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These remotes (iClicker) are in widespread use for large lecture hall classes at major universities. I don't know why they can't replace it with an app or somet

These remotes (iClicker) are in widespread use for large lecture hall classes at major universities. I don't know why they can't replace it with an app or something, but supposedly the point is that they work as an attendance measure because they only work when you're physically in class. They're about $30 used and there's a large supply of them because you don't use them in higher level classes. IMO not the worst scam in academia compared to $200 book and homework combos

MikeTheGreat 5y ago
I'm surprised to hear about them being used for attendance. Attendance usually isn't a factor at the college level, especially for large lecture classes. I _have_ heard them being used to try and create a more interactive, engaging environment for the students. Typically they're used something like this: The teacher explains something, then asks a question that you can correctly answer if you understood the explanation. There's N answers available; the question + multiple choice answers are on the current slide. Students then group up into small-ish groups (4 people or so, maybe less) and each group discusses the question & comes up with an answer, and then they use the clicker to make their choice. Once all the groups have had a chance to answer the teacher displays a bar chart / histogram showing how many groups chose each answer. The next part I'm not 100% clear on the details, but the bar chart points the students in the right direction AND provides feedback for the instructor. For example, if pretty much everyone got the right answer then the teacher can give the groups that didn't choose the right answer a couple minutes to re-discuss and/or ask questions. If lotsa' students got the wrong answer then the teacher can go back and clarify stuff, etc, etc. So yeah - the point of clickers is to transform a passive "listen to the teacher lecture" experience into something that is more interactive and engaging. In terms of apps - I don't use clickers myself (I teach smaller classes), but if I wanted to I'd definitely use an app for this. I suspect that people still using physical clickers got started with them and are continuing to use them. Personally I'd get my college to buy a classroom set for the students to borrow each class (or to checkout for the semester/quarter/term) but there's overhead with that, too
- webmaven 5y ago
  > If lotsa' students got the wrong answer Most important: if lots of students give the same wrong answer, the instructor's explanation was probably misleading (or even wrong).
jkaptur 5y ago
I've never used these myself (too old), but my understanding is that to get around the attendance measure you and your friends just take turns going to class and you all give that week's attendee your clickers. An app would actually be a lot better for this, since it's not like you're going to give your phone to your friend for several hours. On the other hand, I agree that tracking attendance in college is a bit pointless.
Telemakhos 5y ago
There is an website (mobile-optimized to eliminate app downloads or spying): socrative.com. It does everything the iclickers used to do and more. You can, optionally, upload class rosters and make students log in, or you can use it anonymously. It’s free for small classes and $50/year flat fee (billable to the administration) for large lectures.

MikeTheGreat 5y ago

I'm surprised to hear about them being used for attendance. Attendance usually isn't a factor at the college level, especially for large lecture classes. I _have_ heard them being used to try and create a more interactive, engaging environment for the students. Typically they're used something like this: The teacher explains something, then asks a question that you can correctly answer if you understood the explanation. There's N answers available; the question + multiple choice answers are on the current slide. Students then group up into small-ish groups (4 people or so, maybe less) and each group discusses the question & comes up with an answer, and then they use the clicker to make their choice. Once all the groups have had a chance to answer the teacher displays a bar chart / histogram showing how many groups chose each answer. The next part I'm not 100% clear on the details, but the bar chart points the students in the right direction AND provides feedback for the instructor. For example, if pretty much everyone got the right answer then the teacher can give the groups that didn't choose the right answer a couple minutes to re-discuss and/or ask questions. If lotsa' students got the wrong answer then the teacher can go back and clarify stuff, etc, etc. So yeah - the point of clickers is to transform a passive "listen to the teacher lecture" experience into something that is more interactive and engaging. In terms of apps - I don't use clickers myself (I teach smaller classes), but if I wanted to I'd definitely use an app for this. I suspect that people still using physical clickers got started with them and are continuing to use them. Personally I'd get my college to buy a classroom set for the students to borrow each class (or to checkout for the semester/quarter/term) but there's overhead with that, too

webmaven 5y ago
> If lotsa' students got the wrong answer Most important: if lots of students give the same wrong answer, the instructor's explanation was probably misleading (or even wrong).

jkaptur 5y ago

I've never used these myself (too old), but my understanding is that to get around the attendance measure you and your friends just take turns going to class and you all give that week's attendee your clickers. An app would actually be a lot better for this, since it's not like you're going to give your phone to your friend for several hours. On the other hand, I agree that tracking attendance in college is a bit pointless.

Telemakhos 5y ago

There is an website (mobile-optimized to eliminate app downloads or spying): socrative.com. It does everything the iclickers used to do and more. You can, optionally, upload class rosters and make students log in, or you can use it anonymously. It’s free for small classes and $50/year flat fee (billable to the administration) for large lectures.