Classroom response systems presentation
October 1, 2007 at 10:52 pm | In Uncategorized | 10 Comments10 Comments »
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As promised, here is some additional information on the CPS units. Retail, a lab pack of 32 RF units sells for $2995. Discounts are available at different times. We were able to purchase a 32 pack of IR units for $995 (normally $1995). The Radio Frequency works better than Infrared in our experience. I have a price sheet that I will send to Dr. Hammond to distribute. This afternoon, I spoke to the teacher in our 4th and 5th grade building that uses them regularly. He told me the students prefer taking quizzes using the CPS units. Also important to note, he does not use the devices in anonymous mode. He knows which student has each numbered device. We have already had requests for at least 12 more lab packs to be included in next year’s budget. I’m checking to see if I can get a set for our next class meeting.
Comment by mcav — October 2, 2007 #
As I mentioned in class, many textbooks now have their own version of clickers. However, once the course is over, these clickers become useless. So is it worth paying $10-$20 more for a tool that will only be used in that particular class? I am sure publishing companies are looking into making this devide more compatible to the more used, known version. It is all a business. Companies will continue to make money and students will continue to pay higgh prices for textbooks.
Comment by Alex Rolón — October 3, 2007 #
I have never used clickers before in the classroom and am fascinated to learn about them. I would think this is a great way to assess students quickly and annoynmously. I’m wondering how time consuming it is. From what Matt presented, this system may already have templates for the user. I’m thinking these clickers would work best in higher grade levels than lower grade levels. I know how kids can be when they are presented with something stimulating and fun to use. They may just guess often times, just to be able to use the clickers. I’m sure that after a while of having them in the classroom, the newness would wear off. I would like to try this system though for myself, since it seems to have a good purpose. The only problem is I can see with this system is it really worth all the money?
Comment by srg205 — October 7, 2007 #
Matt,
I enjoyed your presentation. I am doing my project on using clickers in the classroom so hopefully I can use some of the ideas you talked about in class. I’m just getting started setting up my slides so if I have questions, I may be emailing you.
Comment by Carol Reed — October 8, 2007 #
Clicker-enthusiasts: I spoke to Judd Hark, the LTS liaison for Arts & Sciences and the current Clicker Keeper. He said that they are available for check out to use on-campus, so if Michael’s connect doesn’t come through, then we can try to line something up through Judd. Like Stacy, I’m interested in playing around with these things, trying to figure out where/why they add value. Coming from Virginia, I’m familiar with students taking their tests on computers, so taking a quiz using clickers fits for me. What else?
Comment by tchammond — October 10, 2007 #
I think Clickers would be a great way to implement some formative assessment into a lesson. Any tool that allows a teacher to quickly assess whether or not the students are “getting it” is useful, especially if it can be anonymous (many students are too shy or insecure to speak up if they are confused, etc.). They ARE expensive, so I can’t imagine that many schools could afford sets for every classroom, so that is a factor to consider. Also what is the “life” on these devises? If they need to be replaced frequently 9every other year?) then the cost would make them unrealistic. If they last 5+ years I would consider them worthwhile. Like any instructional tool, the usefulness has to be balanced against the cost before a purchyase is made.
Comment by Terri Miquel — October 12, 2007 #
I have been talking with Judd Hark, the Instructional Technologist for the College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh, about how Lehigh uses Clickers. For classes that require Clickers, students have to give their unique Clicker identification number to their teacher or the TA. This means that students can be graded for class participation in a class that meets in a large lecture hall.
In talking with Judd, I was able to try Lehigh’s set of Clickers. The Media Center has 30 Clickers and a USB receiver that can be signed out but has to be received ahead of time. Using it was pretty cool. The two of us met in the Classroom of the Future and played around with them for about 30 minutes or so. Dr. Hammond, I will talk to you in class on Monday about when it might be possible to demo these in class sometime. All of the required software is installed on the desktop that is in the classroom.
Comment by dabrace1984 — October 13, 2007 #
Clicker, an interesting toy, now seems being used in k-12 and colleges more than ever. I have used this technology a few years ago. The unit I used was called Personal Response System (PRS). This name truthfully reflects what the system does. The instructor or presenter post questions, the learner/audience answer/respond to it. There was not any degree of “performance” involved in the process. I don’t know when people started to call this product “Classroom Performance System (CPS)”. I believe that it is the marketing strategy the company used to promote their product. Perhaps “clicker” is the better name for it.
From what I heard, people are using this device to check attendance, to collect quiz (or test) answers or response for the questionnaire. It avoids the embarrassing moment when everyone else says yes and you are the only one who says no. Don’t get me wrong. I like this product because as a presenter/instructor it will save me some time on counting the raising hands or correcting quiz, and it is more accurate than human. But the problem is that it also takes me a lot of time to prepare – getting familiar with the software, inputting the quiz questions…, and so on. So, if I had a set of clickers in hand, I am not sure if I would use it regularly in my classroom.
Comment by pchu — October 15, 2007 #
Like anything else, they have their positive and negative attributes. They can also be overused. Once again, we need to take care to use technology appropriately (which is an entirely gray area in itself). I could see students getting bored of using clickers and having it become somewhat of a mindless activity and not really caring what they answer. I could also see teachers using it just for the sake of using it, and asking the wrong types of questions or questions that are unimportant to the lesson.
Comment by Trish Wilson — October 15, 2007 #
I really enjoyed your presentation on clicker. I had never seen them before used in a classroom and I think they would be beneficial. The only downside really seems to be the price. I too coming from Virginia am very used to kids taking tests on the computer (almost all major tests are done on the computer) so I think it would be a good thing to familiarize the students with a similar technology before they have to take the tests. Your presentation was very informative.
Comment by Patricia Carroll — October 15, 2007 #