Digital Classroom Tool

As teachers, how we assess student learning is a difficult process to master.  When I first began teaching, I created my own assessments to give the students and then would pour over them for hours on weekends grading.  Then I switched to using scantron sheets for the multiple choice / true false / and matching portions of my tests.  This fell into the substitution level of the SAMR model.  All it did was save me time as the teacher in grading student assessments. 

At our last textbook adoption, I selected a new "tech package" to add to our texts.  It is called Class Performance Systems. This company offers hardware and software through textbook adoptions.  I was given a set of "classroom clickers" to use in my classroom.  They are kind of like a small cell phone where students can digitally insert their answers to an assessment and I can track them "in real time" from my computer to monitor progress.  Students simply "text" their answers to me and I see them pop up on my screen.  I can see how well the class as a whole is responding, or if individual students are struggling.  The clickers work for most of the assessment except the extended writing portions. 

The students love taking their tests using the clickers!  I feel like they have moved the assessments I give in my class from the "substitution" level from the scantron sheets to at least the "augmentation" or possibly even the "modification" level.  The ability to track the students performance using real time data allows me to see where I have erred in their instruction.  This allows me to change my teaching for upcoming units.  It also lets me see where I may have placed poorly worded questions into the tests.  It's not always the students' fault when they miss an item.  If the entire class falls below a certain percentage on a test item, I will often try to point them back to that question and provide clarification or allow them to ask questions about it. 

The CPS system can also be integrated into PowerPoint presentations to create a mini quiz for instant teacher feedback and informal assessment data.  After a few slides you can have a few questions that students respond to using their clickers.  I can create pretests to see what information my students know prior to starting a unit.  The system allows me to give reports to each student on their performance and study guides showing them incorrect answers, so that they may prepare for the final summative assessment. 

I know I don't use CPS to its fullest potential.  There is still so much more that I haven't used or discovered.  So far though, I have enjoyed not only the time it saves me as a teacher, but the interactivity it has created with my students in what can otherwise be a very dull circumstance (test taking).