Clickers or Classroom Response Systems? What’s best for you?
In-class student engagement technology is evolving rapidly. Should you consider making a switch?
The rise of Student Response Systems (also called Audience Response Systems or Classroom Response Systems) in higher-ed seems like an inevitability now, but that wasn’t always the case. The adoption of any edtech innovation requires thousands of educators to try these products, use them regularly, evangelise their use among their colleagues, and to weather the bumps on the road.
Clickers were the pioneers in this domain. Clicker devices look and work like TV remotes — instructors can show the class a multiple choice question, and students can click a button to select their option. The results are displayed on the slides by the instructor.
However, technology has come a long way since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, and clickers have been ceding ground to software-based systems that can be used on mobile devices and laptops. The pandemic has perhaps been the turning point in the “clicker vs SRS” debate. As in-person teaching and learning came to a halt, clicker hardware worth millions of dollars suddenly became useless because physical proximity is a must for clicker technology to work.
Most of these devices were purchased and paid for by students. As instructors flocked to the alternatives — Student Response Systems — it became clear that a significant shift in classroom engagement technology was underway.
The question is — should we stick with SRSs for good? Is it time to phase clickers out permanently?
How do they compare with each other, and what’s best for your class? We’re taking a look at this question in today’s infographic!
Hope you liked the infographic! There are many more infographics on the Acadly blog, so do check them out.
If you’re considering making the switch from clickers to an SRS, read our migration guide.
About Acadly
Acadly helps instructors engage students and automate time consuming classroom chores like attendance in any kind of class — in-person, online, or hybrid. In an in-person class, Acadly is quintessentially a Student Response System.
It is used by professors at more than 500 universities across the world.
