Yes, infrequently students make the
wrong learning choice. Some try to
be with their friends or try to get out
of taking on more of a challenge, but
I can catch that immediately because
I have the results at my fingertips. I
call it “the illusion of choice,” where
students are empowered, but I make
sure the correct choice is made. With
instant data, all of this can happen
immediately.
Use Clickers to Group Students
Using instant data could also be a
great way to introduce technology
into a classroom because teachers
don’t need to redo everything to incorporate it. Regardless of teaching
practices, educators will most likely
reconsider how the students are learning when faced with the firsthand
results of their teaching.
For example, as a math and science
teacher, I help students explore surface
area by having them cut and measure
boxes, then I give a 10-minute mini-lesson followed by three questions that
they answer with responders. Students
who feel they have mastered the lesson move on to work independently
on more challenging material, while
those who need more instruction continue the lesson with me. The students
choose between the two based on the
answers they gave through their
responders.
Besides student choice, the big difference between breaking the class
into predetermined groups and
breaking them up by instant data is
being able to recognize that each student varies in his or her ability from
objective to objective. Yes, I always
have some of the same students who
struggle and some who always need to
be challenged, but I’ve been surprised
at the changing needs in my class. I
At best, hand-raising gives us
feedback about how engaged
the class is, but even that can
be an illusion.
The responders also enabled
me to reach students while
they were independently
engaged in their learning.
