I wonder in the age of readily available information if it’s worth spending valuable instructional time memorizing “facts.” If so many details are available on Google, should we just move on? Case in point: Google Earth, a free program, presents current, high resolution satellite images of the entire world. Why should we have globes with names of countries that are out of date? And, with Google Earth, you can “write” notes on the earth and easily share those notes in the form of .kmz files. If a classic question of the twentieth century is “What’s the capitol of Colorado?” perhaps the classic question of the twenty –first century is “Using satellite imagery, determine why Denver makes a suitable capitol for Colorado.” Which question do you think will lead to higher order thinking?

Clickers are one of the fastest growing technologies in our schools; they're spreading from primary grades through grade twelve.  We have seen them used to do book reviews, to assess prior learning, to determine prior knowledge, and to have a good, old-fashioned debate.  Yet some folks are still wondering about the value of clickers in the classroom.  My point is this: clickers are as good as the questions they are designed to respond to.  With that in mind, please give use some feedback on how you use, or plan to use, clickers in the classroom.

Some resources for your perusal: