<p>I have to admit, I read the title and thought “What the heck are they using dog training tools for?!?”. Glad I quickly read the related article. Obvious positives and negatives. I like the immediate feedback it gives professors. They can see where the class is not understanding information, which can be a sign that the professor didn’t communicate clearly and needs to reinforce the concept, encourage outside reading, whatever they need to do to address this before an exam. I’m not a fan at first read of quiz taking with this method. Too much can go wrong with wifi connections. Unless the student is receiving some sort of confirmation that their answers are being recorded this could lead to a student getting an inaccurate grade on an assignment. Used as an interactive tool to communicate between the student and professor, to engage a larger class, yes I think it’s something to consider. For graded assignments, I’m not so sure. I know students take tests online all the time, however students are very clear that they are logged onto the server, taking the test, and usually get confirmation that the information has been transmitted. Errors do occur, but somehow I feel the clickers would have a greater chance for failure…what if your batteries just plain die during a lecture? Does the professor assume you fell asleep? Again, I’m sure my opinion is because I’m unfamiliar with the technology.</p>
<p>^On some of them, you can tell immediately if there is a problem…the Interwrite clickers, for example. Others, like Turning Point, don’t seem to be so obvious. I’m sure profs hear about student issues in short order and, if they’re using for grading purposes, they probably pick the more foolproof ones.</p>
<p>My dau has one for a science class and also loves it- the prof races through the material, then poses a few questions. Depending on the number of right answers, the prof knows whether she can move forward or should go back over the material. Bought at bookstore, roughly $40.</p>
<p>I just brought this up to my kids and low and behold they used them in drivers ed…go figure. Now, for the county to spend money on these and then utilize them in drivers ed…I’m not sure I’d go that route. They didn’t have an opinion on them one way or another. I think if they had been used in another setting they may have a better feeling for them.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input sk8rmom. Again, I realize my hesitance is because it’s new to me.</p>
<p>Yes, they are being used at my college. There are clickers at the library that one can borrow for up to one semester at a time for no charge on the part of the student.</p>
<p>My daughter had one class that used them. She’s in all upper-div classes now, and so probably won’t use it again. She said it was actually a good tool. This was a large lecture class, and the clicker thing kept it from being a completely passive listening-and-note-taking experience.</p>
<p>My daughter has used them in her classes. Her freshman year she lost her clicker in her dorm room and called me in a panic. I am not sure what she thought I could do 2 hours away!</p>
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<p>LOL! My philosophy is to vacuum up as many points as you can when it comes to a hard class. Clicker points are definitely low hanging fruit that a number of students may not bother to sweep up.</p>
<p>They use clickers at my school, mostly in freshman and sophomore classes it seems like, and I think use is more prevalent in certain departments. I have only ever had one class that I wanted to take require it, and I chose not to take it because I didn’t want to buy the clicker. If I had been a freshman and were likely to reuse it it might have been different, but I didn’t encounter them until I was a senior and by then it didn’t seem worth the investment. I already get lecture credit, even in large lecture classes, for participation.</p>
<p>They’ve been around for quite a few years now. Not exactly novel. I think quizzing students is a fabulous pedagogical tool-- it gives both students and the prof an understanding of where the class is at on particular material. And it is one of many useful tools for maintaining student engagement, particularly in large classes. I have even used them in tiny classes, because its a quick way to take votes and have a discussion around the results.</p>
<p>@coolweather
In addition to downloading the necessary app for your phone/iPod/whatever you need to actually activate it. I believe it’s at least twenty dollars, and you need to renew every year. But the process was so complicated I know several people who actually gave up and bought a clicker a few weeks into the semester instead.</p>
<p>Clickers are transmitters that send student responses to a receiver at the front of the classroom. Most clickers have a serial number that can be keyed to a particular student, so clicker responses can then be used as quiz grades. The most basic clickers just have buttons marked A/B/C/D/E, but others allow alphanumeric input. I have seen them used to great effect in large lectures. For example, the professor will pose a question regarding something that was just discussed. Students select from a series of possible multiple-choice answers and a bar chart forms on the projector screen, showing the proportion of students who selected each answer. The prof then uses the responses as a discussion point: “Well, the answer was ‘C’, and I am glad to see that most of you identified the correct answer. However, I notice that over 20% of you answered ‘D’, which is a common misconception on this topic. I’d like to explain further why this is a misconception…”</p>
<p>Clickers were used as part of a parent education night at a local private school. Parents were asked to anonymously click their answers to questions like “what is the acceptable age for a glass of wine with dinner” or “what is the acceptable age for coed sleepovers”? The age ranges for the answers were fascinating to see up the board.</p>