You might have seen the 'clickers'in action in TV shows such as America's Funniest Videos, in which the audience participates in the selection of the winner by entering the corresponding number for their favorite video on a little remote control ('clicker'). In the past 2 years, they have found a new niche, classrooms! There are several names for this technology, i.e. Classroom Performance System (CPS), Classroom Response Systems (CRS), Student Response Systems (SRS), or Personal Response Systems (PRS) but overwhelmingly known simply as the'clicker'. Many textbook publishers are now bundling these with the sale of their textbooks, which brings up the point raisedat a recent Campus-Technology article "Beware of publishing reps bearing free gifts that click".


How to they apply in the classroom setting? Check out the following articles:

• Classroom ‘clickers’ catching on as instant assessment tool from the Univ of Madison - http://www.news.wisc.edu/11142.html
• New for back-to-school: Clickers CNET - http://news.com.com/New+for+back-to-school+clickers/2100-1041_3-5819171.html
• Michigan State University Clicker Info Page - http://computing.msu.edu/events/?m=200502
  

Types of technology:

• Infrared
• Radio Frequency
  
• Wireless
  

Recommendations:

• Explore the market not only the vendor sites but the different university sites. There is quite a number of universities that have posted their "clicker" research online and is available to the public.
• A single campus solution rather than a "free-for-all" approach.
• Engage students and faculty representatives in your selection process.
• Inquire vendors to provide your with demo units.
• Use radio frequency based clickers whenever possible.
• Develop a buy-back program with your college bookstore.
  

Vendors: (This list is not complete but the result of a quick Google search and listed in no particular order of preference.)

• eInstruction - http://einstruction.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=HigherEd.Display&Header=HigerEd
• Interwrite - http://www.gtcocalcomp.com/interwriteprs.htm
  
• iClicker - http://www.iclicker.com/
• H-ITT - http://www.h-itt.com/
• TI Navigators - http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_ti_navigator.html
• Quizdom - http://www.camcor.com/qwizdom/index.html
  
• Turning Point - http://www.turningtechnologies.com/highereducationinteractivelearning.cfm