Answer Garden

Free!

Answer Garden is a web-based tool for formative assessments. To begin, users must go to the Answer Garden website and click the “+” button on the top right of the screen. Next, users must type in the topic for their answer garden, which should take the form of a question. Users can then scroll through the additional options that include: The mode (Brainstorm, Classroom, Moderator, or Locked), the answer length (20 or 40 characters), an admin password, an email reminder (be notified each time a person responds), a spam filter, and a discoverability limit (how long the answer garden lasts). After setting these options, users must click the “Create” button to make their answer garden live. At this point, users can see the answer garden. To share it, users can copy and paste the link to their garden and send it out via email or post it to a class website.  Other users can then click the link to add their response. As responses are added, they are shown in the garden and the pool of answers grows. If an answer is repeated, it grows bigger in the garden. Also, users can hover their mouse over answer to see how many times an answer has been offered. For additional options, users can scroll to the bottom of the answer garden. From those options, users can export the answers, read the answer garden’s statistics with the “About” button, click the “QR” button to get a code for the answer garden, change the availability of the board with the “Local” button, change the answer garden’s settings with the “admin” button, and update the answer garden with the “Refresh” button.

Classroom Applications

1. Before teaching a text, topic, or unit, teachers can create an answer garden that asks what students already know about the topic. As students respond, teachers can refresh the board to view the responses. Once students have replied, teachers can ask students to review the information and use it to launch a class conversation.
2. After reading a text, teaching lesson, or studying a topic, teachers can create an answer garden that asks students what they learned. Students can then respond. Once students have replied, teachers can ask students to review the information and use it to launch a class conversation.
3. When teaching vocabulary terms, teachers can make an answer garden for each term and have students reply by entering in what they think is the term’s definition. Once students have responded, teachers can review the information before sharing their definition for the term. At this point, teachers can cross-reference the replies.
4. At any time, teachers can ask students an open-ended question with this website to gauge student understanding, student perception, or assessment data.
5. To gauge cultural changes, teachers can create an answer garden about popular culture and let students respond to it. For example, the prompt could be: (1) What is the best piece of technology?, (2) Who is the most influential person?, (3) What is the most gifted athlete? If teachers use the same answer garden annually, they will have a large snapshot of cultural changes over time.

Screenshots