Today students are having so many problems focusing on
classroom activities and discussions that teachers everywhere are looking for
tools they can use to engage students and increase involvement in classroom
discussions and activities. At one time teachers were only competing with
hormones and last night's TV shows for their student's attention, but today
there are so many new technologies, including portable computing devices, cell
phones and hand held gaming systems, that engaging students in a meaningful
classroom interaction has become more difficult than ever. Using a clicker
response system in the classroom is one way that teachers can actually turn the
tide of technological gadgetry to their advantage in order to encourage student
participation in classroom activities.
Surely, there are those of you out there who are having
trouble believing that any kind of high tech device can actually encourage
student engagement rather than increasing student distractions. Also called
classroom or top hat monocle
student response systems, a clicker response system is designed to allow
students to respond to teacher questions presented on the classroom LCD through
the use of a remote hand held device called a clicker. There are a number of
important advantages that can be gained from this type of classroom approach.
One of the biggest factors that reduces the amount of
classroom participation among students is a general feeling of shyness and
social pressure that many students have. A clicker or student response system
actually allows students to respond to questions anonymously so that there is
no fear of getting the question wrong or of being ridiculed in any way for a
classroom response. In a classroom with a student response system in place,
students are empowered to take part in classroom discussions without the fear
of social pressure unduly influencing their responses.
Student response system
are pretty simple as far as the hardware is concerned. The classroom response
systems consists of a hand held clicker device which conducts a signal to the
receiver which the teacher plugs into the class computer through a USB port.
The other half of a clicker response system is the software component which is
simply downloaded to the classroom computer system and can make classroom
activities more engaging and enjoyable for students. Many clicker response
systems allow students to log in and have access to the interactive slideshow using
their own tablet or smart phone which can help teachers turn the tide of
distraction in their classrooms by making the sources of these distractions
into the very tools to increase student engagement and classroom involvement.
Studies have shown that student achievement rises in direct
proportion to the amount that those students are engaged in classroom activities.
With a classroom response system teachers can increase the level of student
engagement and watch as student achievement and satisfaction rises as well.
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