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Engaging Students with Vevox: An Academic’s Experience
Read more: Engaging Students with Vevox: An Academic’s ExperienceInteractive teaching tools have become essential in keeping students engaged during lectures. We spoke with Dr John Shaw a Senior Lecturer in Psychology here at Edge Hill University, who has been using Vevox to enhance student participation.
Here’s what he had to say about his experience.
Dr John Shaw – Senior Lecturer in Psychology What do you use Vevox for?
“I use it in a couple of ways. In my developmental psychology lectures, I use it to check students’ knowledge—for example, using a Likert scale (1-5) to gauge how well they understand a concept. I also incorporate it as a pseudo-quiz element, asking questions like ‘What percentage of Autistic Adults are in full-time employment?’ to keep students engaged with the lecture.
Additionally, I use Vevox on open days when giving prospective students and their families a taster lecture. In these sessions, I engage them by asking about their sleep habits, which ties into my research area. Questions like ‘How much sleep did you get last night?’ or ‘What do you remember about your dreams?’ help to make the experience interactive and memorable.”
John adds the joining instructions to one of his slides in PowerPoint which includes a QR code that can be easily scanned. 
John also uses the Vevox app during open days. Why do you use Vevox in your Teaching?
“I find that lectures and any teaching sessions with students are far more effective when there’s an element of interaction. If students are passively listening for over an hour, their engagement drops. By encouraging them to think critically about questions and actively participate, they stay more engaged and involved in the learning process.
Vevox makes this easy. Students can access the platform from their smartphones, laptops, or tablets without needing to create an account. I simply add the Session ID and QR code to my PowerPoint slides, allowing them to join seamlessly.”
What are some key benefits of using Vevox?
“One of the biggest advantages is anonymity. Students can submit responses anonymously (unless they choose to share their names), which encourages more honest and open participation.
It’s also incredibly user-friendly. Setting up and integrating Vevox into lectures is straightforward, and the accessibility of the platform means students can engage without any barriers.”
Have you faced any challenges using Vevox?
“Not really. I’ve had no issues when using it in my lectures. I’m planning to try out the new cloud-based PowerPoint add-in during my next session, so I’ll see how that goes and provide feedback afterward.”
What has student feedback been like?
“Students really appreciate how easy Vevox is to use. More importantly for them, the anonymity feature allows them to share their thoughts freely, making them more willing to be honest in their responses. The overall feedback has been very positive.”
Do you have any tips for other academics looking to try Vevox?
“It’s one of those tools you just need to try! It’s intuitive and even features AI-generated question options to make setup even easier. Since I started using it and sharing it with my colleagues, several others in my department have adopted it as well.”
Getting Started with Vevox
If you’re interested in trying Vevox, getting started is simple. Just sign in via Vevox Sign In and choose Login with Microsoft for easy access through our single sign-on system (the exact same username and password you use for all Edge Hill systems).
For more details, visit our Vevox page or reach out to us at [email protected] for assistance!
Join our engaging bitesize sessions to quickly master Vevox and enhance your teaching. Check out our Digital Skills Programme to find the next available session!
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From Confusion to Clarity: Student Voices on Course Accessibility
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Muhammad Haseeb Akhlaq.
Masters Student – Data Science & Artificial Intelligence
As an Intern at Edge Hill University, I have had the unique opportunity to delve into the world of accessibility, particularly focusing on how course content can be made more accessible to all students.
The aim of my recent project was to create a video case study by interviewing students to share their experiences with course content accessibility.
Although our initial plan was to interview several neurodivergent students, we were only able to interview one neurodivergent and two neurotypical students. Despite this, the insights gained were invaluable and highlighted the challenges faced by students in accessing course content.
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Using Content Copy to Copy Items Between Blackboard Areas Mid-Year
Have you ever wanted to copy a few items between Blackboard areas part way through a module?
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