Increase engagement, check student understanding and stimulate discussion.
The use of Student Response Systems has been shown to promote student engagement in class and learning outcomes both inside and outside the classroom. They can be used in large classes to promote active learning by giving students the opportunity to check their knowledge and get real-time feedback. Classroom response activities can be used to trigger discussions and are particularly effective when students are able to engage in peer learning by discussing questions with classmates.
| Top Hat Classroom | iClicker Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Features for Instructors | ||
| Demographics (History & Results) | ✔ | ✔ |
| Create Discussions | ✔ | |
| PowerPoint Integration | ✔ | ✔ |
| Question Bank for Reuse1 | ✔ | |
| Re-grade Questions | ✔ | ✔ |
| Features for Students | ||
| Demographics (History & Results) | ✔ | ✔ |
| Feedback to Teachers2 | ✔ | |
| Multiple Device Compatibility | ✔ | ✔ |
| Upload Images as Answer3 | ||
| Question Types Supported | ||
| Leaderboard (Tournament Mode) | ✔ | |
| Multiple Choice | ✔ | ✔ |
| Open-Ended (Short Answer)4 | ✔ | |
| Select Region (Clickable Images) | ✔ | ✔ |
| Sketch (Draw Input) | ||
| Upvote/Downvote Responses | ✔ | |
| Use Images in Question | ✔ | |
1Question Bank Limitations:
Top Hat Classroom: does not offer a question bank, but allows content to be copied over
2Teacher Feedback Limitations:
iClicker Cloud: there are exit polls, but the responses are not anonymous. Anonymous questions can be asked
3Image Uploads As Answers Limitations:
Top Hat Classroom: for the supported question types students can’t, but for discussions they can
4Open-Ended (Short Answer) Limitations:
Top Hat Classroom: Limited to 1-2 word answers (for auto-grading); does not support long answers
