S Lyon's Technology Blogs

Electronic Response Systems in the Classroom

Description

Electronic response systems allow student to immediately respond anonymously to an instructor?s multiple choice question or to a poll.  Standard systems have wireless capabilities and are portable.  The systems also allow the instructor to display a histogram of the responses for class discussions.

Key Findings

According to the article, ?Learning From Past and Present:  Electronic Response Systems? by Judson, ?instructors often used the systems to aid in the flow of instruction?an electronic system allowed students to control the conveyor belt of knowledge?.  The instructor is then able to ascertain how well the students are keeping up with the pace of the class and the students would feel a sense of confidentiality which is important to many students.

The instructor could also have a predetermined percentage to guide the lesson in determining how much repetition is necessary.  Many times instructors are not fully aware until after an assessment whether a concept should have been covered more in depth.  Many teachers may ask during a lesson ?do you understand? with the hope that the majority of the students will respond positively, but unfortunately those that do not understand are less likely to respond because of the fear of being alone. 

The article also states the ?among recent examinations of the use of the electronic response systems?students enjoy using the systems and consider the systems useful?.  When students find use in a method or technology that is used in the classroom, it is very likely to improve student achievement as discussed in the Judson article.  According to the article ?Increasing interactivity in lectures using an electronic voting system? by Draper and Brown, while both instructor and learner found the handsets to be useful it is important to realize that instructors ?come with a niche-specific idea of how to use the equipment?and ?no technical difficulties obtrude on the learning situation?.

Reflection

The Draper article states ?we began from the view that success depended on putting pedagogy first, technology second?.  Many times teachers, such as me, want to integrate more technology into the curriculum, but that integration does not always put the pedagogy first.  As I stated above, the article mentions that it is important for teachers to have goals for how they want to integrate the technology into the curriculum before using it and the desire outcome. 

As an Algebra II teacher, I think the electronic response system could be very useful in my classroom when students are asked about the pace of the class or to allow me to see how well the students are retaining the information presented.  For example, usually the day before a quiz I review the concepts that will be tested.  The ERS could be used to help quickly assess the students on the concepts allowing me to quickly respond to students concerns without wasting time on the concepts many students already feel comfortable with.

Although the system sounds very useful and according to the articles the students appreciate the systems both academically and socially, I think it would be very important for me to research its usefulness more for a class such as Algebra II that requires more than lecturing.  But I do think as with many other hardware, research and proper training will be necessary to ensure the success of academic achievement.