Following some recent changes to the way that Classroom Technologies are managed by the e-Learning team at the University of Bath, this blog will no longer be updated.  It will however be kept online indefinitely, so links to blog posts will remain active.

With immediate effect, and with the start of the 2010/11 academic year, this blog has been replaced by the new Classroom Technologies blog at: http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/classroomtechnologies/. Please do update your bookmarks and  favourites lists, and RSS feeds.

Please do head along to this new blog to take a look at a range of new resources now available. This includes details on the technology being evaluated as well as related literature and case studies.

A few weeks ago, I got talking to a colleague at another university who, like me, supports the use of Audience Response Systems (ARS) at their institution. As the conversation developed, we both agreed that we often feel like sales people, going out to academics and try to encourage them to consider using the ARS to support their teaching. But what are our key phrases or buzzwords?

When talking to and training colleagues on how to use the ARS, I often begin by stressing its potential for use as a mechanism for giving effective and immediate feedback to students. Additionally, I point to the system as an  anonymous and formative feedback mechanism as well as a means of promoting deep learning by students within a face to face context. Teaching related to such elements has already been completed and presented at conferences by fellow colleagues at the University of Bath as referenced in an earlier blog post.

On a (non work related!) visit to The Great Wall of China a few weeks ago, I thought about this sales person analogy and put my thinking cap on. With the new academic year soon to be upon us, I consider how could I do something a bit different to promote the ARS, using it as a hook to get colleagues engaged in the system for either the first time or once again.

So, for those new to the technology or existing users who’d like to find out more on why you might use an ARS to support your learning and teaching related activities, do take a look at the video below.

The ARS at the University of Bath now totals 400 clickers, which are available in bags of 40 or 80 handsets, accompanied by 1 USB RF receiver per bag. If you’d like further information about the ARS, or would like to use it to support your learning and teaching related activities, please contact me, Nitin Parmar, Classroom Technologies Lead, at:  e-learning@bath.ac.uk.

Acknowledgements – Many thanks to Michelle O’Donnell from my travel group for directing the video, and to Carly Seymour for the “Making of…” photo.

Over the last 12 months or so, I’ve been working with colleagues in the Departments of Computer Science & Social & Policy Sciences respectively to draw together some of their work related to the use of Audience Response Systems (ARS) to enhance feedback to students.

Links to conference papers and presentation slides appear below.

• Cliffe, E., Davenport, J., De Vos, M., Parmar, N. R., Hayes, A., 2010. Using EVS and ResponseWare to Enhance Student Learning and Learning Experience. Submitted to: 11th Annual Conference of Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Information and Computer Science, 24-26 August 2010, Durham, UK. Higher Education Academy Centre for ICS. [paper]
• Bashforth H., Parmar N.R. (2010). The search for active learning: Lessons from a happy accident. In: C-SAP e-Learning Forum: sharing materials and practice in the social sciences. HEA Subject Network for Sociology, Anthropology, Politics. University of Birmingham. [paper| slides available on SlideShare]
• Davenport J.H., Hayes A., Parmar N.R. (2009). The use of an Electronic Voting System to enhance student feedback. In the proceedings of: 4th Plymouth e-Learning Conference: Boundary Changes: Redefining Learning Spaces. [paper | slides available on SlideShare]

Should you have any questions related to any of the findings, please do get in touch with me at e-learning@bath.ac.uk or any of the authors listed.

The following appeared on the Stanford University mailing list and gives some “sixteen suggestions that follow for teaching with classroom response systems are drawn from the previous chapters. They are intended to help instructors with or without experience teaching with clickers make more intentional choices when using clickers–choices that help them teach more effectively and lead to enhanced student learning.”

For more information, visit http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1033

A couple of weeks ago, I gave an introduction to the use of the Audience Response System at the University of Bath to School of Management staff. The slides appear below.

If you did not happen to attend the presentation, but would still like to find out more about the ARS, please do get in touch either on 01225 384 392 or via email at e-learning@bath.ac.uk