A Great Tool to Enhance Student Learning and Involvment: I-clicker!!!

What is the tool?

This tool is called the i-clicker. It is a tool that each student has that is programmed to their name. It has five options to click which are either options A, B, C, D, or E. The student chooses the best answer by clicking on the button.

How can it be used?

An i-clicker can be used in a variety of ways. Teachers use this tool to get a sense of how well the students know certain topics. Therefore this tool can be used for practice tests, daily questions, surveys, or asking questions just to see how much students know about a topic before it is discussed and how much they learned after the discussion. This tool can be used in any format to answer questions so that the teacher can get a feel of how much the students know. This tool can be used in schools, businesses, or anywhere that people want to take surveys.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this tool?

There is huge advantags of this tool for both teachers and students. One advantage is that it allows teachers to see who is struggling with what certain questions or topics, and in return the teacher can focus on that one student and his or her struggles with the topic to help them learn it successfully. This is a huge advantage for the students, because it will help them figure out the correct answers on test or other daily work. Another advantage of this tool is that it helps students to get involved in class. I know how hard it is to stay focused during a long discussion, but by having the i-clickers teachers can have random questions through out the discussion to keep the students intrigued and involved. In return, the teacher can figure out who paid attention and who did not. Also, by using i-clickers, the teacher is creating a lively atmosphere for the students to learn in, because no longer is it teacher-based and all about listening to the teacher talk or sitting quiet, but now it turns to student-based learning. This tool makes it to where students can get involved with what is going on and this in return can energize the classroom atmosphere, which is always beneficial when it comes to learning.

There are not many disadvantages to i-clickers except that it cuts down the teacher’s lectures by at least 20 minutes. The reason is that teachers have to stop their discussion to give the students questions and they have to give 3-5 minutes for the students to read, comprehend, and answer the questions. Then they have to go over the questions with the rest of the class and answer any questions that students might have. Thus, the teacher might not get everything taught that he or she may want to teach.



Who is the audience for this tool?

The audience for this tool can be anybody old enough to read and click their best answer. The main audience for these tools are high school and college students, but anybody can use them.

Where can we learn more about this tool?

You can learn more about this tool at the following websites:

What is a Clicker?

Enhance student participation throught iclickers


What is your opinion on the usefulness of this tool?

I strongly believe that i-clickers are extremely useful in classrooms today. The world is becoming revolved around technology and I believe that teachers should learn how to bring technology into the classrooms. I believe this tool can greatly increase test scores, and can help teachers figure out what he or she needs to discuss longer with his or her classroom. They not only help students learn better, but they also keep students intrigued and involved in discussions which in return can decrease behavior problems and help the teacher to stay on tact with his or her lesson plans. I strongly encourage all teachers to use this tool at least once in their classrooms, because it not only helps the teachers but it greatly helps the students as well. I know that I will be using this tool in my classrooms some day.