Interactivity in learning
Increasingly, teachers and lecturers are begiining to make use of student response systems (SRS), sometimes referred to as "clickers", within teaching and learning. There is a stong and obvious link between assessment and SRS. Most products provide a battery of techniques for analysing, collating and presenting information gleened from "respondents" in a variety of different formats.
So what are the educational benefits?
Input "student response systems" into your favourite search engine will produce a list with some evaluations and research reports into the use and effectiveness of SRS.
The main benefits appear to be related to increased engagement, motivation and particpation as well as claims of gains in retention of knowledge and understanding. For example, a pilot scheme into raising the attainment in some of the UK's most challenged secondary schools, supported by the Department of Education and Skills (DfES), suggested that there were improvements in the performance of lower ability learners.
Q: Is the use of SRS just confined to the classroom or lecture hall?
A: Certainly not- for it can also become a powerful evaluative tool.
With the increased emphasis on school improvement and evaluation within the UK, a SRS product could also be used to obtain feedback from key groups of learners on a variety of topics and in different ways. For example, evaluating the effectiveness of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda is complex and the challenge for senior leadership teams in schools is how to effectively evaluate the five outcomes:
So what are the educational benefits?
Input "student response systems" into your favourite search engine will produce a list with some evaluations and research reports into the use and effectiveness of SRS.
The main benefits appear to be related to increased engagement, motivation and particpation as well as claims of gains in retention of knowledge and understanding. For example, a pilot scheme into raising the attainment in some of the UK's most challenged secondary schools, supported by the Department of Education and Skills (DfES), suggested that there were improvements in the performance of lower ability learners.
Q: Is the use of SRS just confined to the classroom or lecture hall?
A: Certainly not- for it can also become a powerful evaluative tool.
With the increased emphasis on school improvement and evaluation within the UK, a SRS product could also be used to obtain feedback from key groups of learners on a variety of topics and in different ways. For example, evaluating the effectiveness of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda is complex and the challenge for senior leadership teams in schools is how to effectively evaluate the five outcomes:
- Be healthy
- Stay safe
- Enjoy and achieve
- Make a positive contribution
- Achieve economic well-being
With the creative use of SRS, you could systematically quantify a range of the qualitative aspects through the careful design of prompts or questions. SRS can provide a 100% partcipation from targeted groups of learners, with results used for gauging, recording and giving feedback on the effectiveness of provision. Such feedback and related action on improvement could be incorporated as evidence in the School Self-Evaluation (SEF) form used by Ofsted for example.
As ever, the potential is only limited by the imagination and application of such technology by the educator.
As ever, the potential is only limited by the imagination and application of such technology by the educator.
Labels: educators, lecturers, professors, teachers
posted by Dave Jobbings @ 2:11 PM
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