Practical Applications of Browser-based, Mobile Classroom ResponseAudience Response System – iClickers/WebClickers

Nellie Modaress, MSUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterDepartment of Teaching and Learning Technologies

Who am I?Educational Technologist

◦Master’s Degree from Kansas State University◦Have been working at University of Kansas

Medical Center ~ 16 years◦Part of the

Teaching and Learning Technologies Department◦One Programmer, Angel Administrator, three

Liaisons (School of Health Professions, Nursing, and Medicine), three eLearning Specialists

◦ I’m Liaison to Medicine (KUMC, Wichita, and Salina) – Susan Bailey – my eLearning Specialist

Liaison to Medicine - SupportMedical School (Graduate – students have

already obtained a four year degree)ClerkshipsResidencies and Fellowships (GME)Health Policy and Management (KUMC &

Wichita)Preventive Medicine (KUMC & Wichita)Department of Biostatistics (KUMC)Susan and I support approximately 500 core

faculty/staff Overarching ~ 1000 (with three campuses -

this number will increase)

Phases of AdoptionNeeds Assessment – Fall 2009Spring Pilot 2010Roll-out for August 2010 Class of

2014 (First year and Second year Medical students)

SoM Expands for Fall 2011

Needs Assessment - ParticipantsFaculty from:

◦Schools of Allied Health, Nursing, and Medicine (15 faculty and staff)

◦Researched 16 possible vendor solutions and brought in three to evaluate – iClickers being one

Needs Assessment - Criteria Platform Independent Increases Participation Tracks Participation – registers users Tracks Attendance Measures Comprehension of Content Intuitive vs. Clunky Not Time Intensive to Learn/Create Compatibility with Current Systems Ability to Create Questions/Slides on the Fly Comfortable/Simple Data Import Multiple Question Types Cost to Student/Institution Integration with Angel Gradebook Able to Modify Answer

WebClickers??????School purchases HP Tablets – duration

of 4 years (receive as M1) – PC based campus (ssshhhh – we do have Mac users)

Online curriculum Microsoft Office Suite Podcast – Camtasia Relay Online Microscopy (Aperio) - Students create

own Atlas using Microsoft OneNote (sometimes share)

Angel LMS and O: drive (shared drive – access) WebClickers – great fit

WebClickersStudents:

◦Mobile device (iPhone/iTouch/most smartphones)

◦No batteries/replacement/lost/stolen – no worries

◦Students login, click on class/instructor– ready to vote!

WebClickers Faculty:

◦Can use any content (website, .pdf, images, powerpoints – no limitations)

◦Can survey class anonymously◦Can create questions on the fly◦Can grade WebClicker learning

activities (igrader.exe) – wonderful tool

◦Can import grades into LMS (Angel)◦VERY EASY TO USE

Spring Beta Pilot – WebClickerMedical School pilot – 360

students!!!!◦Initially it started out with our Second

Year students (Infectious Diseases) – 180 students

◦Success with Second Year – let’s include First Year too (Renal and Endocrine) – 180 students

◦iClicker provided us 360 temporary (180-day accounts) – carried the students through the Spring pilot.

Registering Students for PilotCreated how-to handout (3 pages

with screen shots) Students registered themselves and

all were issued the same trial code (activation code)

Two weeks before Infectious Module (M2) and Renal (M1) – information was emailed to students. They were to be registered by first day of the modules for Spring Semester.

Instructions Sent to StudentsCreated by Susan Bailey

Lessons Learned from PilotIt was a success for both M1 and M2

students, faculty, and usShortcomings of Pilot:

◦No grading involved – no learning activity to be graded – assumed students registered as instructed (followed hand-out) – didn’t need to sync registrants

◦Only two classes to add to two bases – had to activate one course on each base – smooth sailing (duplication of classes possible/USB)

◦One class per USB and activate one class at a time

In the interim - Market WebClickersReceived 20 demo accounts

already activated and ready to use

Six months activation - in six months we demonstrated WebClickers to faculty at staff meetings, department meetings, curriculum meetings, and set up workshops

Fall 2010 : Roll-outSchool of Medicine purchases 360 WebClicker

accounts for M1 and M2 students.Chad Moeller and Cheryl Carpenter from iClicker

– sent spreadsheet with activation codes (couldn’t wait for printed cards)

Susan Bailey – mail-merged email with instructions and activation codes supplied

Students registered themselvesTwo clicker bases tethered in two auditoriums

(First and Second Year classes) and one classroom (pre-matric program)Received “free” per 100 accounts – we purchased 360 accounts (3 complimentary bases)

The Classroom EnvironmentWahl Hall East – First Year

Medical StudentsRieke – Second Year Medical

Students1015 Orr Major – Pre-Matric

Students

Network Infrastructure in Classroom – Campus WirelessWHE – 6 Access PointsRieke – 6 Access Points

◦Designed to support the room capacity of the auditorium (~ 200 students in each auditorium)

◦Each “station” has built in ports and outlets for hard-wiring purposes as back-up.

iClicker SupportChad Moeller had a team ready to assist us

– one-time support (been flying solo ever since)

Advantage of mail-merge – we knew which student should have which activation code – Susan and I - first line of support

Chad and his team were prompt as we emailed them student issues – most were resolved quickly and solutions were emailed to the students by Chad and his team – very impressive

Lessons Learned from Fall Roll-outStudents share codes Students don’t necessarily follow

instructions First year students did not know zip

code of campus, their username, etc. The expectation to pre-register before school starts unrealistic

Some Second year students did not upgrade activation code – Spring Beta codes still worked

Faculty ImpressionsI used WebClickers for 5-10

min MCQ review sessions on the material taught the previous day, before moving on to new material.  My goal was to encourage the students to keep on top of the material, to provide some kind of mental 'reward' if they did, and to expose them to the style of questions that they would encounter on the exam.  The technology was easy to use, and feedback from the students regarding this exercise was very positive.

Faculty Impressions I find that the webclickers provide an efficient method for

measuring how well my students understand key concepts. It gives me a chance to review the question and answers and in so doing I review the critical concept that students may not understand. It also assists with student ability to tackle multiple choice questions (MCQs) and develop strategies for successfully answering MCQs.

I like the webclickers for review sessions where I can move quickly through topics and concepts that are well understood and spend more time on areas of confusion. It is a very effective medium for assessing class understanding.

The webclickers are used by many of the students in my classes. The students seem to enjoy the ability to respond to questions and to know they have mastered important concepts.

The webclickers add an active learning component to even large lectures. The anonymity increases student interest and participation and is a tremendous advantage.

Fall 2011 - SoM ExpansionReceived Cards instead of spreadsheet with

codes – oops! Decided to transfer the codes to a

Spreadsheet format for mail merging capability to students

Three Campuses (Salina, Wichita, and KUMC) to distribute the accounts to – cards might get lost, students might lose the cards – support will fail

Case would be different if students purchased the accounts and were responsible for registering themselves

Solution for Fall 2011Register the students ourselvesReceive roster from RegistrarRegister students with

username/student ID (password)◦Drawback – marriage – name

change!!!!

Preventive Medicine, Health Policy Management, & BiostatisticsPurchased iClickers – not

WebClickersInterested in gauging student

comprehension – will not be tied to grade

Having mobile devices not required for students (reason for choosing iClickers)

Compared to medical students – student class size much smaller

Faculty/Students – successful in using the system

Support from AdministratorsMy opinion:

◦Implementation of educational technologies are normally more successful when approved and pushed by Deans, Chairs, and other top Administrators (case with iClickers/WebClickers)

Data – Next PhaseWill focus on surveying students

once the dust settlesLike to find out student/faculty

impressionsWould like to write articles and

present with SoM faculty on how the technology is used within the curriculum