Response Technology for Collaborative Learning

Pathfinder Solutions has been using response (a.k.a. polling) technology for conducting research and training for the past several years. We've presented workshops using this highly interactive approach for the Council on Foundations, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, Grantmakers in Aging, Colorado Health Foundation, Telluride Foundation, Kirkpatrick Family Foundation, Volunteers of America, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, NCCC, South Central Council on Governments, Senior Resource Development Agency, and the Parent Child Center of Tulsa, among others.

   

Important Features

¨        Educating adult learners in today’s “fast-paced, entertainment-driven, information-saturated” world presents new challenges

¨        Despite years of education research and pleas for active engagement of adult learners, lectures continue to dominate

¨        Response technology engages learners, improves outcomes, and collects objective data for trainers and managers

¨        Best practices for using response technology have been developed over the past 10 years, worldwide, across a wide range of content areas

¨        For a collection of research results and articles, see: www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/resources/teaching_resources/technology/crs_biblio.htm#business

¨        Success lies not in merely using the technology, but in the educational design – in the delivery of questions and response to results, and combining the technology with use of real life case examples and other collaborative learning methodology such as pair-share activities and group work.

       

 Benefits

¨        Everyone engages in an active mode with each question

¨        Time is given for people to “think” about questions before responding

¨        The methodology emphasizes peer learning

¨        The results displayed are anonymous (responses to various results should be thought through in advance)

¨        People aren’t afraid of being singled out or embarrassed (though participants can be randomly chosen to respond)

¨         Comprehension can be checked throughout the session so that training can be adjusted as needed

¨        People can see how their answer compare to others

¨        The trainer sees real-time unbiased results and learns from and about participants

¨        Data can be segmented to see how various groups responded (e.g., how did people from rural areas respond verses people from urban areas)

¨        Trainers can build scenarios and layer information into questions so that people can see how the graphed results change each time

¨        Questions can be designed to create a “meta-cognitive” experience (i.e., thinking about thinking)

¨        Data collected during the session can be used for evaluation/research purposes.