I've used clickers in the classroom for a while, but this morning our educational media person introduced me to Poll Everywhere. At first I thought it looked pretty cool, but wondered about what happens when students don't have cell phones on them. (Yes, highly unlikely I know...but still.) And then I realized that you can set it up for computer inputs as well. Most of the teaching I do using clickers usually happens in a computer lab, so that solves that problem.
We use Turning Point clickers, which I like, but the software leaves something to be desired and is sometimes a bit of a pain. I like that this looks pretty simple and you can embed the poll/results in your powerpoint and have them update live. So I guess this is part of the test run. What do you think?
We use Turning Point clickers, which I like, but the software leaves something to be desired and is sometimes a bit of a pain. I like that this looks pretty simple and you can embed the poll/results in your powerpoint and have them update live. So I guess this is part of the test run. What do you think?
Make your own poll voting question with Poll Everywhere
We are actually going to be using Poll Everywhere for our freshman 110 classes asking them about their information use. It seems like a cool technology and like it would be using something that all or virtually all students already use all the time. We are going to be asking about their information use habits to start a conversation about information in general. I'll let you know how it goes.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to hear how it goes. I really like using clickers in the classroom but the prep and technology requirements usually make this a hassle.
ReplyDeleteThis could simplify things a lot!
We came into possession of a set of clickers this summer, but as far as I know, no one has been able to actually use them in an instruction session, which tells me about all I need to know about their ease of use.
ReplyDeleteI do think either method of engagement is a good idea. It would be great for seeing if they've picked up your content or having them vote on an example topic to use in class.
I've tried this a couple of times with Google Forms and another poll program and it's good for pulling people out of their glazed staring. Plus, if you have everyone pull out their cell phones, you could have them enter the library number into their phones at the same time. :) I need to remember to do this since we just added text message reference this fall.