Beyond Clickers: Using Web-Based Polling Technologies to Enhance Student Engagement

The "Experience IT" format offers a hands-on, highly interactive introduction to newer tools and technologies so you can explore their potential impact in the workplace and classroom and on your professional development. Please bring your laptop or other session-specific technology (such as smartphone or tablet) to the session so you can engage with the presenter. Seating will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Clickers have become widely used in higher education classroom settings to facilitate interaction and assess understanding, but they are not the only means of engaging students through polling practices. This special "Experience IT" session is designed to offer a hands-on introduction to a set of freely available web-based tools that expand on the concept of polling. We will explore practices that gauge student prior knowledge (Poll Everywhere), help identify and prioritize learner interest (Google Moderator), and facilitate knowledge management through crowdsourced Q & A (Piazza). Examples and discussion will help participants consider how the tools and related practices can be used to promote interaction, engagement and learning. Please bring a laptop or mobile device to the session to ensure you can engage with the presenter.