in 2014-2015 call of these grants. The main objective is to establish communication processes between teachers and students in the classroom that allow shearing information in real time (RTE-Feedback). Different options were taken account, deciding to start with the use of mobiles as a communication tool because a larger percentage of the students have smartphones. At last, the kind of technology was analyzed taking account: infrareds, Bluetooth, SMS, Wi-Fi and mobile data; finally, it was decided to start using Wi-Fi and mobile data as there are the technologies which are present in the most percentage of the devices and, until now, are the technologies that allow terminals connecting more easily.

Then, the possibility of using free Apps with Android Operational System in the educational setting was analyzed, as this is the most widespread. From the studied applications, SOCRATIVE was selected by its simple interface, the availability for all the mobiles devices and the attached documentation. SOCRATIVE is an answer system which helps teachers and allows students asking through smartphones, portable computers and tablets. Anonymity and simplicity of the answers (with numerous ways of answers: test, short answer, multiple answer) allows teachers to get the information in a direct way and to analyze if students understands the explanations properly.

The next step has been dedicated to design educational experiences inside the classroom, and measuring the satisfaction degree of students and teachers. The first experience was carried out with 24 students of the subject “Industry of the No-wooded Forest Products” from third grade of the Forest Engineering Degree (FED). The activity was about the resolution of a numerical exercise. The exercise was proposed in SOCRATIVE as an open answer. Currently a new experience is being designed for a 20 students group of the subject: Graphic Design in Engineering from first grade of FED. In this case, they are to be used closed questions or multioption and the system is going to incorporate to all the theory classes. In both cases, at the end of the experience, a satisfaction survey is delivered in which the students and teachers assess the tool.

The first experience has revealed some troubles related with the use of mobile inside the classroom. Because these devices have more applications available, propitiates distractions. On the other hand, some students had no terminals prepared to the installation of software. In order to solve these problems, an infrared-based system was designed that uses an Uno-Arduino card with a circuit in a proof board (Proto-Board) and with an infrared sensor. The software is already programmed and now we are working in making a more practical design with using Microview. This system has a low cost that allows more flexibility in software programming. The commands to be used to make the answers shall be low-cost and will solve the detected problems in using the mobile.