If you're using clickers in the classroom, here are some resources and tips you may find helpful.

Whether you are new to clickers or a seasoned veteran of our student response system, you may need some help now and then to keep things rolling smoothly. You may also want to think about new ways to use clickers, and see what others are doing. We have some resources to share that will benefit you in all of these situations.


If you want to know more, please read on.


BOLT's new integration with TurningPoint 8 keeps things rolling smoothly in general, but there are still some issues that can pop up from time to time. From student registration to students responding in messaging mode, you may find yourself spending more time resolving issues for students than you expected to.


We have some recommendations that may help.

Recommendations for Using TurningPoint in Class

Have a FIRM registration deadline for your course.

This is very important if you are using clickers for assessment purposes. Set a deadline for students to register their clickers via our clicker registration widget in BOLT. Be clear with the deadline and your expectations. For example, provide information in class and in the syllabus about this deadline and what the deadline means.


Here is an example.


Required Technology for the Course
TurningPoint Clickers
We use TurningPoint polling software in this course during lecture and exams. You are required to purchase and register a clicker by [date]. Clickers are available at our bookstore or online via the Clicker Registration widget in BOLT. You must have purchased and registered your clicker, with a valid subscription, by [date] to accrue points in this class during lecture and to complete exams. If you do not register your clicker by [date], you will lose the lecture points and be unable to complete exams. It is very important that you purchase and register a clicker by [date]. There will not be exceptions to this requirement. If you need to discuss this requirement with me please stop by during my office hours to discuss.

Schedule practice sessions prior to the deadline.

In addition to setting clear expectations about a firm deadline for registration, plan to have several practice polling sessions in class to iron out any registration issues students may have. Students may not register via our link in BOLT, may not purchase a subscription or understood how to input their subscription code, or may not have registered the correct device ID on the back of their device. Having practice sessions prior to your deadline helps you get student registration sorted, lets students know how serious you are about your deadline, and lets students get used to how to respond using their clickers.


If you see unassigned devices in your session reports, make a list of these and post them on a slide before the next class. Tell students to check their devices and if these numbers match their clicker they need to click through the Clicker Registration widget to add their device to their Turning Account. If they had something else previously entered they should not remove it, just add the device.


If you get a notice about students not having a subscription, let the class know to check their Turning Account to make sure they have a valid subscription. If they purchased a clicker from the bookstore, it should have come with a subscription code card. They will need to add this code to Turning Account.


If you see any strange LMS usernames for a student, they probably just need to click through our Clicker Registration widget. When we transitioned to TP Cloud in 2015, Turning Technologies migrated our students to our account with a six digit ID and this may be what you are seeing.


You can also choose to send out notices about these issues via your TurningPoint software or Turning Account. We have information on how to do this at https://bloomuimdc.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/35000086792-how-do-i-email-students-to-let-them-know-to-create-an-account-register-subscribe-

Refresh your course to update student details 

If students have updated their registration and you want to check to make sure it updates their data in your Results Manager, you can manually refresh your course. Here is an article about how to do that: https://bloomuimdc.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/35000086794-how-do-i-update-my-participant-list-

Make sure students aren't responding in messaging mode.

This is another thing you can check with practice sessions. If you notice any students are not accruing points during your practice sessions, but their registration is complete, you may want to check to make sure the student isn't responding in messaging mode.


You can see if students are responding in messaging mode by selecting the session in the Manage tab and clicking the Reports button. Change the drop down at the top right of the page to Session Log. Uncheck everything on the right of the screen to just show messages. This will show you if students are responding in messaging mode.


We now have some help articles and a video on how students should be using clickers to respond in class and how to avoid being in messaging mode.


Here is our article on how to respond in class: https://bloomuimdc.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/35000095565-how-do-i-respond-with-my-clicker-during-class-


Here is our article on how to avoid being in messaging mode: https://bloomuimdc.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/35000095571-how-do-i-make-sure-i-m-not-in-messaging-mode-


You can also disable messaging during your sessions by altering your preferences in the TurningPoint app. Please note that this does not completely disable messaging mode for students' devices, but doesn't allow messages to come through to your session. This means you wouldn't be able to see any messages from students if they do send via messaging mode. Students will get an error message if they try to send a message, though. This may prompt them to try to respond the regular way.


If you want to disable messaging mode, in your TurningPoint dashboard, click the gear icon at the lower right. In the Software tab, deselect "Allow User Messaging". Click Close.

Require a paper back up for exams

Always have a paper back up when using response technology for exam recording. Even if students have perfectly registered and aren't in messaging mode, there can be technical difficulties with network bandwidth, network connectivity, etc. Always have a paper back up for students so their assessment time is not interrupted or made stressful by technical difficulties.

Other Resources for TurningPoint

If you're interested in tips and webinars on TurningPoint and how you can use it in the classroom, you may want to check out https://www.turningtechnologies.com/news-and-events/


Right now there are several webinars scheduled discussing how to use TurningPoint to create in class competitions and make assessments easier.


There are also tips on why anonymous polling can be beneficial in discussing sensitive topics and on allowing mobile devices for polling use.


Finally, there is a case study on exam results from an instructor using polling at https://www.turningtechnologies.com/what-a-difference-a-clicker-makes/