Tag Archives: peer instruction

“Being able to use my cell phone as a means of participation in the classroom was a great experience”–Courtney Schaefer, a first-year student enrolled in an introductory course on Management at Rutgers University

When faced with a challenge, one has typically three options available to deal with it: (1) to do nothing—which is merely a coping mechanism, as the same challenge will return, usually intensified; (2) to reject it—often based on a feeling that the challenge is “unfair”, that it “is not for me to resolve”, etc…; or (3) to embrace it—with an attitude of curiosity and a determination to turn that challenge into an opportunity for fruitful transformation.

Cell phones have been first perceived in education as a nuisance by teachers and educators. All of a sudden, teachers found themselves having to compete with these portable devices for attention in the classroom. Such an intrusion into the classroom made for quite a challenge after centuries of teaching “behind closed doors”, sometimes leading to additional issues of classroom incivility.

Naturally, the initial reaction for most was to first ignore, and then ban cell phones from the classroom, and/or to sanction students who were seen using their cell phone during class. In the meantime, the challenge for teachers intensified as cell phones only became more smart (!) and sophisticated, offering students not just the possibility to send text messages, but also to get online, to download any ap instantly, and to get on Facebook or Twitter in a second, … How would even the most captivating teachers be able to win the battle for students’ attention against such smart devices?

In that context, would cell phone prohibition still constitute the best course of action? Or could we find ways to embrace proper cell phone behavior, and perhaps even use cell phones as devices to monitor and improve learning? After all, if each student now has a phone, why not make use of their phones?

That’s what professors like Jessica Methot at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA sought out to do. Using the free polling software Poll Everywhere (check here for a video overview of that tool), Methot’s students were able to provide feedback up to 3-5 times per lecture using any portable device, cell phone, smart phone or laptop. Through such interactions, both Methot and her students discovered the fun and the efficiency of teaching using audience response systems, together with the freedom of not having to rely on a proprietary piece of software or a specific—and more costly—equipment. Evidence for enhanced learning came from students’ grades for the exam having increased by 3 points on average.

Prof. Methot’s effort to embrace electronics in the classroom are not unique—click here for an example of how a high school mathematics teacher used Poll Everywhere—, nor are the types of audience response systems available for portable devices. Several professors at the University of Calgary, Canada, have actually been just as successful in incorporating cell phones into the classroom experience by using the Top Hat Monocle web-based clicker and online homework tool. Professors found their students more engaged and students enjoyed the possibility of using their phone because “they already own them and don’t mind carrying them around”.

More options of “clicker aps” for portable devices are now available. I’ve mentioned Learning Catalytics in earlier posts (see on Nov. 15 and Mar. 14), which tells students to who they need to turn to in order to discuss their answer. Learning Catalytics also gets constantly enriched with a broader repository of ready-to-use “clicker questions” aka. “ConcepTests”, for pretty much any field in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and now even art. Other options for clicker aps include the very  user-friendly Socrative and LectureTools, which offers various levels of customization from the least to the most interactive teaching practice, and enabling students to take notes right next to the slides.

Now, albeit perhaps more costly, proprietary aps should not be forgotten as alternatives. ResponseWare developed by Turning Technologies has the advantage of being compatible with the current clickers that might already be used at your institution, while costing half the price of a clicker. A hybrid class setting in which students could choose to use a clicker or their smart phone could be the best compromise for as long as a significant part of students don’t have a smart phone or don’t want to bring their laptop to class (see inset for the results of a survey carried out at our Faculty of Science and Technology last month). Students have also reported issues with using smart phones such as aps that drain their batteries too quickly or connections that are too unreliable.

Student responses to the questions “Do you prefer using ResponseWare on your portable device rather than a clicker and why?” from two introductory courses (one in Physics and the other in Genetics) at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Denmark (results from a survey conducted in March 2012)

In any case, the number of students who possess a smart phone or a tablet will only increase over time, as specs improve and prices drop. Each of the aps for smart phone/tablet/laptop mentioned here beefs up the students and teachers experiences in some way. So just take your pick and start embracing cell phones in your class!