At the end of the training or sometime later, you give your audience an assessment. They fill it out, give it back to you, and you take all the assessments and tabulate them. Because none of this information is of any use until after the fact, it makes life even more of a challenge when you want to design more complex trainings!

For example, when you conduct multiple sessions in one day, each connected to and building on the one before it, you truly don’t know if those you’ve trained are prepared for each successive session. Of course, if they’re as prepared as you want them to be, you know their minds won’t shut off during later sessions. They’ll be eager for and engaged in each successive session. And at the conclusion of the training they’ll realize the cumulative effect you’ve intended.

Assessment Technologies gives workplace trainers TurningPoint to gather attendee information while a training session is taking place:

1. We teach you how to use our software specifically designed to set up and transmit the assessment, evaluation, poll, or other content to those you are training. If you are a PowerPoint user, then 85% of the learning curve is done!
2. We provide you a Plug-n-Play RF USB receiver that allows you and your audience to transmit content within a 200 foot radius. You won’t need to string cables around, and you won’t need an Internet connection.
3. We provide you credit card size RF ResponseCard keypads that you will give to each person you are training, and they will use them to transmit information back to your laptop or desktop computer.  And when they transmit it, it comes to you right away—automatically tabulated with all the information that’s been transmitted already (whether it is responses to an evaluation or assessment or answers to a poll or survey) and is immediately displayed on the screen for all to see.  Nothing reinforces learning like seeing the correct or incorrect answer from an immediate reply.

So you’re able to:
1. In the moment, gauge what’s being absorbed and what isn’t and make adjustments as you see fit; and
2. Improve the short and long retention of the training curricula you’ve worked hard to develop!

• how to import data from DASL to TurningPoint to create a participant list
• how to export session data for Progress Book
• how to import session data into Progress Book

You do need a scheme for all of this to work so contact your sales representative and he or she will email it to you.

Progress Book1 – DASL – participant list

Progress Book2 – running a session and preparing for PB 

Progress Book3 – importing into PB

A wireless audience response system offers many important benefits unattainable through traditional presentation methods.

Improves attentiveness

Meeting participants are more likely to remain attentive if they are engaged in the presentation. Assessment Technologies’ TurningPoint keeps them interested in what you’re presenting them.

Increases retention of information

Only a minuscule amount of information will be retained via passive learning methods. Audience response systems foster an active learning environment, which leads to an increased retention of the material presented.

Offers anonymous polling

Inevitably, some people will not want to publicly] share their opinions. Audience response systems make anonymous be involved in the meeting.

Enables tracking capabilities to gather individual data

Although participants can respond to questions anonymously, meeting facilitators have the option to gather data based on unique IDs assigned to each keypad (and therefore each participant). This feature makes it easy to use audience response systems for testing, training and assessment.

Sums and displays data immediately

Instantaneous data collection and presentation make your meetings more interesting as participants can gain immediate insight into your presentation topics based on aggregated feedback.

Speeds up decision making

Instant access to polling data also makes decision-making quicker. No need to wait for data analysts to run the numbers and make the graphs – the audience response software does it for you on the fly.

Emphasizes participant ownership of group decisions

Because everyone takes part in voting, they can gain consensus and feel confident in decisions reached by the group.

Creates an interactive and fun learning environment

Did you know that Assessment Technologies’ TurningPoint audience response system is able to run game shows?

Gathers data for reporting and analysis

In addition to the immediate graphical data generated, more specific data can be collected on the back-end, which can then be exported to a variety of data analysis tools for further study.

Confirms participant understanding of main points immediately

Instant display of data means you can see instantaneously whether or not participants understand the material presented. If they do, you can move ahead confidently. If they don’t, you can spend more time covering those topics.

TurningPoint is an excellent tool for formative assessment.  You can use the released OAT/OGT questions already created for you or you can use other resources with your TurningPoint AnyWhere software.  Click on this link to see some resources that are perfect for this tool:  http://delicious.com/donnajackson/Anywhere .

What resources have you found to be most effective?  Please post a comment and share it with us.

WVIZ has partnered with Assessment Technologies to help ensure that teachers know how to use the technology tools that they can purchase from Asssesment Technologies.  Opportunites currently offered are:

Achieving With Your Student Response System – Online course This course will help teachers use TurningPoint student response systems to make data driven decisions that will improve students’ academic performance. It is intended to provide in depth training to educators who are using TurningPoint in an effort to affect standardized test scores. Participants will share lessons, and ideas with each other. Participants will create short cycle assessments aligned to state standards and ready to use at their buildings.   Fee:  $120 (Graduate Credit is available).  This course begins January 27, 2010.

Interactive Student Response Systems Easily conduct multiple assessments, track student learning, and engage your entire class with a TurningPoint student response system. With this cutting edge student response technology, teachers can create interactive PowerPoint® presentations that collect real-time responses from students, and quickly assess students’ achievement toward state standards. Date: This workshop is scheduled by request.  Please contact Eric Siler, eric.siler@ideastream.org, 216-916-6358, to arrange a training date and time. Cost: $1,500 (includes a class set of 24 response systems) or $1,739 (includes a class set of 32 response systems).  All purchases include (1) three hour training session for three participants, $100 for each additional participant.

Mimio Interactive Create a dynamic, inexpensive, interactive work surface with mimio® interactive. It uses a small piece of hardware to convert any whiteboard into a fully interactive one. It is easy to use, easy to install, light weight and easy to share on a technology cart in every classroom. With the mimio bar, your computer, and your LCD projector you can convert a standard whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard! Everything on your computer is now accessible from your whiteboard! What an inexpensive solution to having an interactive board! Date: This workshop is scheduled by request.  Please contact Eric Siler, eric.siler@ideastream.org, 216-916-6358, to arrange a training date and time. Cost: $1,100 (includes one mimio interactive bar and wireless device and training for (1) three hour training session for three participants) $100 for each additional participant.

AVerVision Document Camera Do away with the static overhead transparencies and turn your students on with digital image technology.  Research shows that stimulating visual displays are easily grasped, retained and absorbed by students. Receive a lightweight and easily transportable AVerVision CP300 and learn how to use it as an effective teaching tool by providing exciting visual technology presentations.  Be on your way to improving attention, retention, and test scores. Date: This workshop is scheduled by request.  Please contact Eric Siler, eric.siler@ideastream.org, 216-916-6358, to arrange a training date and time. Cost: $950 (includes one AVerVision CP300 and training for two participants) or $1,800 (includes two AVerVision CP300s and training for four participants) Please add $100 for each additional participant.

Elmo Document Camera  Do away with the static overhead transparencies and turn your students on with digital image technology. Research shows that stimulating visual displays are easily grasped, retained and absorbed by students. Receive a lightweight and easily transportable ELMO TT-O2s Document Camera and learn how to use it as an effective teaching tool with exciting visual technology presentations. Be on your way to improving attention, retention, and test scores.DATE This workshop is done by request.  Contact Eric Siler, eric.siler@ideastream.org, 216-916-6358, to arrange a training date and time. COST $950 (includes one Elmo TT-02s Document Camera and training for two participants) or $1,800 (includes two Elmo TT-02s Document Cameras and training for four participants) Please add $100
for each additional participant.