[school-discuss] Open Source Classroom Response Software "clickers"

["William Bryan Jackson" <bryan.jackson@xxxxxxxx>]

I am a new member with a question and/or a proposal. I 
teach chemistry, computer repair and electronics at a high 
school in Utah. I have recently purchased a classroom 
response system. It is great but costs about $1000 for the 
cheapest systems. Does anyone know of an open source 
initiative to create a system like this? Here is what I 
have done to date.

I am working on a cheap hardware platform to do the same 
thing using modified universal remote controls that can be 
had for $1 to $5 each at wal mart or the dollar store. 
Using off the shelf components you could put together a 
classroom response system for $80-$200, instead of 
$800-$2000 for a comercial sytstem. I have tested 
modifications to various cheap TV remotes and found it to 
be simple and cheap to modify a universal remote to 
perform the function of a student response device. (send a 
unique ID and an answer, then stop transmitting to allow 
others to answer)

The next step is to find or build the receiver, which 
would be a simple infrared receiver connected to the 
computer.
 
The thing I am not able to do is program an application or 
plug-in for the open office presentation program. It is my 
hope to be able to find a group that might have developer 
talent willing to take on that project.

For those of you not familiar with CRS's they are 
basically a way to gather answers from each student during 
a lecture and display a bar chart of how many answered 
what. Each student gets a remote response device which is 
generally an infrared or radio transmitter. They look like 
TV remote controls. A question is asked on the powerpoint 
and each child can transmit their answer to the computer 
through a receiver on the computer. The bar chart is then 
displayed to show how many students are understanding the 
concept. This allows formative assesment to be used during 
a lecture. It is an exciting technology that is catching 
on in high schools and colleges around the country.

Thanks

Bryan Jackson
Springville High School
Springville UT