I thought Robert and Chris had been hired by Turning Point to sell their product – I think everyone in the room would have bought Clickers for their school – their presentation was so good. How enthusiastic were they? They had us all using them quickly and successfully in a class demographics exercise.
The Clickers are very easy to use and give instant feedback to the student and teacher. The software can be set up so that teachers can identify individual student responses. On the positive side they do save paper and marking. I like the way all students participate and interact with the technology as well as being able to set questions. They interact with PowerPoint well and an interactive whiteboard – although a board is not necessary for them to work.
On the down side my biggest issue would be with the closed question format. They really only allow multiple choice and yes/no, true/false answers. The cost of setting up the hardware and software would be prohibitive for some schools.
It seems to me that Clickers are the toy of the moment though. Every IT conference I have been to in the last 2 years or so has had a company promoting their particular brand of Clicker. The last ACEC conference in October this year had at least 2 companies competing for the market.
Do Clickers have a place in a primary school classroom? I can see some use in quick quizzes, mental maths, general knowledge situations. Would I buy them for my school? I would rather spend the money on digital cameras, Inspiration licences or a laptop. Perhaps someone can convince me otherwise?
