 "Photo: Samantha Weintraub")
Communication professor Ralph Begleiter does not mind if students use their cell phones during class. In fact, he encourages it.
Begleiter has introduced a Web tool into his Introduction to Journalism course (JOUR 301) that makes use of cell phone text messages. The Web technology, called Poll Everywhere, works much like the clicker, he said, allowing students to text in their responses to a question posted on an overhead projector, and see their answers appear on screen.
Begleiter is the only professor at the university to experiment with the surveying tool in a three-month trial subscription ending in December. However, all university administrators are welcome to try it out.
The subscription began approximately two weeks into the semester, Begleiter said, which may be the reason why other professors did not include it into their curriculum.
“The university has a bunch of IT techs that looked into the technology and approached me,” he said.
Begleiter said he is always willing to try out a new technology tool. He said his class responded positively to Poll Everywhere, and he will continue to include it into select class discussions.
Besides engaging class interest, he said the tool also increases student’s knowledge of multimedia technology.
“Frankly, every student graduating from a university as good as Delaware should have some fluency in multimedia technology no matter what field they are in,” Begleiter said.
He said utilizing media tools sets an example for his students and increases their involvement in class.
Junior Katherine DiMaggio, a student in Begleiter’s class, said she thinks Poll Everywhere is not only an intriguing product, but is also a good idea because it deters students from texting their friends during class time.
“It occupies their time with their cells so they can’t text,” DiMaggio said.
She said not having to pay for a clicker is also a great benefit.
“Clickers are expensive,” DiMaggio said. “Practically everyone has a phone.”
Unlike the clicker, which costs approximately $50, the Poll Everywhere classroom response system is free for students, granted they have text messaging included in their cell phone plan, Begleiter said.
Begleiter said he does not make Poll Everywhere participation mandatory in case students do not have unlimited text messaging. However, he said based on the class participation, he assumes most students do have it.
According to its Web site, Poll Everywhere’s cost ranges from free for one account user with an audience of participants not exceeding 30 to $1,400 a month for 50 account users with an audience of up to 20,000 participants.
The free option is not an ideal option for the entire university because only one professor can be a user and the class cannot have more than 30 students enrolled in it, Begleiter said.
He said if the program catches on, the university will most likely increase its subscription and offer the technology to other interested instructors.
Rebecca Krylow, a Residence Life complex coordinator teaching a public speaking course at the university this semester, is using the free version of Poll Everywhere with her students.
She said she learned about the texting tool through a fellow Residence Life complex coordinator who proposed using it as part of Resident Life’s summer training program.
Krylow said she incorporated it into her class of approximately 20 students after seeing how well-received it was in training. She said she asked her students on the first day what they wanted to get out of the course using the texting survey tool, and their answer appeared overhead.
Krylow said both she and her students have benefited from the tool.
“I took notes on the students’ responses so I can try to meet their needs throughout the course, and they got to see what other students wanted to draw from it,” she said.
Krylow said as long as professors use the tool in moderation, she sees it as fostering class participation.
Like Beglieter, Krylow said if any of her students choose not to participate, they will not be penalized.
“They can only benefit from it,” she said.
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ronald.knight@sjsd.k12.mo.us