Classroom Response Devices - "Clickers" 

The Office of Smith IT can help Business School faculty get started and demo the technology.   Just send a request to bbhelp@rhsmith.umd.edu and well be glad to schedule a time to talk with you about it.  If you want to borrow some of our loaner hardware we can help with that on a first come-first served basis.  (See Hardware available below)

Hardware available for Smith Faculty to borrow

Smith School Faculty may borrow response pads ("clickers") for their students on a first come-first served basis.   After loaners are gone, students must purchase a response pad from the campus bookstore or Turning Technologies.   Instructors: Be sure to request your set EACH SEMESTER using the form at this link as soon as you know you will use them.  Our current equipment pool is large enough for 7 classes of 60 students.  You will be notified by return email if enough are available for your class.  IF THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH LOANERS Please be sure to tell the Bookstore (Textbook Department) that you plan to use clickers so they can have enough inventory for your students to purchase. Beginning Fall 2010, please ask for the latest model: RF-LCD.

New - Students may use a web enabled device such as a Blackberry, iPhone or laptop as their clicker.  The license to use web polling must be purchased, but , is less expensive than a clicker.  There are no web polling licenses in our loaner pool.  INSTRUCTORS- if all your students use this option, it allows for text answers such as short answers and essays.  You can even gather responses from remote users at the same time as your face to face students are responding.  NOTE:  Faculty must enable their presentation to use RWpoll to accept answers from these devices- see Using ResponseWare for more information. 

Receivers are installed in every classroom in Van Munching Hall, thanks to a campus initiative to adopt the Turning Point system as a campus classroom standard. In addition, The Office of Smith IT can loan a receiver to Business School faculty teaching off-site.  Just fill out the clicker request form or email helpme@rhsmith.umd.edu

• The loaned devices are to be collected at the end of the semester and must be tracked by the faculty who hand them out.
• An agreement should be signed by the students when it is handed out.  Loan agreements can be found in our clicker handouts collection.
• If a clicker is broken or lost, the student is required to purchase a replacement from the campus bookstore before the end of the semester.
• Batteries are the responsibility of the student borrowing the clicker.  They may be purchased at the campus bookstore or from any other vendor. The blue XR clickers take two AAA batteries, and the small gray RF clickers use two 3.0V lithium coin cell batteries model number CR2032 (available from most places that sell batteries) 

If there are no more loaner clickers available in our loaner pool: Students will need to purchase a new Turning Point XR Response Pad from the bookstore or from Turning Technologies.

Help using clickers in class

In addition to campus specific information at http://clickers.umd.edu,  the Turning Point website has some great tutorials along with best practice tips, quick guides, and regularly scheduled online training sessions.

Full TP Manual for Turning Point with Powerpoint 2007

Handouts you can print out - including some R.H. Smith specific documents

Email bbhelp@rhsmith.umd.edu if you have any questions or want to schedule a time for a demo. 

Student help

How to Blackboard demo course in Blackboard has an "Info for Students" menu item that includes a clicker info folder.   More for Students can be found at http://www.clickers.umd.edu under the student tab.  Information and links there include:

• How to buy a keypad
• Register your keypad
• Setting the channel on your keypad
• Lost/stolen keypad
• Nonfunctioning keypad

What differs from the rest of UMCP?

Nothing differs from the process being used by the campus Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) except for the pool of loaner hardware that Smith IT maintains.  CTE has developed instructional support and arranged for purchase discounts and makes it all available from http://clickers.umd.edu.  

Notes about system components

• Clicker: This is the response pad used by students to record their answers to question slides.  The Turning Point Clickers are standard on the UMCP campus.  One response device (or "clicker") can be used in all classes which use Turning Point.
• Receiver:  One must be installed on the presentation computer to record answers. 
  • They are installed in all VMH classrooms already. 
  • SECURITY NOTE: If you bring a receiver to class, be sure not leave it unattended in any public space. There is, unfortunately, a history of them being mistaken for flash drives and stolen when left unattended in classrooms
• Software: Installed on faculty computer to create presentation and on classroom computers to run the presentation and collect data.  Turning Point software integrates with and looks like a Powerpoint slideshow. Download the the software from: http://clickers.umd.edu/faculty/index_faculty.html#download.
  • Update your version of the software each semester to keep up to date with all the bug fixes and remain compatible with the version installed in the classrooms.  If you have version 4.3.xx you can update easily from the Tools menu. Otherwise you have to uninstall the old version, and install the new one. (check which version you have from the "Information" icon in Turning Point)

•  NOTE: Before you install TP - Be sure you uninstall any previous versions you may have. 
• If you wish the Helpdesk to install this for you, contact helpme@rhsmith.umd.edu
• More installation instructions with screenshots can be found at http://clickers.umd.edu/