Like myself, I'm sure many of our classmates have taken a class at JMU or another university where clickers were used during lecture. From talking to friends and other students, I have realized that many teachers that have large classes use clickers as a means of attendance and participation. My experience with them was in a general chemistry class that was over 200 people. For those of you who don't know, clickers look somewhat like remotes and each student has one registered under their name. There are number and letter options on them that allow students to log in during class and answer a variety of questions. The clickers at JMU look like this:
In the chemistry class I took, my teacher would ask a variety of multiple choice questions, and we would answer them using our clickers. Once everyone answered, the correct answer would appear with a graph that shows how many students chose each answer. These clickers are not only a good use of particpation in large classes especially, but they also allow professors to see how well students are understanding specific content throughout a lesson. I have heard many success stories with these clickers at JMU, and the use of them is only going to increase.
Most college students are familiar with these types of clickers, but what the new growing trend seems to be is clickers in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms! I am currently student teaching 7th grade Pre-Algebra at Wilson Middle School in Augusta County, and the classroom I work in has their own set of clickers. My cooperating teacher explained that she uses them quite often with her classes especially as a review purpose before quizzes and tests. She said the students get so excited to use them, and their engagement levels increase dramatically. I think the best part about these clickers is students don't have to feel embarrassed or nervous to participate and share their answers. Since all the clickers are programmed through numbers, students never see what their classmates answered by their name- it is all confidential. With clickers in her classroom, every student is able to participate for every questions, and she is able to see how well certain content (and even specific SOLs) are being understood. My cooperating teacher is even able to gather data on the computer from the clickers to use for creating additonal classwork, quizzes, and tests based on the students' strengths and weaknesses.
For more information about success stories involving the beginning uses of clickers see here: Making it Click-http://http://www.calcomp.com/InterWriteFiles/technologyandlearning_prs_jun2006.pdf
Overall, clickers are a great new use of educational technology in the university and K-12 classroom. Involving them in lessons and reviews improves student engagement, participation, and instant feedback for students and teachers. What do you think of clickers? What types of expereinces have you had with them?
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