Originally published August 15 2005
Students anonymously vote on issues in the classroom with "clickers"
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
"Clickers" are new devices that allow students to participate in debates and discussions in the classroom anonymously with just the press of a button, without the worry of feeling ostracized for their thoughts.
Students used the handheld gadgets, which look and work a lot like TV remote controls, to respond to classroom polls and quizzes without ever raising their hands or voices.
What's new: Gadgets called "clickers" are appearing at hundreds of U.S. colleges and high schools, giving teachers and students alike instant feedback on how well lectures are sinking in.
Bottom line: Clicker technology is becoming cheaper and more reliable as manufacturers replace infrared clickers with ones that use radio frequency.
But compatibility among clickers and receivers will be key to the technology's success.
The technology, based on radio frequency or infrared signals, has been around for years but has caught the attention of American educators over the past year or so.
DTC, which tracks the global market for education technology, expects that 8 million clickers--$350 million worth--will be sold annually by 2008.
At San Francisco State, about 40 instructors are using clickers, according to Fisher.
Student shenanigans "It's absolutely taken off," said Darrell Ward, chief executive officer and president of eInstruction, which is based in Denton, Texas.
One reason for schools' sudden interest in the technology is that textbook publishers are helping to sell the systems by bundling discounted clickers and related software with their books.
Turning Technologies has an exclusive distribution agreement with Thomson Higher Education, a text book division of The Thomson Corporation.
Radio frequency technology is easier to use and set up because it requires fewer receivers and processes student responses faster than infrared, Pinney said.
Some companies, including Turning Technologies, have created software that incorporates quiz questions and responses into Microsoft's PowerPoint presentation slides.
That feature appeals to William Zoller, a chemistry professor at the University of Washington, who began using the Turning Technologies system in his 280-student freshman chemistry course this spring.
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