iClicker: A new way to teach

By Liz O'Brien

Far from the days when teaching tools were limited to blackboards and chalk, Santa Clara professors are steadily incorporating response systems, podcasts and the occasional Second Life exploration into their lesson plans. For some professors, these educational technologies are here to stay.

Though the majority of professors draw the technological line at PowerPoint and Angel, a growing number of faculty are now using the classroom response system known as iClicker. This system allows students to provide instantaneous responses to questions posed by the professor, using a six-inch remote with five buttons.

"Initially, I was worried that this was going to be one more gimmick," said religious studies professor Michael McCarthy, S.J., who uses the iClicker in two of his classes. "But I have come to the opinion that it's an instrument that enacts a sense of participation."

McCarthy uses the iClicker with PowerPoint. He poses a question on a slide, and students can select the button on their iClicker that corresponds to the right answer. McCarthy asks questions about the assigned readings to ensure that students are keeping up, but also includes evaluation questions that prompt discussion.

"I think one of the great difficulties with lectures and PowerPoints is that it can render students passive," he said. "So there's a way in which this is a technology which invites an activity on their part."

The iClicker is currently the most used of the newer technologies on campus. According to the Santa Clara bookstore's Web site, nine professors are using it in their classes this quarter. Of those nine, five are biology professors.

"There aren't a whole lot of faculty that are using them, but I think they'll get more popular now that we have a system that works well," said Instructional Technology Resource Specialist Mike Ballen. "In the past, media services had tried out other systems, but found that iClicker was superior because of its simplicity and ability to be used with any type of software," Ballen added.

Response systems like the iClicker are gaining ground not only at Santa Clara, but also nationwide. According to the iClicker Web site, over 550 institutions, including the University of California, Irvine, and the University of California, San Francisco, have adopted the technology.

Joe Moore, course materials manager at Stanford University's bookstore, has also noticed an increase in the popularity of response system technology. This semester, three survey courses at Stanford are requiring PRS Transmitters, a device produced by Educue that is similar to the iClicker.

"I'm definitely seeing more transmitters now, but I don't know if it will actually last," he said. "With all the different stuff out there, it's so hard to judge."

In addition to response system technologies, many universities are joining iTunesU, a section of iTunes dedicated to college-based downloadable material. On the public facet of iTunesU, Santa Clara offers 43 items, ranging from a university walking tour to lectures from the Markkula Center. Some include videos, and all are free.

Course lectures are also available through the program, but can only be accessed through Angel by students who are enrolled in the particular class that offers the podcast lectures, according to Ballen. Professors wanting to make their lectures available without using iTunesU can also use the university program Tegrity, which records lectures and syncs them with slides from the presentation. There are currently about a dozen faculty members using Tegrity, and another one to two dozen who podcast lectures on iTunesU, according to Nancy Cutler, director of Media Services.

Though she is not currently podcasting her lectures like some in her department, biology lecturer Anja Rossinni said she is maximizing her use of classroom technology as much as possible. Rossinni uses the iClicker in her lower division biology course, and said it encourages her students to come to class and pay attention, in addition to giving her a gauge of how effective her lectures are.

Rossinni is also designing a biology lab in Second Life with the help of Ballen and a student programmer, and she hopes to use it with her classes this spring. She is also requiring students in her physiology class to create digital stories, as opposed to a detailed research paper.

Some professors, however, are not as inclined to load up on technology in their courses.

"I already feel like my students are too babied in terms of technology," said associate biology professor Elizabeth Dahlhoff, who said she has no use for Second Life in her classroom. Though Dahlhoff uses the iClicker for group quizzes, she does not find it a necessity.

"I could teach my class with a chalkboard and a piece of chalk," she said. "Technology is not a substitute for good teaching."

Still, some students appreciate the technologically innovative ways of teaching.

"It mixes things up a bit," said Matt Yoon, a sophomore who used the iClicker in Dahlhoff's biology class. "It's a good change of pace in what's normally a long lecture."

Contact Liz O'Brien at (408) 554-4546 or eobrien@scu.edu.