California Department of Education
Taking Center Stage – Act II

Student interactive assessment and response remote systems

Students receive instant feedback on answers to questions in a format similar to a game show. Fast-paced yet private, the system stimulates engagement while minimizing embarrassment over incorrect responses. With handheld student response remote systems, teachers can devise quizzes to assess student understanding, call for student votes, and have students answer remotely. Teachers can also use the system to encourage questions through privacy response buttons. At the same time, the system records all responses in the teacher’s computer or handheld device. (These systems are available through a variety of vendors—type handheld student response remote systems into an Internet search engine.) 

In the Spotlight

Teachers provide each seventh-grade student in the Viking Academy with a handheld instant feedback student response system. Numbers on the handheld clicker electronically link to the grade book so that the teacher knows who posted the wrong answers, but students do not. Teachers can post standards-based quizzes on the overhead projector. As students click on the multiple-choice answers, the program automatically counts the number of hits per answer and projects those tallies, giving students instant feedback on the correct answer and on their own grasp of the subject.

The system has been a motivational tool for the students and a quick way for teachers to assess the need to reteach. The real-time aspect of the system is perfect for students and teachers as they both get instantaneous feedback on mastery of concepts. Students who need extra help but fear peer rejection can push a button to indicate that they have a question. The teacher sees which student hit the button and can talk to him or her later in private to work on helping the student understand the concept.


Computer access

Security issues related to technology