Bryan
On Wed, 5 Sep 2007 17:55:23 -0600 (CST)
Les Richardson <les@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Bryan,
This shouldn't be too hard. The issue will be the drivers to make the
hardware talk to software. The software part is easy.
Any ideas about that? (the drivers) I assume that the receiver would be a
USB plugin device interface...?
Les Richardson
Open Admin for Schools
On Wed, 5 Sep 2007, William Bryan Jackson wrote:
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