Two years ago, Dr. Brian Geislinger, Physics, Physical Science and Astronomy Instructor at Gadsden State Community College in Alabama, wanted to create an online version of his physics course. Previously, the course has been taught in a traditional format using

flipped classroom techniques. Students would watch a set of short videos prior to class, attend a highly-interactive lecture, and then respond to polling questions throughout class so that Dr. Geislinger could gauge their understanding. If it was apparent students were struggling with something, conversation during lecture would shift to cover those inadequacies.

In switching to an online format, Dr. Geislinger hoped to preserve as much of the experience his students had in the traditional format as possible, giving them the best possible experience regardless of format. He wanted his distance learners to feel as much a part of the college as those who physically attended class on campus while not being con-strained to a specific location for class.

Dr. Geislinger began conducting virtual classes during the summer of 2016.

What issues were you hoping to address by introducing iClicker Reef into the online version of your course?Primarily, getting live responses from students within an online lecture was what made me look to clickers for options. I had been using low-tech flashcards in my tra-ditional course to promote more active learning, and clickers eventually became the technological evolution of those. What I knew about clickers initially was that they worked great in classrooms if students were close to the base station to register responses, but I need-ed a way to use clickers without the proximity offered through a traditional format.

The iClicker Reef app transforms students’ cell phones into clickers, enabling them to register answers over a WiFI or cellular connection. There was no need to all be in the same room to log answers to get the level of interactivity I was looking for so that I could respond to issues my students were having instantaneously.

What other tools have you used to facilitate your course?To maintain the theme of accessibility from anywhere that iClicker Reef introduced, I’ve used Google Hang-outs and YouTube Live to webcast and archive lec-tures. Ideally, I’d like to host my lectures on a platform like BlackBoard Collaborate, which requires the ad-ministration to obtain a license, so it can be a slower process. For my immediate need, the combination of live, online lecture and iClicker Reef has been working well and students seem pleased with the format of the online course.

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Using iClicker Reef in an Online Course

How do you maintain engagement during lecture?Firstly, my class is usually only 12-15 students so I’m able to visually monitor which students have joined a webcast versus who might be trying to participate remotely without actively watching lecture content. I then use polling questions within iClicker Reef in or-der to maintain engagement during lecture. Students can respond from anywhere as if they’re all in the same room. I’ve even had a student attend class from as far away as Europe.

The questions I ask using iClicker are typically concep-tual, multiple choice questions, which I keep open for about a minute per question. Although calculations are a major part of the course, I’d rather use my time in class to focus on training students to think conceptual-ly about physics so that when it comes time for them to do calculations, the concepts are already firm in their mind. It also often takes more than a minute for a stu-dent to calculate a response to a numeric question, making them take too long to answer during class.I find this combination of lecture and questions very closely replicates a traditional, live classroom experi-ence for my students which helps them stay engaged.

Have you found any effective strategies for using iClicker Reef to engage online students in an asynchronous format?I have experimented with some asynchronous scenar-ios to create a similar student experience, but haven’t settled on a specific strategy or piece of technology to use. One method, which isn’t totally asynchronous since there is a time constraint, begins with a pre-recorded lecture where I ask questions as I normally would, but don’t provide any answers. On a scheduled day, I open an asynchronous quizzing session in iClicker Cloud and leave it open for an extended period of time, usually for 24 hours. During that time, students watch the lecture while answering the questions in the iClicker Reef app. Once the quiz expires and closes, I review the answers, recording a brief follow-up to share the results with the students and address any misunderstandings that may have arisen.

This format still gives me the ability to alter the flow of my class based on polling question responses. They in-fluence the short, follow-up videos I record in addition to the canned lecture videos.

However, it frees students up to attend virtual classes on their schedule, rather than at a required time. The only drawback here is the format prevents students from working ahead at their own pace since the polling window for each video is open at a specific time. There is also the potential for students to lose their respons-es if their computer crashes or there is a power outage during a quizzing session.

What are you looking to try next in your online course?Although my class size is typically small, allowing me to take visual attendance based upon who I see log into lecture, I want to explore the GPS technology associat-ed with iClicker next. This would take the responsibility for attendance off of me and put it back on the stu-dents as they would be required to “check in” to class.

Gadsden Community College is comprehensive com-munity college comprised of six campuses/centers. It enrolls approximately 7,000 students, from traditional students going to college directly from graduating high school to military veterans to first-generation students to other non-traditional students.

Using iClicker Reef in an Online Course

iClicker Reef in ActionDr. Geislinger captured this split screen view from one of his course sessions. The left screen is what the students see. The right side shows Dr. Geislinger ‘s screen as he manages the course session.