I have used a similar clicker 3-4 years ago for one of my undergraduate courses. It was a general (required) business course with at least 400 students in class. Our professor would start the class with a question for us to “check-in” with our clickers. (And students, of course, manage to make friends in class and assign one hardworking student who never skips class to carry 3-5 clickers to class and help them “check-in” every week...until it's midterm.) In this video, it was not clear if the students had to pay for the clickers or not. I remembered I had to pay around $30 dollars and register my clicker online.
If you were a teacher at this school, how often would you ask your students to use clickers? Would you go entirely “paperless”? What advantages and disadvantages do you see a class may have when using clickers? Specifically, how can this help/limit language learning?
* I am focusing on the clicker itself. However, please feel free to comment and give insights on the other technology (ex: video-chat across the district).
ReplyDeleteI think any way to go "paperless" is a great idea but this clicker may be more of an advantage for teachers than for students.
From the video, it seemed that students still need to take notes on top of figuring out how to use the clicker, using the clicker during class, and paying attention to the screen all at the same time. This may be too much for some students and distract learning.
In addition and again based off the video posted, it seems the screen only elicits short, preselected answers from students. This raises some pedagogical issues: will students only be expected to select the right answer from choices on the screen? Will students have the opportunity to answer higher order questions that require critical thinking and speaking? If so, will they be required to enter answers through the clicker. The actual clicker keys did not appear texter/typer friendly. What about feedback on incorrect answers? Is there proper integration with teacher talk and computer screen answers? What about small group work or individual group work? It seems several other screens would be needed in order for smaller groups or individuals to do work on their own.
And lastly, I can't believe Angela, that you had to pay for a clicker?! Did you ever use it again? I think asking students to pay $30 for a clicker is a bit much especially if it's just for one class.
My school actually has two classroom sets of clickers similar to these. Students at my school do not have to pay for the clickers. Interestingly enough, teachers at my school rarely use them in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI received a training on them a few years ago. Although they are pretty easy to implement, I have yet to use them in my classroom for a number of reasons. The first being that I am not a huge fan of multiple choice tests for 1st graders. Also, we have so many new technology tools coming in, it's difficult to implement them all. Maybe if I had time to design tests or games that were age appropriate, but time is something I do not have. I know all teachers would agree with me on that one.
I was pleased on the video to see that students seem to be reacting positively to their implementation. If that is what that particular school community needs to learn, then I am all for it. It seems like the clickers are more motivating for them. Would these clickers work at all public schools or for every subject? Maybe not. Should they be used all the time? No. Hopefully, those teachers are using them as a supplemental tool.
Personally, I think the main advantage of clickers is motivation. Students need technology these days to stay motivated. If the teacher is excited about them, then the students will most likely be too.
I definitely agree with what @Mary stated above. The advantage of clickers is motivation. If teacher are excited about them, then students will be excited. Technology and the idea of clickers in the class room definitely help increase motivation of students.
ReplyDeleteI would say that I originally hated clickers though, and as go Green! as I am, the idea of a paper-less classroom does scare me a bit. I love to write all over things and am infamous for writing all over my textbooks and tests, etc.
I do believe the advantage of a check in system for a large class at a university would be great though. It would help the professor keep track of these larger classes.
The cost as mentioned above might be a disadvantage for students to have to purchase, but perhaps assistance would be available?
As for language learning, I know that clickers have been used for tests and different in class quizzes to check grammar points or reading comprehension, so that would be useful for immediate feedback for the students and could be a nifty thing to implement. I can definitely see more grammatical uses for this tool. Listening comprehension tests could be done with responses as well. The drawback is that I don't truly see how clickers serve for production in speaking and writing? This could be explored more, but from what I have seen recently these methods have not been addressed through the use of clickers!
Good idea as a supplemental tool! Thanks for posting.
@ Jean, I paid $30 for this one clicker for my accounting class and the next semester, my finance teacher decided to implement "clickers" as well but he chose to use another type of clicker...and so I couldn't use my previous one and had to get a new clicker that would fit my professor's system. (I remember the second one was a little cheaper)
ReplyDelete@ Mary, I can still remember the first time I actually get to use my cool clicker! This experience made me what to share and show off to my friends in Taiwan. It did motivate me at first, but later I became one of the lazy students who asks their classmates to "check-in" for them because the professor didn't organize his material well and would always just read off the powerpoint slides. I could still do well without attending class.
@ Elizabeth, I love to write on papers too! Especially when I'm trying to memorize terms and important information from the book.
Well, I'm not familiar with this technology, and can only guess from the video that it's got some similarity to the text voting system. If that's the case it seems that the clicker serves the teacher in finding out how much of the class is picking up the information.
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered how many students are really following what I say and often call on individuals that seem distracted to give an answer as a way to pull them back to the group. If this could reduce that need for class comprehension checks, then cool! But, it's clear that I would have to keep a check on getting those things back on my desk after every class...especially at $30 to $40 each.
@ Sharon, it does appear like the text voting system (I want to learn how to do that too). I think the clicker helps the teacher with a quick check on the students. It may be good for reading comprehension but maybe not so much for speaking and writing classes.
ReplyDeleteAnd I definitely used a marker to write my name on the clicker :)
Clickers = less time saying: Mark, (here!), Meredith (here), Nathan (here) ……
ReplyDeleteThat leaves more time for teaching, which is always a good thing.
That being said, there is also a sort of --instant-- satisfaction that comes with using these things (that is if it is set up correctly). Some applications of the iClickers allow the professor to post a question and instantly get the feedback, to show his class. It makes it fun. More people want to participate, especially knowing that their submission is quite and --anonymous-- (of course in special circumstance, because the teacher does know who clicked tho, does not mean they have to reveal it on the screen).
As for price: After spending the last week setting up an after school program, I can tell you that $30 per capita is nothing compared to the price of all the paper, glue, and other art supplies I had to buy (and the snacks!)
It seems that the clickers are useful for entertainment purposes than educational purposes. I've never used a clicker in class, but I had friends in my undergrad who did and they said it was a joke. It's probably useful for standardized test preparation but as the primary medium for instruction, feedback, and assessment it will probably fall short for most of the reasons y'all have outlined.
ReplyDeleteMy district purchased a remote based system. The software is ready-to-use from a jump drive so there's no need to install anything. Of course the district didn't ask the teachers if they thought this tool would be useful. I think most teachers agreed it good for entertainment, to pull out on a Friday afternoon, but it's not something one would use everyday.
As far as a language learning tool, it may be an effective assessment tool for students preparing to take English Language tests that have multiple choice portions. I can be used for immediate assessment if it's built in to PowerPoint (like a lot of these remote programs are). It's an assessment tool, not an instructional tool.
I've used clickers in a classroom setting before and their some pedagogical benefit to using them. As a tool, they are an interesting way of opening up communication in the classroom. Voice communication...even real time voice communication is turn-based and has some limiting featues. For one, it often favors the outspoken students. Students who are the most vocal, the most confident and the most engaged, tend to dominate classroom discussions and stifle participation form less confident, motivated, and engaged students. Managing this common scenario without discouraging the enthusiasm or silencing the voice of others, is a challening task. Clickers allow students a greater amount of time to respond and be heard, without having to compete with others or speak over the louder voices in the class. IT is also a more internalized way of engaging students. Students are criticized for their "anti-social" addiction to iPods and Droid phones. I admit, I sometimes find individuals whose mind is constantly engaged with that 3-4 inch screen kind of silly or people who go about their business with earpods on their ears...completely oblivious to the world around them. But there is something to be said for that kind of engagement. Whereas it may take away from their awarness of their immediate surroundings, this type of technology is also compelling individuals to firmly concentrate on a specific task with a great deal of internal engagement. Tapping into this cultural phenomenon is one way to utilize a student's strengths for the sake of learning.
ReplyDeleteA final benefit is that clickers provide near instant feedback for teacher assessment...and to a larger pool of students to gauge overall understanding...not just the understanding of those who speak out, or ask questions.
There are foreseable cons to using clickers that involve issues of equity and culture.
Regarding equity, the clickers are expensive and are perhaps unavailable in many low-income schools. Likewise, individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds may not have the cultural experiences of internalized engagement through technology or may not value the lack of peer-to-peer engagement. In taking a strengths-based approach to education, what works with one population may not work with others. Although clickers may be fine for students who value privacy and individualism and competition, other students may find it difficult to engage with a clicker vs. their peers or may not be comfortable with the competitive aspects of displaying your answers to the class. Moreover, many students might become disengaged when asked to sit, be quiet, and interact remotely, vs. vocally and/or physically.
@Nina,
ReplyDeleteI think that entertainment is often underestimated as a tool for engagement. If students are engaged in learning and the content, then I think the entertainment factor should not be overlooked.
That being said, I think your point is that students can lose interest in one form of entertainment...aprticuarly if it becomes an exclusively utilized tool.
@ Nina. I think you are right that the clicker is more of an assessment tool than a way to go paperless. Used infrequently, I could see a teacher using it for something different for a particular class (like the Spanish class in the video) but not for constant use in every class. I admit that there are probably ways to use the clicker for language learning that I haven't thought of but the one shown did not look too interesting to me. When the novelty wears off...well.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great for schools and teachers to try out new technologies but if it is costly for the school system (since they already have their set up), it should be expected to be advantageous/empowering for everyone involved if it is to be implemented so widely.
well...i guess they would keep their hands busy, so less likely to play with their phones!
ReplyDeleteused as a supplement for certain activities, then i could see the benefit. i'm thinking jeopardy!!! right, professor!?! but i'm still a fan of note-taking, be it with traditional pen and paper, or laptop. and they are still no trade-off for clearly presented material by a dynamic teacher.
@Angie, very nice video embed in the blog post.
ReplyDeleteI've attended a few workshops on using clickers for extremely large classrooms. I think the most useful activity I've seen with them is when they're used as a general comprehension check over what was just taught.
In large classes especially, it can be difficult to get an idea of whether everyone understands the point that was just made, so instructors might include a quick MC question in their powerpoint. Students then put in the answer they think is correct, and the distribution of how many people selected which choice appears on the screen. If they're a lot of discrepancy, the prof will then re-explain or reteach something. For engaged students, it can be like receiving extra feedback.
I can see this being used in smaller language classes as a way to give feedback on a newly introduced grammar point or vocabulary item (i.e., which of these is not like the other?).
Hmmm..yes, I definitely think that these clickers probably shouldn't be used for attendance purposes in large classrooms - too many ways to trick the system. I used one of these in an informational seminar here at UTSA and I found that to be very effective even from the students' perspective. The lecturer used these to check general comprehension throughout the lecture and it served as a nice way to remind myself about the topics we had discussed.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always take exception with all the talk about "paperless" technology. The Torrey article this week mentioned the preference for hard copies of materials that need to be read and absorbed and I still find myself wanting printed materials even when it's a 30-page CALL article. Instead of going "paperless" I think we should focus more on being less wasteful and increasing recycling opportunites (which, I feel, UTSA could do a better job about).
I see the clicker a fun gadget to use in the classroom to increase participation (perhaps) or maybe just as an alternate way to have student participate. I thought the spanish teacher's comment that he was going "completely paperless this year!" was crazy-talk. Maybe his tests and quizzes are going to be paperless..and class discussions, but will students never have to take notes in his class ever again? Or read anything unless it's on the screen at the front of the room? If that is the case, i have concern about the efficacy of the language learning in his class.
ReplyDeleteHowever, they do seem like they could be fun to use and a nice way to challenge students and alternately engage them throughout the class. I think as Melanie pointed out, it can be helpful to the instructor as responses to questions posted throughout a discussion could serve as a guide to see how much comprehension is going on.
I think using these could be an additional tool in the classroom but certainly I wouldn't want them to take over the mode of classroom discussion/interaction.
..And yes, using them as an attendance method does seem to be asking for students to cheat the system!
I also agree with @mary. The clickers are a motivational tool. My school has a set that cost around $3,000, but none of the teachers are using them! I want to incorporate them into my first grade class, but I just need to find or create something first grade appropriate first. I know my students would love using them and I really want to experiment with them myself.
ReplyDeleteI would not encourage any teacher using only the clickers in order to go paperless. I would encourage teachers to use them for a formative assessment quick tool that can redirect the teacher if necessary. Not only will they provide prompt feedback but it will also keep the students engaged!
They do have some activities at www.mimioconnect.com.
Personally, clicking away in a classroom is not for me. Sure sometimes my attention wonders, but I feel like I have that right. At least in an adult setting I think that clicking would be a little silly. Even for a test. I like to see peoples faces, not numbers on the screen.
ReplyDeleteIn a k-12 setting this could of course be used to check if people are paying attention, with a few well placed questions here and there, but honestly I would hate a class ran like that myself. I really do prefer the interaction between teachers and learners. Point and click is simply not for me.
As far as testing people with clickers, really I am pretty much against multiple choice tests in class. I am against them because I am an exceptional multiple choice test taker myself. I believe that paper, or some kind of writing should be a staple in every class. It takes absolutely nothing to pick an answer from a group, in fact you have a chance to get it right no matter what. Writing a short answer or an essay is totally different.
Maybe it could work for like vocabulary acquisition but I don't know if it could really work for other subjects. In fact because the goal of todays ESL is to be communicative and specifically in CALL Warschauer claims that today Interactional approach is really the leading approach in CALL it would seem that a clicker could not do the job as well, as a person. BASICALLY the clicker just won't do for me.
Those little clickers are good for some activities, but I am giving my voice to interaction. First of all clickers have no identity. Your opinion is important, but your won't benefit it. It is nice to be part of common brain, but any specific characteristics are more valuable for my self-confidence and private development.I belive clickers are good for ELL beginners in silent period only.
ReplyDelete