Web 2.0 tool review

1. Name of the Web 2.0 Tool: QuestionPro

2. URL of the Tool:  http://www.questionpro.com

3. Category for this tool: Feedback tool.

4. What is QuestionPro? QuestionPro in an online survey tool to create and distribute surveys, polls and questionaries. The product offers a free and paid version. The free version has limited features but powerful enough for most users. The signup process if very simple and the backend is very user friendly. No program download or additional plug-ins are necessary. Within minutes the user can create professional looking surveys with hundreds of different question types such as multiple choice, open ended text, matrix, ordering, and rating. It also offers advanced question types to include pictures and multimedia. The survey can be distributed via email or social media sites and viewed using computers, tablets or smartphones. The results are displayed in a very impressive realtime survey report.

5. What do you need to know before using this tool? 

 The site is very easy to use and no programing knowledge is necessary for the web tool itself.

6. What do you need to have before using this tool? 

 I would recommend you check the final result using several platforms (PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet). For example, images may not display nicely in a small smartphone screen and may need to be resized.

7. How do you use this tool? 

 1. Log in: create a new account or using your existing Google, Linkedin or Facebook account

2. Create a new survey (here is a link to the tutorial video)

  a. Select create a survey

  b. Select new survey, enter a survey name and click on the create survey button?

  c. Now you will be directed to the Edit Survey Tab where you can start adding new question to the survey

   d. Next select question category from the multiple options on the right side menu and save you question

3. Distribute survey

  Click on send survey on the top menu and then send email invitation. This will open a pop up window. Enter email addresses one per line and click on send email to distribute the survey invitation. Alternatively, copy and paste the live survey link into the email management software you regularly use (gmail, yahoo, outlook, etc)

  4. Reports

    Click reports on the top menu to open the reporting toolset

8. Locate or create your own example of an educational resource created with this tool and discuss what you found or created. Also, please include the URL for this example or embed it into your blog post, if applicable. 

   Please visit a short example I have created http://questionpro.com/t/AK5KIZRHQr

9. Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment. 

  QuestionPro can be used in a variety of ways. I can administer test to students anytime anywhere. Not only to test knowledge at the end of a lecture series but also to see student progress by administering pre and post lecture tests. I could use the multimedia option to add pictures or videos to test surgical pathology residents and fellows regarding disease processes. For example, I could add a picture of a tumor and ask students to recognize it.  Test can also be stratified by student level and provide feedback to compare how each student is positioned to his peers and other levels of training. Furthermore, questions can be grouped to counsel students about strengths and weaknesses in certain areas. Student and teacher satisfaction can also be recorded and later analyzed in a variety of ways. I would recommend you sign up for the free account and play with it like I did.

10. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this tool in a formal or informal teaching environment? 

  The main advantage of this web tool is the user friendly platform and professional look of the product. The reporting toolset is very comprehensive and provides same basic statistical analysis that I have not seen provided with other free online survey creation tools. Educators can create questionaries with very basic computer knowledge. The major advantage is that I can administer test in a variety of ways anytime. Students can answer them using a variety of platforms. This gives versatility, efficiency, and freedom to both students and teachers. The disadvantage is that questions can be difficult and time consuming to write. I did not see a "lock up" mechanism or a timed option. This gives students the possibility to use another browser window to look for answers and use all the time they want. Hence, cheating on exams may be easy.

11. Would you recommend this Web 2.0 tool to others, or suggest that they explore a different tool?
 I would definitively recommend this tool to create simple and short satisfaction surveys and probably for informal pre and post lecture testing. I would definitely would not use the free option for grading students since it lacks security measures.

Here is a a small comparison table of the most popular online survey tools I found.

Free version	QuestionPro	Survey Monkey	surveytool	Survey Gizmo	Survey Expression	Surveyspro
number of question/survey	10	10	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
number of responses	?	100	100	250/month	200	unlimited
Design	many templates	31 templates	templates	templates	templates	templates
real time reports	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Survey duration	Unlimited	unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
import from word documents	No	No	Yes	No	No	No