La Purisima State School in Torrevieja (Alicante) is the first educational centre in the Valencian Community to conduct a pilot project using an interactive handheld system to help maximise the level of learning of its pupils.
Called PowerVote, the system has been designed to stimulate pupils’ participation, motivation and attention in class. To use this simple system all that is needed is a computer, and the easy to use handsets. When the teachers want to check on their pupils’ level of knowledge or if they have fully understood a certain point in class, all they have to do is pose a series of questions with multiple choice answers. With a keypad, the pupils then choose the answer they think is correct, which allows the teachers to determine how much more work may be needed or if they can move on to another topic.
The pilot project has been conducted among primary school pupils in 1st-5th (age 5 to 10) grade. According to Jose Luis Torregrosa Macia, the teacher co-ordinating the project at the centre: “The results have been very positive… The pupils not only pay a lot more attention, but also the most incredible thing is that they learn through play.”
“The system not only stimulates participation, but also makes tests fun,” explains Armelle Jaclot, head of Education market at PowerVote.. “Likewise, it discreetly detects those pupils with learning problems, allowing the teacher to recap certain points before moving on to a new subject. It also allows the teacher to conduct a personalized follow-up with each pupil. With Powervote classes become more dynamic and interactive.”
In the opinion of Torregrosa, the chief advantage of the keypads developed by PowerVote lies in the fact that all the pupils can participate at the same time, with immediate results.
This pilot project conducted in the Valencian Community is part of the strategy PowerVote has implemented to promote the use of its keypads as a continuous learning and entertainment tool for primary and secondary school children.
