Migrate to iClicker or another product?
I received an e-mail from an instructor today who is “wondering if I need to consider switching from using CPS to iClicker or some other product for the Fall.”
Users: what are your thoughts?
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April 17th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Can former and current CPS users respond? My brief e-mail response touches on only a couple of issues:
>I urge you to post your concerns on the blog to move the discussion on-line. I also hope you >can come to the meeting to talk with other users.
>I’m certain there will continue to be CPS users and if you are comfortable with the system you >may not want to change. I do think students don’t want to purchase two different pads, That may >be a consideration since iClicker is used in more classes than CPS.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I have experience with the eInstruction clickers.
The pros of this system are: number pad, allowed to enter more than 5 answer options, LCD (though don’t really care personally), Bb enrollment.
The cons of the system are: it is a pain to administer and set up at the beginning of the semester. However, it is quite simple for students to set up & I have few student issues.
I do sometimes worry about the accuracy of recording results – but have no evidence that it is incorrect.
I have considered using the iClicker system.
The main thing that prevents me is: only 5 letter input, the receiver is huge (I currently take my eInstruction receiver and laptop to class – as not all rooms are kitted out), setting up the roster seems very sloppy (though simple).
I would be more in favor or agreeing to support a single clicker system across the campus and having all of us use it.
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James Bryant, Ph.D.
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Lecturer
The University of Texas at Austin
School of Biological Sciences
1 University Station Stop A5400
Austin
TX 78712
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Email: jim175@mail.utexas.edu
Office: PAI 1.48C
Phone: +1-512-232-6491
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April 20th, 2009 at 10:37 am
I am strongly in favor of eInstruction CPS –this is a much more reliable system for the large classes of 100 or more and the remote display is very useful in helping students to diagnose problems. I am very much in favor of UT adopting one clicker system as you have tried to do –however, I know for a fact that iClicker in is current form presents a problem with large classes –there is a major problem with reception of 100s of signals. And while I am not happy about eInstruction’s decisions to update software and move servers mid-semester… I am think their reliable and better quality hardware –both receiver and remote are worth the trouble.
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
The presentation on Quest at the May 22 meeting will show how to increase the number of multiple choice options to 10. Though not ideal, it is a way to address one of the concerns that Jim has.
I think its important to check into the issue of iClicker reception in large classes. I haven’t heard this and would like to hear details from anyone who has used the product in a big lecture hall.
April 26th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I am using CPS this semester – my first experience with any clicker. The BIG plus is the numeric key pad which allows me to do cases in class and collect student data so that we can all view the results as a class – almost instantaneously. Let me state that I am probably pushing the envelope on the CPS clicker more than the average instructor which has allowed me to find many, many problems.
I am generally on the phone daily with EInstruction due to all the problems I have had. I started out on the Mac platform and learned that the Mac platform is the step-child product of their lineup. The biggest problem was that 30 students were not receiving grades and it took a month to figure out the pattern. EInstructions has admitted to this and the other problems that I have had on the Mac after I wrote a letter to the president of the company. In short, it was my worst nightmare. In addition, the functionality on the Mac side is much lower than the functionality on the Windows side.
The company convinced me to install Windows Vista on my Mac and for the past month I have been running the Windows version of CPS. It also has some bugs that I have found but they are tolerable as compared to the Mac. My most recent frustration is that EInstruction decided to test their Mac hotfix on my database which made almost 1,800 changes to my gradebook center on Blackboard. I wasted an entire day trying to figure it out and the company admitted that they were testing on my database assuming that my class was no longer live.
I would drop the product in a flash if I could get a replacement that allowed numeric input.