Detailed instructions for using "clickers"

"Clickers" are audience response systems that we use in classes.  More general information about them is here.

Resources to help instructors use clickers

Instructional materials

• Product manuals are available from TurningPoint's website.
  Download the polling software from http://www.turningtechnologies.com/responsesystemsupport/downloads/
   
• Turning Technologies has a series of on-demand online tutorials for PC and Mac, and we strongly recommend them.  Please see their Online Tutorials page. 
   
• They also offer free one-hour live training sessions on a variety of topics for both new and advanced users.  To see a schedule and register for a session, see this website.
   
• Blackboard integration instructions (to use clickers in "registered" mode for quizzes) are available in the attached document "TP5_Instructor_Integration_Info".  This will be updated again in January, when the new Blackboard plug-in is installed.
  
  • You'll need the following Penn-specific information to connect TurningPoint or TurningPoint Anywhere to Blackbaord:
    • Server name:  https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu
    • Username:  your PennKey
    • Password:  your PennKey password
  • If you use TurningPoint Anywhere, then you access the Blackboard integration by going to the Window menu and choosing LMS Integrations.  (This isn't clear in their online documentation right now.)
• To enable the Turning Technologies Clicker Registration Tool in your Penn Blackboard site, see this short video.

PDF Documents

• Determining the Channel of the Receiver You Have
• Buying a Clicker (to give to your students)
• Setting the Channel on a Clicker (to give to your students)
• Registering your Clicker on Blackboard (to give to your students)
• Running a Polling Test (from the TurningTechnologies manual - to be sure each clicker is working - usually only if you are having trouble)

Other materials to help instructors think about using clickers

• "Questions to Ask Yourself as You Consider Using Clickers", by Catherine Turner (handout from a Clicker seminar), with added suggestions from Paul Heiney
• "Peer Instruction in Large Classes", by Paul Heiney (in the Talk about Teaching column of the Penn Almanac)
• "Clicker Pedagogy Bibliography" on PennTags
• A list of discipline-specific publications about clickers, compiled by Vanderbilt
• Derek Bruff's blog about clickers (which includes amusing student tweets!) 

Version of Clicker software installed on classroom computers

• IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT MACS:  The Mac version of the software requires Administrator-level permissions, which are not usually set for instructors on classroom computers.  If you plan to use clickers on a classroom Mac, please contact us at clickers-help@sas, and we'll get you the permissions that you will need.
• Please see http://www.sas.upenn.edu/computing/teaching_resources/classrooms/software (under "Utilities") for the current versions of TurningPoint software installed in SAS Central Pool Classrooms.  For other buildings, please contact us at clickers-help@sas to be sure the software is installed.
• Notes about the software
  • TurningPoint for PC is a mature, stable release
  • TurningPoint for Mac is not recommended because it ONLY works with MS Office 2004, so TurningPoint Anywhere is suggested for Mac.  BUT even to use that, we will have to give you Admin access to the Mac.