The Pros and Cons of Using Cell Phones as Clickers
Debora HeroldDina David
Martin VaughanMichael Yard
Lilly Conference on College TeachingNovember 16, 2012
Clickers in the Classroom
• Students report• Clickers improve their understanding of material• Lectures are more enjoyable and entertaining (Masikunis et al.,
2009; Shaffer & Collura, 2009)• Faculty report
• Incorporating clickers makes their lectures more interactive • Using clickers improves their teaching style (Masikunis et. al,
2009)• Findings are mixed as to whether using clickers improves learning.
• Clickers improve performance (Morling, et al., 2008; Shaffer & Collura, 2009; Shapiro, 2009)
• There is either no difference or even reduced performance when clickers are employed (Butler et al., 2010).
Clickers in the Classroom
• Price• Clickers can be expensive ($16-40)• Faculty may hesitate to require them • May want to use them only sporadically
• Cell phones as clickers• www.PollEverywhere.com • Gather live responses in the classroom using text, twitter, or
web browser
Previous Research
• Cell phones in the classroom• 98.1% of students bring a cell phone to class• 84.4% send text messages during class• 81.9% of faculty are distracted by student cell use• 60.7% of students are distracted by own cell use• 59.8% of students are distracted by other’s cell use• 28.1% of students believe their cell use is distracting
to others
How it works
Procedure
• Students enrolled in 5 gateway classes were asked to use their cell phones as a personal response system (PRS) to answer short question given to them during their classroom meetings.
• Questions were presented on PowerPoint slides and responses collected by Poll Everywhere, a web-based program that collects texts, in real time, from the students’ cell phones.
Procedure
• The procedure was repeated at three separate class meetings.
• A survey was administered at the end of the third cell phone session.
• Participation was completely voluntary. No compensation was offered.
• This study was approved by the Indiana University IRB (study #1112007563).
Participants
• 543 students (mean age: 21.5) enrolled in four
different introductory courses (Psychology,
Anatomy, Biology, and Communications)
• 96% had cell phones with them
• 90% choose to use them
Student Perception
Percentage of students marking agree or strongly agree for the following statements
Statement Percentage
I enjoyed using cell phones in class. 83%
Using cell phones in class increased my interest in the material being presented.
71%
Using cell phones in class increased my motivation to participate in class.
71%
Using cell phones in class helped my understanding of the material presented.
67%
Using cell phones would make me more likely to attend class regularly.
40%
Using cell phones in class takes too long. 26%
Using cell phones in class is a waste of time. 19%
Using my cell phone in class distracted me from the material being presented.
22%
Distractions
Percentage of students answering “yes” to the following statements
Statement Percentage
Did you encounter any problems or technological issues when using your cell phone?
24%
Did you check the time? 76%
Did you check your email? 13%
Did you respond to an email? 4%
Did you check a text message? 65%
Did you respond to a text message? 51%
Did you start another app? 16%
Did you surf the web? 13%
Texts and Emails sent
0 emails 96.3
0 texts 52%
1-3 texts 39%
4-35 texts 9%
Distractions
Time spent on non-course related activities
None 24%
1-5 minutes 53%
7-30 minutes 21%
> 30 minutes 2%
What do you think?
• Where does this leave you?• Does this make you more or less
interested in using clickers/cell phones in the classroom?
• How have you dealt with technology as a distraction?
Summary and Conclusions
• Whether we like to admit it or not, the use of cell phones and other technology in the college classroom is common, and is not going away!
• The challenge for instructors is to make the technology work to help improve the classroom environment, rather than allow it to be an obstacle to active learning, or to be a distraction.
• Students expect instructors to be technologically astute, and to foster an interactive learning environment.
Summary and Conclusions
• Using cell phones as clickers is one way to incorporate technology as a useful tool.
• Factors such as cost, classroom location (cell reception), student attendance, subject matter, and standardization should be addressed.
• It is important that the core Principles of Undergraduate Learning (PULs) do not suffer due to technology in the classroom.
Summary and Conclusions
• Critical Thinking has been identified as an area in which our students must improve, and technology can either serve as our Friend or as our Foe in this regard.