Implementation

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Ease of Use

Student Responses Systems, or "Clickers," are fairly easy to use, once their set up, and depending on the system that you're using.  Mimio, SMART, eInstruction, Promethean... all have their own systems, and almost without exception, the software and hardware for each are codependent, and incompatible with their competitors.  That being said, it's important during the analysis and design phase that each learning environment be considered carefully in terms of instructor and student ability and learning objectives.  Some companies, like eInstruction, provide a wealth of depth and possibility in terms of the types of questions and responses instructors can utilize through the software, but it comes at a cost: the learning curve on the software is not great, and instructors often find themselves not incorporating the system to the degree they could or should because they're intimidated by its complexity.  On the flip side, some companies, such as SMART and Mimio, focus on keeping the software easy to use, perhaps at the expense of diversity of questions types and response types.  The result: teachers new to the technology are more willing to utilize it, but experienced teachers may find systems that focus on ease of use to be limiting in terms of what they can do.

From a student perspective, as usual, most are highly adaptable and find the clickers to be easy to use and enjoyable.  The more active learning environment they experience results in faster assimilation of the material and a better use of their time. 

How to

Step 1: Analyze your intended audience, both students and faculty.  Ideally, design should consider: your student's age and familiarity with technology in general; your instructor's familiarity with technology in general; the size of the class; financial constraints; desired question and response types; and compatibility existing technology, especially in terms of interactive whiteboards and mobile wireless slates, both in your classroom and surrounding classrooms.

Step 2: Download or install the software.  Most clickers come with software on a disk, but within no time, it's outdated.  Often it's best to just go straight to the company's download page and get the latest.  Consideration may need to be given to firewalls and proxys, user rights and those kinds of things.

Step 3: Install hardware.  Almost all use a wireless USB Bluetooth, RF, or IR unit to enable each clicker to communicate with the computer.  Usually, that's the extent of hardware installation.  Most companies software systems will automatically detect the wireless unit when it's plugged in or installed.

Step 4: Determine how you're going to administer your first question: anonymous or student specific, formative or summative?  These consdierations help you determine to what extent you must preprogram in your classes and students into the software for tracking results.

Step 5: Distribute and manage your clickers with care!  If students will be using a class set, depending on the system you choose, you may want to assing them a specific clicker to be turned in at the end of class.  If your students are required to purchase their own, which is often the case at many universities these days, you'll enjoy a little bit more freedom in the managment of your system.

Alternatives to Clickers

For some, the relative cost of purchasing a Student Response System can be prohibitive.  For others, setting up the SRS or modifying instruction to incorperate its usage may be difficult.  For these reasons, it's important for educators to assess the need for a SRS and explore alternatives, both high-tech and low-tech, web-based and class-based.  Further exploration and elaboration of these points can be found here: 6320_EFolks_Alternatives to Clickers.docx

A more detailed description of low-tech alternatives to clickers can be found here:

Low Tech Alternatives to Clickers.docx

References

Burnstein, R. A & Lederman, L. M. (2001). Using wireless keypads in lecture classes.

     Chicago, IL: Illinois Institute of Technology. Retrieved October 24, 2010, from http://www.smartroom.com/lectureskeypads.pdf

This study focused on the impact clickers had on student retention rates within the first-year science and engineering students at the Illinois Institute of Technology.  They observed a change from a mainly passive learning environment to a more interactive learning environment.

Cox, A. J and Junkin, W. F. III. (2002).  Enhanced student learning in the introductory  Physics Laboratory. St Petersburg, FL: Eckerd College. Retrieved October 24, 2010,

     from  http://www.smartroom.com/BQphysics.pdf http://www.smartroom.com/BQphysics.pdf

This study utilized web-based software, Beyond Question, to gather feedback from students during instruction.  A control group that did not utilize the web-based student response system was used to compare and evauluate gains through the integration of this formative and summative assessment technology.  The result: according to their study, the use of a student response system increased learning by 50-100%. 

Horowitz, H.M., Program Director Educational Technology. (2007). Student response systems: interactivity in a classroom environment.  Thornwood, New York: IBM Corporate      Education Center. Retrieved October 24, 2010, from http://www.smartroom.com/interactivityclass.pdf

This study was based on  the IBM Corporate Management Development Center's transition from traditional classrooms and instruction to what they called Advanced Technology Classrooms.  These classrooms utilized Student Response Systems, and the study includes an analysis of the educational benefits they derived from this transition to the changes in course design that were made necessary by the use of advanced technology, including clickers.

Kaleta, R., & Joosten, T. (2007).  Student  response systems: A University of Wisconsin system study of clickers.  Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Retrieved October 24, 2010,

     from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0710.pdf

This study is useful for its empirical data, gathered from both faculty and students, during the transition from traditional classrooms to classrooms utilizing clicker systems.

Keeley, P. (2008). Science formative assessment: 75 practical strategies for linking assessment, instruction, and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

This source was essential for exploring more traditional, low-tech alternatives to clickers.  Many formative assessment techniques were discussed, but those that enabled instructors to realize the same benefits offered by clickers were focused on most extensively.

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