If you are planning to use Menti with your students, please know there have been significant changes to the ‘Free plan’ that will restrict your ability to use the tool. As with any free/freemium service, users must be aware of such risks, always check considerations when using free apps before signing up. Note: TEL cannot provide support for use of freemium tools.
What are the key changes to Menti? How many participants are allowed?
The Menti ‘Free plan’ allows a total of 50 participants per month. Once you have exceeded the 50-participant limit, you will be locked out of the account for 30 days. You can either upgrade your account to gain access to unlimited participants or wait 30 days. After 30 days, you will be able to present to up to 50 participants again.
Full details about these limitations, and how they might affect your use of Menti, are available via the Menti help page: What is included in the free account?
What are the recommended alternatives?
The university provides institutional tools that offer a range of question types for ‘student responses’. Here are some suggested tools and T&L scenarios:
Scenario 1 – Live online sessions (webinars): When conducting sessions online, you can make use of inbuilt Teams polls.
Scenario 2 – Live in-person and on-campus sessions:
- If you need to display student responses on a board; use the Microsoft Forms add-in for PowerPoint which allows you to embed a question set into a PowerPoint slide.
The embed function provides students with a joining link/QR code to access the questions on their own devices, and their responses are displayed in ‘real-time’ within the slide (see image, left). To cycle through the questions and responses, use the arrows displayed under the results. Alternatively, if you wish to display the Microsoft Form results at different points within the slide deck, either:
(a) copy and paste the results slide, cycle through the results to reach the relevant question
(b) or, add a new slide within the slide deck and insert a different Form containing a different question set.
- If you do not need to display a summary of results on the board; use Blackboard Ultra Tests. This tool is useful for providing individual or groupwork quizzes during classroom teaching, as the tool is optimised for browser viewing on any device. This means students can easily join and participate from their phones. You can adjust Test settings to reveal answers on a question-by-question basis, upon completion, at specific time, etc. and keep a record of results in your Blackboard course Gradebook (note: if students have downloaded the Blackboard app, the ‘group assessment’ function is not supported, instead use browser view).
Other than Menti, are there any other university approved freemium apps for collecting student responses?
‘Free/freemium’ use of the following ‘student response’ apps has been approved by the university. (Note: TEL cannot provide support for use of freemium tools).
- Kahoot! (‘Personal – Basic plan‘ allows only 10 participants but unlimited question types.)
- Socrative (‘Free Plan‘ allows only 5 quizzes and up to 50 participants.)
- Padlet – offers a polling functionality (‘Padlet Neon‘ is the free account; 3x padlet boards and no participant limit).
What if I want to purchase a license, for myself or department?
If you or your team plan to purchase a license, please speak to your School’s DTS Business Relationship Manager before doing so.