Using Social Networks and Internet Based Audience Response Systems in the Classroom

Technology advances, such as Personal Response Systems (PRS) or clickers, enable live audience polling in the classroom. A recently introduced service allows live audience polling without the use of proprietary clickers. Instead, students send responses via SMS text messaging, social networking tools (Twitter), or a web page. An example of this tool is Poll Everywhere. The purpose of our research is to measure the effects of live audience polling — via mobile phones and social networks — on student learning, student engagement, and course satisfaction. The results indicate that Poll Everywhere is an effective tool to enhance student learning and satisfaction