New system aims to make learning fun
Most educators would agree they are facing some daunting new challenges, not the least of which is how to keep students who have grown up in the age of computers and electronic media interested in learning.
How do you hold the attention of students who are used to instant gratification and almost infinite variety, students who surf through more than 100 channels of TV programming and online information at the touch of a button?
For Warren County High School’s Career and Technical Education director, Tracy Risinger, the answer is simple ‘ utilize the same technology these students use every day at home to access the vast amounts of data and media available in the information age.
‘Technology is a part of their lives these days,’ Risinger said. ‘So in order to keep their interest, to compete with the video games, music players, home computers and television, you have to bring that technology into the classroom.’
Risinger found a way to do just that. It’s called TurningPoint Student Response System (SRS), and it allows students to use a wireless remote to take tests electronically via computer using Microsoft PowerPoint and a video projector. Risinger explained how the system works.
‘You purchase the system with 24 or 30 remotes, depending on how many you want in the classroom,’ Risinger said. ‘Each student will have a remote and the teacher puts the questions in a PowerPoint presentation. Then the students are able to answer the questions using the TurningPoint software and the remotes.
‘The software keeps track of how many students answer, and as soon as the teacher sees that all students have answered, at that point the teacher can display a bar graph showing how many students picked each of the possible answers. The teacher can then reveal which answer is the correct one, letting the students know immediately if they got the question right or wrong, and letting the teacher know immediately how many students got the question right or wrong. The teacher can make the judgment at that time if they need to go back and re-teach a specific topic. Or if a student sees they missed the question, they can ask the teacher a follow-up question as to why they missed it. That teacher can give them immediate feedback on why they missed that question.’
Risinger says the system has been well received by both students and teachers, particularly with the students due to the technology involved.
‘It’s something they’re familiar with,’ Risinger said. ‘It’s high-tech and it really motivates the student to want to learn.’
The reaction of students and teachers to the systems bears this out. Ninth-grade student Samantha White finds the SRS system easy and fun to use.
‘I like it,’ White said. ‘You get instant feedback on the questions.’
Ninth-grade teacher Penny Shockley feels the system is an excellent tool for both teachers and students.
‘Like Samantha said, it gives them instant feedback on whether they have it right or wrong,’ Shockley said. ‘It provides me the opportunity when they do get it wrong to be able to explain to them where they might have misinterpreted the question, or if there’s something I might need to go back and re-teach, a concept that we might need to review a little more.’
Fellow ninth-grader Justin Gibbs said he feels right at home with the technology and enjoys using the system.
‘I like using the pointers,’ Gibbs said. ‘It’s easier than a regular test. I think it’s cool.’
Culinary Arts teacher Lauren Coffman uses the system with her second- and third-year students, and says it gives her a way to quickly determine how well the students have learned the subject taught during a classroom session.
‘I like it a lot,’ Coffman said. ‘It allows me to see what students are learning immediately, so I know whether or not I need to go back and re-teach or move on. The system lets me know right away what I need to be doing.’
Culinary Arts student Ginger Whiles says the system tends to keep students on their toes, especially since they get to see how the entire class is doing visually on the screen at the front of the classroom.
‘I like it, it’s fun,’ Whiles said. ‘You can see if you’re right and how much you know about it, even how much the whole class knows. It kind of shows whether or not they’re paying attention.’