Technology Integration Article - Blog #5

Charlene O'Hanlon. (2007). Press '2' for 'Not Guilty'. T.H.E. Journal, 34(5), 52-53. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1282511081).

The article I chose to review presents an overview of student response systems, or “clickers”, within the classroom. The author describes the use of interactive devices in the past several years, noting that using the telephone to vote for your favorite idol and using the remote to change channels are early examples of this technology. The article relates a study done by Kent State University involving an eighth grade English class and its analysis of the Lizzie Borden trial. Students were presented with the evidence via a debate and then had to use the response systems to vote for who they felt won the debate. The author felt that the response systems worked particularly well in middle school where students are often reluctant to offer opinions due to peer pressure. More common uses of the systems include measuring students’ comprehension of critical concepts, and as a means of submitting data from experiments. Overall, teachers love the immediacy of the assessment, so that they can go back and revisit the areas where the students don’t understand.

My primary interest in the above article is because one of my current projects at work is to figure out how to use our student response system. We’ve had it for almost a year and a half and most of that time, I didn’t even know it was in the school. Now that I do, I’m determined to put it to use. I’d like to know more potential uses for the systems, besides just measuring a student’s comprehension level of the content a teacher has just presented. I know there are several teachers who would love to use this device, but I not only have to determine how to operate the system, I have to make decisions on the best way to set up the system, access the databases, etc. I also have to find a way to show the teachers how to use the system in the quickest and easiest way possible. If it seems too complicated, few teachers will take the time to learn it. The article was helpful by offering some different ways to use the system and by revealing teacher attitudes towards it.