Student response systems (“clickers”) are popular in the
classroom, and we know that kids enjoy using them. But do they
really enhance learning? Clickers enable electronic voting,
described as a “game-based” approach for gathering student
feedback. Kids can weigh in anonymously, and teachers benefit by
hearing from the entire class. In this way, student response
systems serve as a form of assessment that can help in planning
instruction. In addition, students using clickers are actively
participating (rather than just sitting and passively
listening), which we know leads to better engagement and
learning. One more advantage of student response systems is
elimination of common pitfalls of typical class discussion—a few
students dominate the conversation, or shy and lower-achieving
students are hesitant to join in. For educators considering the
use of clickers, the question becomes: Do we really need the
tech gizmo to spur students’ active engagement, or can the same
results be achieved with the low-tech strate