New teaching with a click

Lecturers and students have embraced new technology. It has opened up to a whole new pedagogy

A can opener for a whole new pedagogy. That is how Senior Adviser Steffen Löfvall describes the new clickers, which have been embraced for real by the lecturers at CBS. The students are now able to cast their vote with one click during a lecture.

Feels the pulse of the ENTIRE class

Together with Helle Zinner Henriksen, Associate Professor from the Department of IT Management, Steffen Löfvall from the Dean's Office, Education, is in charge of a new ICT initiative, which is a part of CBS' strategy to increase the use of Information and Communication Technology in the teaching activities.

- The clickers give rise to students taking a stand and makes it easy for the lecturer to feel the pulse of the entire class. At the same time, the lecturer knows that it is not only the three or four most active students who are being heard, says Steffen Löfvall.

Anonymity can be an advantage

This new tool helps to check that the students have understood the theory by asking them to answer a specific question correctly. They can also be used to find out which part of the syllabus needs most repetition before the exam. 

- Some students find it difficult to raise their hands and say that there are parts of the syllabus that they have not been able to grasp. But it is very important fr the lecturer to know if 80 % of the students are having difficulties grasping the same theory. The clickers provide an anonymity that can be an advantage, says Steffen Löfvall.

The students give something back

Torben Pedersen, Professor, has been using the clickers in his lectures. He is giving lectures in the course International Economics and Business to more than a hundred students per lecture.

- In classes that large, it can be extremetly difficult to initiate a dialogue, but because of the clickers, the students are not just passive listeners. The also have to give something back, and that creates a kind of pseudo-communication. And I will also know if they have understood the concepts, says Torben Pedersen.

He is also using the clickers in smaller classes, for instance during case work. A poll can initiate a good discussion. 

At the moment, 2,000 clickers are being used at CBS. In future, the students will also be able to use similar systems through smartphone applications and sms-services.