Using BYOD (Bring Your
Own Device) Student
Response Systems to Teach
Statistics
Shane Hutton
Vanderbilt University
Shane Hutton
BYOD Student Response Systems
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Outline
• Introduction to classroom response systems and
BYOD response systems
• Advantages and disadvantages of using a BYOD
response system
• Things to consider when choosing a BYOD response
system
• My experience teaching statistics with a BYOD
response system
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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Classroom Response Systems
• “Clickers” have been used by instructors for many
years to engage students during class
• Clickers allow
• students to answer polling questions posed by the
instructor during lecture
• instructors to collect data on student responses to
improve teaching during class
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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BYOD Response Systems
• BYOD response systems are classroom response
systems that do not use clickers
• These systems allow students to use their personal
devices to answer polling questions
• Many of these systems integrate other features in
addition to polling
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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Advantages
• Students do not have to purchase clickers or
remember to bring them to class
• Students are already familiar with their own
personal devices
• Most (if not all) students have a laptop or
smartphone
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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Disadvantages
• Instructors may not be comfortable allowing
students to use personal devices during class
• Allowing students to use personal devices may be
distracting
• May be burdensome on the wireless network
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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Available BYOD Response Systems
• Poll Everywhere
• TopHat
• Turning
• Learning Catalytics
• Echo360
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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Things to Consider
• Check to see if your institution has a license for a
particular system
• Consider the size of your class
• Poll Everywhere is free for up to 25 responses per poll
but the instructor or institution must pay for over 25
responses
• Poll Everywhere is a good option but other systems
provide
• More features than just polling (e.g., attendance,
discussion forum, gradebook, lecture note annotation)
• An option for students to purchase a license
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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Teaching Statistics with a BYOD
• There are three primary features that I utilize in my
statistics class:
• Polling questions
• Lecture note annotation
• Discussion forum
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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Conclusion
• BYOD student response systems are an alterative to
the traditional clickers
• BYOD student response systems
• Use a student’s personal device to record answers to
polling questions instead of using a clicker
• Typically offer more features than just polling
• Student feedback has been positive
• Students seem to benefit from the interactive
nature of the BYOD response system
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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Thank you!
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BYOD Student Response Systems
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