This week we explored clickers. I found that most uses of clickers include polling systems or answering questions. Because I will be an elementary ed major, I don’t think the use of clickers is incredibly practical.
If I were to poll my students, having them get out a clicker, turn them on, submit an answer (assuming they understand a letter corresponds to an answer), have me look over the answers, etc. would just not be time-effective. I think that young elementary students like to move around and do different things, so I would have them raise their hands or do something fun like wiggle their left foot to poll them.
I’ve only used clickers to answer questions for credit in class. I think that in a large lecture setting, this is a great idea. It offers an opportunity for class credit for many different people, and is more practical than grading worksheets or something like that. However, in an elementary class of maybe 30 students, I believe I will have plenty of chances to give students credit for assignments.
Overall, in the elementary classroom setting, I don’t think clickers achieve anything that can be achieved without them.
Maggie said,
April 27, 2010 at 4:26 pm
I definitely feel the same way about clickers. Even in class, we were having problems. I know that mine wasn’t working at all and I had no idea how to fix it. Imagine an elementary student with clicker that doesn’t work.. there would be a lot of little voices screaming, “Mine doesn’t work!” They may get the gist of the clickers after using the a couple of times, but I’m not sure that it would be worth the hassle.