Classroom polling use

I write this from my iPad on a ZAGGmate keyboard. This is not an ad for the company, but I can tell you that it raises the level of use for the iPad immensely. I am hoping I can test it with my students in the fall. It is a Bluetooth keyboard that also functions as a case. I can type much faster yet not have to cart around a cumbersome keyboard in a backpack. My students who opted to check out the keyboards that we purchased with iPads loved them. However, I could see my students across the campus by spotting the familiar keyboard sticking out of their backpacks. Lest you think this is the ultimate solution, the keyboard is only the length of the iPad and because it also acts as a case, it has a small ridge below the spacebar that sometimes gets in the way.

Now to the main focus of this post: I have begun to use the iPads in my classroom to function as "Clickers." Sure you can have them use cell phones to do that, but my students love watching the poll responses through their iPads instead of passively watching the screen as I, the instructor, decide when I will show responses. It is much more interactive and costs nothing.

The use goes beyond the clicker experience. After they have voted, we discuss their immediate responses. Then I ask them to research the topic on their iPads. We take another poll and discuss why they voted the same way or changed their votes. It becomes very lively as they, after responding to the second poll, not only tell why they "feel" the way they do but they back up their thoughts with their research and facts they discovered. It really teaches critical thinking skills to my future reporters who will spend much of their careers interpreting/analyzing the news for readers.