Classroom+Responders+or+Clickers

Classroom Responders or Clickers - Jeffrey

Student response systems (SRS), also known as clickers, are one type of technology being used for formative assessments. The technology that powers clickers can be either web based or computer based. Infrared and radio frequency technology is often used with clickers but some models route the information over the Internet. Cell phones can also be used with web software to create an SRS. The prices for clickers range from thirty to sixty dollars each.



Benefits:
 * Students receive immediate feedback
 * Quick in-class quizzes
 * Studies show that SRS improves attendance, Ribbens (2007)
 * Clickers anonymously gives the students courage to express themselves
 * The clickers add a sense of camaraderie to the class
 * The responses obtained can be used as a starting point for discussion
 * Questions can be prepared ahead of time or they can be spontaneously added during class
 * The responses can be quickly calculated and displayed as a bar graph

Disadvantages:
 * Time spent setting up and taking down the hardware
 * Time spent learning to use the software (Hatch et al., 2005)
 * Designing effective questions can be time consuming
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Only allows certain types of questions: multiple choice and true/false