“Classroom Response Systems” (CRS) are becoming more and more popular at higher education facilities. Also known as 'clickers', these systems allow learners to vote anonymously in lectures using mobile end devices. They can, for example, be used to canvas opinions or to test learning success using multiple-choice questions. The responses and answers are collated and evaluated by software. Within just a few seconds, a visualisation of the results is then generated, and, if so desired, projected. This provides instructors with direct feedback from their students which they can then actively integrate into their lecture. Subsequently, these results can then be commented on and discussed.

In the past you often needed special additional devices to use CRS – such as those used in quiz shows on TV. However, thanks to the increasing proliferation of smartphones, laptops and tablets, it is easier today – for example using an ILIAS plug-in! The company 'studer + raimann ag' has recently released the third version of the LiveVoting plug-in, which is available for use by the whole ILIAS community.

With this plug-in it is now possible to include multiple questions within a single ILIAS object. In addition to the two basic question types (multiple/single choice and open questions), two further question types have been funded by the University of Bern and the Zurich University of Teacher Education: The 'correct order' question type, in which participants have to arrange multiple options in the correct order, and the 'priorities' question type, which can be used to get an overview of opinions in which there is no right or wrong.

What is especially pleasing about the plug-in is how well thought-out and implemented it is. It is, for example, extremely easy and quick to create a new question. When that is done, the instructor can activate and close the voting with one click. Participants can go directly to the voting within seconds by using their smartphones and a QR code. Alternatively, they can use a short link (in the format iliasdomain.xyz/vote/1111[1]). As long as the voting is still open, the participants are able to change their choices. The instructor can also publish the results live, if desired.

The current status of the voting is obtained directly from the server by the end devices using pull technology: They continuously ping ILIAS in order to determine if the status of the live voting has changed and then display any changes within the shortest space of time. The pings do not involve a complete ILIAS environment being built up so as to keep the load on the server as small as possible.

Advantages of Using CRS

Participants in lectures that use clickers become more involved than would be possible in a more traditional, teacher-centred, monologue approach. The concentration of the students tends to wane during lectures, but regular breaks to use a clicker can help combat this and refresh their concentration. The lecture can then be continued at a higher level of effectiveness.

Refreshing the concentration of the participants is not the only reason to use clicker systems however. They also give added value from an educational perspective. For example, the peer instruction method can be combined effectively with CRS. Reviewing and discussing the participants' answers in the lecture can lead to improvements in learning success and therefore to a rise in student performance.

Empirical findings suggest that there is a generally positive reception of clickers among students: “They appreciate the increased interactivity of courses, the positive effect this has on their own learning progress, the anonymity of the voting system, the ease of use and implementation and last, but not least, the fun involved in using such systems.”[2]

Links and Outlook

If you want to test the use of clickers in education yourself, then the LiveVoting plug-in in highly recommended. It works with ILIAS systems using version 5.0 or 5.1 and needs to be installed and configured by an administrator. The installation package and the full documentation can be found here.

The next version of the plug-in is currently in preparation. It should include, among other things, LaTeX support, further formatting options, as well as a new question type. If you want to support this continued development then feel free to get in touch with Hansjörg Lauener to get more information, or maybe consider becoming a plug-in sponsor. A sponsorship helps guarantee the sustained maintenance of a plug-in for future ILIAS versions and includes a development budget, depending on the level of sponsorship.