One of the best ways I’ve seen for using clickers is to utilize them in conjunction with a PowerPoint presentation. It really keeps students engaged and encourages them to anticipate when they’ll need to use the clickers. To give you an example, let’s say that you have a few slides of notes that describe a particular process like what happens with earthquakes. To make sure that students are not just writing down notes without much comprehension, it’s good to slip in a slide that has a multiple choice question to assess their understanding.
The first example I’m providing here is a PowerPoint presentation that was created with clickers in mind. You’ll see how the multiple choice slides are sparse yet effective in keeping students engaged. This is brought to you by Dr. Cameron, a geoscience teacher at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. It is a PowerPoint file that requires either PowerPoint or PowerPoint viewer.
To download and install Microsoft’s PowerPoint viewer, click HERE.
To view the presentation, click HERE.
Most teachers have traditionally administered tests via the standard format: paper and pencil. Clickers can make this approach a thing of the past. In addition, students can see the results without their name appearing almost immediately after the test. This next example shows us just how this can be done. It was a feature on Goodmorning American that showcases a science teacher at Ardsley Middle School. It’s also a great example of how an interactive whiteboard can be used with a clicker.
This last video is a spotlight on how interactive technologies are being used at Hawkeye Community College in their biology classes. You’ll see how clickers can be used with multiple choice questions to keep students engaged. You’ll also see a student provide her comments on why she likes using the clickers. Not only do they help her learn, they tell her what she knows and also what she might have to focus more on.