Why use clicker technology, you ask? Well, maybe you've noticed that kids today are different than they were 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. We are now educating the "Net Generation", those kids born in the 1980's and later, and the fact is...we have come a long way from "The Oregon Trail" computer game we used to play in school on our Apple IIe!

Technology has become the vital tool that teachers need to engage, motivate, and relate to today's Net Generation learners in the classroom or training environment.

One of my favorite educational technology articles is by Marc Prensky and can be found at his site. The article is titled, Engage Me or Enrage Me: What Today's Learners Demand.

In this article, Marc Prensky refers to three different groups of students in our schools today - those who are truly self-motivated, those who are merely going through the motions, and those who "tune us out."

We happen to have a very bright 9-year-old in our house who belongs to the latter of the three groups, a child who from Day One exhibited all of the classic characteristics of a gifted child. He soaked things up like a sponge and was reading chapter books before he went to kindergarten. In kindergarten, he taught himself all the 50 states and capitals with his LeapPad, and he read the first book of the Harry Potter series in first grade. An avid computer user, he loved playing Jump Start 3rd Grade when he was in kindergarten.

However, by the middle of second grade, going to school had become more than a chore. Another day in "a worksheet snowstorm" was more than he could tolerate. He was not being engaged; he was being enraged!

A comment from Listen to the Natives, another article by Marc Prensky, caught my eye recently. He wrote, "Our kids do know what engagement is: Outside school, they are fully engaged by their 21st century digital lives."

But...how does this engagement transition over to our schools?

Are our students being engaged in the regular day-to-day activities of the classroom?

Are students being motivated to participate every day of the week?

Clickers and the Net Generation

Our Net Generation page contains several articles describing the Net Generation and some additional sites to give you a springboard on just how different this new generation is. Spend a little time here, and you will see that we cannot possibly teach this generation in the same way that we have taught past generations. You've heard it said, "Insanity is doing things the same way and expecting different results." And so it is...

Learners of this generation MUST be engaged, and that is what clickers do best! When using clicker technology, every student has a say when a question is asked. Outspoken students don't dominate class opinions, and shy students are given a voice. Students can also answer and voice their opinion behind a cloak of anonymity.

Clicker technology, very similar to the familiar feel of a remote control in their hands, is comfortable and fun for the Net Generation. They instinctively know how this "gadget" works, and it makes learning fun.

Does Research Prove Clickers To Be Effective?

We are really still on the early side of the "clicker epidemic." Believe it or not, there are still teachers who have never been introduced to clicker technology and certainly haven't used these tools in their classrooms. Therefore, research asserting to the usefulness of these tools is still coming in.

However, we have put together several links to various clicker research articles and invite you to check them out. We hope you will see that clicker technology is not a trend or a fad, but a true instructional technology piece that can change the way you teach.

We also hope that you will read our success stories and listen to true stories from real teachers and real administrators. There is nothing more inspiring to hear from the very people that are using this technology in their own classrooms.

To make a long story short, there are a myriad of reasons why you should be using clicker technology in your classroom. We hope you'll find them woven in and out of the pages of this site and try out clickers for yourself!