TurningPoint aka Clickers

Note: It is likely that we will have two sessions on clickers. There is a lot to do and know, and it will be easier if we break it up in two sessions. More on this later.

Step One: Readings and Web Sites to Provide an Overview

Seven things you should know about clickers from Educause

TurningPoint's Online Tutorial

Robertson, L. J. (2000). Twelve Tips for Using a Computerised Interactive Audience Response System.

Step Two: Creating Slides

Everyone should have TurningPoint installed on their office computers. Please contact libhelp if you do not have it.

Open TurningPoint. Slides are created using PowerPoint. To view the many style choices, use the "Insert Slide" drop down menu. The "Generic Slides" allows for multiply responses. There are also various ways to present results (e.g., vertical slide, 3D pie slide and distributed pie slide).

Play with the various tools to get comfortable using the software. Create different kinds of questions using different types of graphs.

I found the online help useful when I began playing with TurningPoint.

Step Three: For Next Wednesday, August 1, 2007

For next Wednesday create a two slide presentation using questions you might use in one of your classes or workshops. Save the slide show into the publib folder, TurningPoint. Next week we'll discuss the questions.

Note: So far we have not done anything interactive. If you have time, check out the clickers from the Media Center (preferably the 4 hour clickers). The lining of the box includes great instructions on how to use the clickers. It is important that you put the thumb drive into your laptop (not your monitor) before opening TurningPoint!!

I found the most difficult part of clickers was creating good questions. The clickers are great for discussion starters, but how could I use them in College 101 - a class that is more skills based? Would they be a good pre-assessment or post-assessment tool? Would they be appropriate for English 102 or BIS 300? How could you use clickers in those classes? What about subject classes?

My hope for next week is a robust conversation on the types of questions that would work well in library instruction. If you have time to use the clickers in your offices, great, but don't worry if you don't have time. We can spend more time with them later.