Case+No.+1+-+Clickers

**"Clickers"** [|Pilot & Prove: Just a Click Away TESTING THE WATERS TRAINING THE ...] File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat (Wednesday, April 05, 2006)  TURNING FROM THE BLACKBOARD, middle school math and science teacher Megan Fisk asks ...To test whether the clickers could transform the way teachers and ... []
 * 1. Reference information **

Boulder Valley School District piloted student-response systems in Math and Science and proved the tools could enhance learning. The Boulder Valley School District launched a one-year pilot in August 2004. Nine teachers and nearly 300 seventh- and eighth-grade students participated in the pilot project. There was a strong emphasis placed on professional development and collaboration for teachers through “buddy forums” which allowed them to collaborate with their teams through online forums and wikis. Once the program was implemented two main areas were evaluated. The first was the level of student participation and the second was student achievement in Math and Science.
 * 2. A brief description of the case **

The purpose of student-response systems, also know as audience response systems and commonly referred to as “clickers”, is to provide students with a sense of anonymity while providing teachers with instant feedback during classroom instruction. In one classroom from this pilot program it was determined that before the clickers were introduced 2/3 of the students were not participating in class discussions. Once the clickers were implemented the participation level rose to 100%.
 * 3. The purpose of the innovation **

A clicker system would need to include: an instructor remote, a base, usb cable, flash drive and carrying case and i>clickers 32 remotes. I requested a quote from i>clikers and got a quote of $1470.00. Clicker systems come with their own software that would be installed before use in the classroom. There are many different brands of clickers on the market. Some are intended to be sold as self contained sets for K-12 classroom use while others are being marketed toward post-secondary education where college students each purchase their own hand held devise in the same manner they purchase a textbook or thumb drive. This passes the cost on to the student rather than the school which would instead only be purchasing the base unit for the classroom. In addition to the clicker system itself a teacher computer would be needed to use to run the system. There is not a specific skill set required of the students other than the ability to select and press a button on the hand held remote devices. This is the beauty of the clickers systems. There is no extra skill set to teach to students to get them involved in the process.
 * 4. The technology and resources involved **
 * 5. What prior skills and knowledge are required of students **

The process for using clickers in the classroom from the student side is quite simple. Each student is given a hand held response device resembling a remote control. The teachers then engages the class in discussion just as would normally be done everyday. The difference is that instead of calling on one student for a response, all the students are required to response through their clickers.
 * 6. What are students asked to accomplish exactly (product or process) **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The teaching of the technology really comes in before using them with students and would come in the form of professional development and training. Teachers would need training in not only how to use the hardware, but also how to find or write effective questions. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Students enjoy using the clickers. They become more engaged in the learning process and because essentially everyone has to participate, active learning increases which in turn improves academic performance.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. What are the procedures of the project (steps to teach the technology skills) **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8. What are the advantages of the project **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8. What are the advantages of the project **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A common complaint from users about the time needed to set up and take down the hardware. Another is the time required to learn to use the software. Additionally the design of effective questions can be difficult and time consuming. In addition to concerns associated with using clickers the factor that most limits their use in classrooms is the cost. Many schools have only 1-2 sets of clickers for an entire school with 40-50 classrooms.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">9. What are the disadvantages of the project **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Active learning is the primary instructional strategy used with the clicker systems. In addition students would be activating prior knowledge if working through pre-test material while actively participating in class discussions and answering questions along the way. PowerPoint or other equivalent slide shows are often used to present questions to the class in order to prompt a response with the clickers. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The clickers systems could very well be used with other teachers, content areas or school settings. There are documented cases of successful use of clickers in all levels and subjects of education. They are used in elementary, middle and high school classrooms as well as in college classes. They are used in Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and more.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10. What types of effective instructional strategies are included **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11. What are the possibilities that the innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content and different school settings **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11. What are the possibilities that the innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content and different school settings **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**12. Other resources/articles you used to evaluate this innovation.**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Clickers in the Classroom: An Active Learning Approach] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> by M Martyn <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> described how clickers address three of Chickering and Gam- son's seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. Clickers help instructors ... <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Interactive 'clickers' changing classrooms - U.S. news - Education ...] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">May 17, 2005 ... Next story in Education Hawaii legislators seek to lengthen school year ... In hard science classes, the clickers — most of which allow ... <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Clickers in the Classroom] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Aug 9, 2004 ... 4 How Clickers Will Change Your Classroom—A Warning! 000 ..... Just usingclickers in class does not mean that your class will immediately ... <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Clickers in the Classroom I] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> by K Kenwright - 2009 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Students may use clickers in class to: answer questions in the form of .... much class time was used for set up. In one case the professor had so much ... <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Classroom Clickers Make the Grade] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jul 4, 2005 ... "My mom taught middle-school math for years," said Rob Meissner, ... Many feel that the ideal use of clickers is in larger classes at ... <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|7 Things You Should Know About Clickers] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 7things you should know about... Clickers. Formerly NLII. Scenario. Elizabeth<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> enters her General Chemistry lecture and takes her place along with another ... <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]