EDUCAUSE | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; Instructional Technologies; and Classroom Response Systems

Clicker U.

ckeller — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:03:13 -0600

To some academics, clickers are a great new technology, allowing professors to measure instantly whether students in a large class are grasping new concepts (or are even in class). To others, clickers represent a depersonalizing influence.

Classroom Technology Kind of Neat, But Also Expensive

drupal — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 11:22:24 -0600

The author discusses how the new instructional technologies in higher ed have shifted the cost of instructional materials from the university to the students.

New for Back-to-school: 'Clickers'

drupal — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 10:14:56 -0500

"Students in Ann Auleb's biology of human sexuality class at San Francisco State University are often shy about joining classroom debates on sensitive topics. But more students came out of their shells this spring when Auleb introduced "clickers" into her classes. Students used the handheld gadgets, which look and work a lot like TV remote controls, to respond to classroom polls and quizzes without ever raising their hands or voices."

Wireless Interactive Teaching Simulations

drupal — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 11:12:30 -0500

Undergraduate lecture courses at many institutions of higher education are quite large, making it difficult to actively involve students and maintain their attention. Ongoing and current budget crises make it difficult to hire additional instructors and reduce class sizes to levels that would allow for more faculty-student or student-student interaction. Wireless interactive teaching simulations (WITS) are seen as one solution to this dilemma.

No Wrong Answer: Click It

drupal — Tue, 17 May 2005 11:07:08 -0500

Faculty at hundreds of colleges and universities are using small electronic devices similar to television remote controls as part of their in-class instruction. Commonly referred to as "clickers," the devices allow students to respond to instructor questions by choosing one of several options or, in some cases, by entering a numeric answer.Answers are transmitted by either infrared or radio frequency signal to a receiver connected to a computer, which logs the responses and can track individual students' responses, as for a quiz, or display responses from the entire class anonymously. Faculty who use the devices said that because they allow students to respond anonymously, they encourage participation from students who might be too shy to answer verbally in class, and they elicit more honest answers on controversial subjects. Stephen Bradforth, a chemistry professor at the University of Southern California, said that after he began using clickers in his classes, attendance and participation increased. He also noted that the devices force professors to think differently about how they teach their courses.