Student+Response+Systems

Student Response Systems Kristen Leining Student Response Systems have a variety of names including:
 * Clickers
 * Audience Response system
 * Polling system
 * etc.

They are use frequently in a variety of classroom, from the elementary level all the way to the post - secondary level. There are a variety of possible resources for teacher to be able to poll their classes including systems that are shared throughout the school or apps or programs that can cost a great deal of money. However, there is a website entitled PollEverywhere where teachers can create a poll for their class and students can text in their response. They can create a multiple choice, open ended, or image question where students must click on a specific area of an image. On this specific website, teachers can create polls that will last up to two weeks and have the capacity to handle up to forty responses. They can hide the results so students don't just answer with what everyone else says, group polls for different lessons, and even set a limit on response times. All of that and they do not even need to make an account. If teachers do chose to make an account, the polls will stay in their account as long as they need them and they can insert the polls right into their PowerPoint presentations. Signing up is still free, the only reason to pay for the account would be if you required 250 responses at a time.

Once you create a poll, using it is very user friendly. All you have to do is have your students send a text to the number at the top of the screen with their answer.For multiple choice questions, they simply text the number associated with that answer. For open ended questions, they start with the number, and then follow it with their response.

Multiple Choice Example: Open Ended Example:

__How is This Useful for Teachers?__ Teachers can use these systems in a variety of ways. First, the obvious way, to create a poll. This can be applied to all different contents and lessons. For example, in a mathematics classroom, student can be presented with a problem and asked to solve for the answer. They can either text in the actual numerical answer or be given a variety of choices. To all the skeptic math teachers who are thinking "What about all the symbols and equations that cannot be written with just a keyboard?", the answer is simple. Find any online program that lets you create math worksheets and simply write out your equation, save it as an image using paint or any way you like, and then upload the image to PollEverywhere. Check out an example I made here. Uploading images is also a great tool for science classrooms. Student could be asked to identify the proper symbol for an element or chose a picture that best represents evolution. Furthermore, with the clickable picture, students can be asked to identify parts of things, such as the human body. The example provided on the blog for PollEverywhere is for the brain: The site will either show percentages of clicks for a certain area, designated by the creator, or will show green markers where each participant clicked.

In an English or history classroom, the possibilities with this type of system are endless. You could ask students to name the main character of a book, the definition of a vocabulary word (applicable for any discipline), state the year of an important event, or identify a country on a map. There are thousands of possibilities for teachers to utilize this resource and be creative in their teaching.

__Benefits__ The benefits of using this kind of student response system are many. First, it is able to be customized to exactly the kind of question you are trying to ask your students. It can be multiple choice, open ended, or even image based. There are a variety of creative ways teachers can use these options in their classrooms to ask questions.

One of the most important benefits to this program is that it provides instant feedback for both teachers and students. Teacher can instantaneously tell if the need to go back and explain more on a concept if many students answer incorrectly to a poll question. The class can then discuss why one answer may be wrong as compared to another to further student learning. For students, this allows them to anonymously discover where their weak spots are within a certain subject. If they are continuously getting answers wrong on the polls, they know they need to study that concept more or even ask for additional help.

Another benefit to this type of learning is that students are much more likely to be engaged. Many times when teacher ask questions they get blank stares from their students. With this program, answers are anonymous so students will not know who said what and will be less afraid of being wrong. Also, because students will be using their cell phones and getting to text in their answers, they are more likely to be excited to participate. Using technology in the classroom is a great way to hook students and keep them interested in the lesson.

__Additional Resources__ There are thousands of resources on student response systems online, simply type it in to your favorite search engine. Here is a link to a variety of sources about student response systems through Jstor. The following are two sources that I found to be extremely informative:

Kay, R., Knaack, L. (2009). Exploring the Use of Audience Response Systems in Secondary School Science Classrooms. //Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18// (5), 382-392.

Penuel, W.R., Boscardin, C.K., Masyn, K., and Crawford, V.M. (2007). Teaching with Student Response Systems in Elementary and Secondary Education Settings: A Survey Study. //Educational Technology Research and Development, 55// (4), 315-346.

There are also a variety of systems that can be used in a classroom besides PollEverywhere. Options include both apps and websites. A few are:

Socrative Quiz and Poll Survey Monkey Even through your SMARTboard!