Opinion
DEMASSA & DELGADO | Swapping iClickers for iPhones
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In 1997, physics professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign developed our dear iClickers — the “i” denoting Illinois. It was an instructional triumph, engaging large lecture halls and providing immediate feedback on student comprehension. However, today — 22 years since the iClicker’s conception — the collegiate classroom looks vastly different due to the almost ubiquitous ownership of mobile devices. For reasons financial and pedagogical, Cornell should phase out iClickers in favor of integrated web-based polling apps, namely Poll Everywhere, that come at no cost to students if funded by the University. Students spend up to $50 per new iClicker device at the Cornell Store and a considerable price of around $35 for used ones.