I am a big fan of Personal Response Systems (PRS) because they can be a powerful tool to teach student to need. However, it can be very difficult to teach students to use PRS effectively. I understand that teachers need to use a variety of teaching strategies, but I believe that when we use PRS we are teaching the students how to learn, which can also serve to boost their confidence and make them learn with greater success.
I am a high-tech professional and I have been teaching kids and adults for over 25 years.
For the past five years I have been teaching young adults how to use personal response systems (PRS). I have found that they can be a great tool to help a student learn how to manage their anger, sadness, self-esteem, and self-confidence.
Stop and think about what personal response systems (PRS) are…
Using both interactive whiteboards and a single computer classroom, this interactive wireless technology is great for boosting student interaction.
PRS helps teachers achieve classroom engagement for all students by providing a simple interactive approach. Feedback is available instantly using clickers at every learning opportunity. Any essayist will tell you that technology helps classroom teaching and learning while also assisting teachers in creating a technologically involved atmosphere.
Components of Response Systems Using Wireless Technology
Students use clickers or remote controls in conjunction with a receiver positioned near a projection screen connected to the teacher’s computer in personal response systems. In most cases, each receiver can handle up to 40 clickers. The software that runs the system is unique to each system type and is usually compatible with both Macs and PCs.
Incorporate questions into PowerPoint presentations or the PRS program with ease.
10 Strategies for Using Response Systems to Engage Students with Interactive Technology
There are strategies and procedures that are more effective than others, just as there are with any technological tools. Best practices for employing a personal response system in a classroom are listed below.
- Assigning a number to each PRS remote makes tracking and accountability easier. Assigning a distinct remote to each student keeps track of answers and ensures student accountability. Using a clear calculator pocket chart mounted on the wall near the teacher’s desk to help with organization, distribution, and storage.
- Keep Questions and Responses Short: This applies to both the questions and the answers. Students’ ability to read and react to questions quickly utilizing clicker remotes is aided by this method. Make questions simple and straightforward; when students are perplexed by multipart questions, response rates suffer.
- Limit Answer Possibilities: Having too many answer options slows down student responses and takes up too much class time, leading to students losing interest. To avoid these issues, don’t utilize more than five answer options.
- Periodically incorporate questions During Lessons: Students are more likely to stay engaged during lessons if they know they will be quizzed every five to ten minutes via a PRS. It’s also critical that students don’t have time to prepare for questions; spontaneous responses provide a more accurate measure of pupil comprehension.
- Keep voting simple: when using a PRS, provide no more than two options to minimize lengthy explanations, numerous invalid responses from students, and reduced interpretation time.
- Think-Pair-Share: students use the personal response approach to respond to a question. Students team up with other students after seeing the class results to discuss their responses to the questions. After reaching an agreement on answers, student groups re-answer the question using the PRS. To conclude, one member of each group explains why they believe their answer is correct or incorrect.
- Students must answer one or two questions linked to each station as they rotate between the stations. Due to the necessity to answer each station’s inquiries, this technique keeps pupils on topic by asking them to manage time effectively. With science and math stations, this method works nicely.
- Use clickers for games like bingo, baseball, and football, as well as a variant of one person against 100.
- Pre- and post-testing: posing thought-provoking pre-test questions allows for an informal assessment of students’ prior knowledge and experiences with new material. Completing a post-test on a regular basis not only saves paper but also decreases the possibility of cheating.
- Don’t Use It Too Much Overuse of the Personal Response System leads to boredom and a loss of student motivation to make accurate responses based on what they truly believe or know.
Personal Response Systems and Technology Integration: Making Connections
Personal response systems are ideal for use with interactive whiteboards, but they can also be used with overhead screens. The PRS system frequently discloses student misconceptions about a concept and is an useful wireless technology tool for early detection of these misconceptions.
Students should constantly be involved in the teaching and learning process while using interactive technology. This interactive system is an effective teaching tool that may transform courses into a truly participatory and enjoyable experience for both teachers and students. Students are more interested while using clicker technology since they have input when a question is asked.
The ability to save all questions, games, and other activities utilizing this wireless device in a class Wiki is a benefit of this interactive technology. Students are no longer constrained by peer pressure, which is a second benefit. Quiet pupils are given a voice, while outspoken students are no longer in charge of the classroom. Under the guise of anonymity, students respond to questions or express their opinions.
Personal response systems are a very useful tool to help students learn, and they should be used when teaching all students. It’s a good idea to show where your system fits in: if you are in a classroom, then you are probably in a one on one setting, or a small group. But for larger groups, like a classroom of 4th graders, a teacher may use a system to keep track of everyone’s turn and to ensure no one is getting distracted.. Read more about student response systems in the elementary classroom and let us know what you think.
