Welcome to the new blog site and digital soapbox of Dave Hooker, Innovation Lead for the Office of Distance Education and eLEarning. This site will serve as a space where I plan to call attention to interesting opportunities, shifts, or changes in technology that may effect the world of higher education, especially at OSU. My past year has been spent focusing on selecting a tool for use across OSU for capturing lecture content and rolling that tool out as a production service. As we approach completion of the pilot to production transition I expect to have more time for exploration of new technologies.
The next technology we’re examining for ODEE is Student Response Systems. In the past students had to trundle over to the bookstore where they would have to purchase a clicker so they could respond to polls in class. These clickers cost about 30 or 40 bucks, and interfaced with the podium computer in the room to receive votes on polling questions or a/b/c/d/e answers. The technology was limited, and the tools available can do some pretty incredible stuff. With virtually every student on campus already carrying a smart phone, a phone with SMS text, a tablet, a laptop, or an iPod (and often more than one) it’s time to examine what’s available now.
The new generation of student response systems go way beyond the a/b/c’s of the past. Current tools can accept answers from students like hot spots on images, graphing, and vectors in addition to traditional polling sorts of answers. The new tools open up a whole new range of possibilities for keeping students engaged in class,
As I look at the new generation of clickers I’ll work with a committee of faculty and technology support staff from across the university to identify what features are needed or desired in class, how various devices will work on OSU wireless or cellular networks, and whether attendance or quiz grades can be imported into Carmen easily or automatically. After we figure out the best ones to try we’ll set up interested faculty to test a few and get their feedback and the feedback of their students.
What’s the point? If we can standardize on one recommended student response system that means students won’t have to buy subscriptions to two or three different solutions for two or three different classes. The other benefit is a consistent student experience, so our students don’t have to learn to use three different systems. If you are a faculty member who would be interested in participating in these tests please let me know. We plan to begin testing for the Spring 2014 semester.
Dave Hooker, hooker.24 at osu dot edu