teaching and learning with qwizdom -...

TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH QWIZDOM What is it? ................................................................................................ 1

Why should I be interested? .................................................................... 1

How can I try it out? ................................................................................ 1

Some ideas for use ................................................................................... 2

Using Qwizdom ........................................................................................ 2

Getting started ......................................................................................... 2

Creating PowerPoint slides .................................................................................... 3

Adding question slides ....................................................................................... 3

Previewing your presentation ............................................................................. 4

Using Qwizdom in lectures .................................................................................... 4

Setting up the equipment ................................................................................... 4

Using the Hub .................................................................................................... 5

Launching the presentation ................................................................................ 5

Using the handsets ............................................................................................ 7

Using the presenter remote ................................................................................ 8

Using Qwizdom to Monitor Student Learning ........................................... 8

Assigning the handsets .......................................................................................... 8

Creating a Participant List ...................................................................................... 9

Requiring a Participant ID .................................................................................... 10

Troubleshooting ..................................................................................... 12

USB Hub ............................................................................................................. 12

Handsets ............................................................................................................. 12

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WHAT IS IT?

The voting system allows you to provide students with small quizzes and tests in lecture or

seminar situations. It allows you to get feedback from students without them having to give

answers verbally in front of their peers. Answers are given though small handsets which

allows the student to keep their responses private.

WHY SHOULD I BE INTERESTED?

It allows you to gauge your students' understanding of concepts and ideas and test how well

they have understood the material you are teaching. This is not easy in large lecture

scenarios where students may be embarrassed about speaking in front of other members of

the class. It also allows you to survey all the students rather than relying on just those who

are willing to talk.

In large lecture classes handsets can be shared between small groups, thus facilitating

discussion in an environment where this is not normally possible.

HOW CAN I TRY IT OUT?

Information Services has four sets of equipment. Each has a carrying case with 26 regular

handsets, two Q5 handsets (with text input), one control hub, and printed documentation.

Staff may borrow several sets, depending on the size of your class.

Also available is a mini-kit, consisting of one control hub, two regular handsets and printed

documentation. It is there to help you design, create and test Qwizdom slides before using

them in a lecture.

Booking is done through IS Media Loan Stock at [email protected]. See the IS Media

Loan Stock page http://www.inf.aber.ac.uk/mediaservices/loans.asp for more booking

details. The Nexus page on Qwizdom will also be of use

http://nexus.aber.ac.uk/xwiki/bin/qwizdom. There are also useful resources at

http://nexus.aber.ac.uk/xwiki/bin/view/Main/resources+voting+systems

We strongly recommend practising with the system before using it with your students, to

ensure that you are familiar with all the functions.

It is likely that you will require extra time to both create the questions and also run the

quizzes. You may wish to allow extra time in your lecture to give the students enough time

to consider their answers and discuss anything arising from the quiz (for example, you may

need to spend time explaining the correct answer if a large number of students have

answered incorrectly).

The Qwizdom initiative was initially funded through the Learning and Teaching Enhancement

Fund.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.inf.aber.ac.uk/mediaservices/loans.asp

http://nexus.aber.ac.uk/xwiki/bin/qwizdom

http://nexus.aber.ac.uk/xwiki/bin/view/Main/resources+voting+systems

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SOME IDEAS FOR USE

Providing quick quizzes throughout the lecture / seminar to test the students' understanding of the concepts discussed

Posing questions, problem sets etc to be discussed in small groups which then report back through the handsets

Collecting feedback on a lecture / module

Providing a test at the end of a unit of work to gauge understanding before moving onto new material

Diagnostic checking of students’ prior knowledge when starting a new topic

USING QWIZDOM

This guide covers the following:

Creating PowerPoint slides for Qwizdom using Actionpoint version 2.6

Using Qwizdom in lectures

A more detailed guide to using Qwizdom is available in the Qwizdom carry-case.

Downloadable guides to Qwizdom and Actionpoint are available from the Qwizdom Web site

at http://www.qwizdom.co.uk/downloads.htm.

We strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself Qwizdom before using it with

students.

GETTING STARTED

For each Qwizdom set that you book, you will be provided with a carrying case containing 26

regular handsets, two Q5 handsets (with text input), one control hub, printed

documentation, and an installation disk for Qwizdom Actionpoint software.

Before you use Qwizdom you will need to have the drivers for the hub and also Actionpoint

software loaded onto your PC. Copies of the software are available from the Data

Preparation Office. A charge of £5 is made to cover the cost of the media and copying – this

allows you to keep the software.

Actionpoint allows you to create PowerPoint slides containing questions for use with

handsets. This enables you to mix question slides with standard PowerPoint information

slides. You can also use Actionpoint with existing presentations. Actionpoint is accessed via

an additional toolbar visible when you open PowerPoint.

http://www.qwizdom.co.uk/downloads.htm

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To install Actionpoint, insert the CD into your computer and run the setup.exe file to install

the software. Detailed installation instructions are contained in both the Actionpoint User

Guide and Actionpoint Quickstart Guide found in the carrying bag.

It is advisable to plug in the hub whilst you are installing the software as this will install the

drivers for the hub at the same time. If you aren’t able to do this, then there is advice on

installing drivers at the end of this document.

Also, if possible untick the option to install the Qwizdom Tools (if you haven’t done this, you

can remove this option – see the advice at the end of this document)

In order to install ActionPoint 2.6 you will need the following configuration:

Microsoft Windows XP (SP2) or Vista or Windows 7

Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 SP2 or later (32bit only)

CREATING POWERPOINT SLIDES

In most cases ActionPoint will load when you open PowerPoint and you will see an

ActionPoint menu as part of PowerPoint.

If this doesn’t happen you will need to click on the Actionpoint shortcut on your desktop or

select Start > All Programs > Qwizdom > Qwizdom Actionpoint Suite > Qwizdom Actionpoint

from the Windows Start menu. On the teaching computers in centrally-timetabled teaching

rooms, select Start >All Programs > Presentation > Qwizdom > Actionpoint, or type

“ActionPoint” in to the search bar of the Start menu.

ADDING QUESTION SLIDES

After installing Actionpoint, you will a new options when you open PowerPoint. Depending

on which version of PowerPoint you use it may appear differently, but in PowerPoint 2010 it

will look like this:

You should have the hub and a handset available when you are creating questions so that

you can preview the presentation and made adjustments as needed. A mini-kit, consisting

of a hub and two controllers, is available for this purpose.

The Actionpoint toolbar can be used with existing presentations or to create new ones. You

can continue to create 'standard' presentation slides using the standard buttons and menu

items in PowerPoint. Question slides can be inserted at any point:

1. Click on the slide immediately before the point you wish to insert a question.

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2. Click on the Insert Slide button on the Actionpoint toolbar to see the list of questions available.

3. Click on the question you wish to add.

4. A new slide containing a heading (which can be altered by typing over it) and the answer options.

5. Next to the first numbered options there will be text. Type your first answer option over this text. IMPORTANT – don't delete or alter the numbering, this will cause problems using Qwizdom.

6. Press Enter and the next answer option will be set up.

7. Select the correct answer option using the Answer dropdown menu.

This will create your question. Repeat this procedure for all the question slides you wish to

add.

PREVIEWING YOUR PRESENTATION

In order to preview your presentation and test that the question slides work properly, you

will need to have the hub plugged into your computer. The first time you install the hub you

may be prompted to download the appropriate drivers. This can be done by specifying the

'drivers' folder in the Actionpoint zip file when prompted to search for them.

You will also need to use the ActionPoint icon on the ActionPoint toolbar (rather than

View > Slideshow or F5). This allows you to test the questions with a handset.

USING QWIZDOM IN LECTURES

SETTING UP THE EQUIPMENT

When you book the Qwizdom system you will be given a carry case of equipment that

contains the handsets and control hub.

The software to control the hub and the handsets and display the presentations to students

is loaded on all teaching machines.

The steps for setting up the equipment must be done in a set sequence:

1. Connect the control hub's USB cable to the teaching PC.

If possible, plug the hub into a USB connection at the back of the computer; these

ports work more quickly than the ones at the front. If it isn't possible to do this, and

there's a Sympodium (smart screen) use the USB connection on the side of this.

1. Log in to the PC. The PC should recognise the hub automatically.

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2. Launch the presentation.

3. Instruct students to turn on the handsets.

USING THE HUB

We have four complete sets of equipment, each with its own hub and distinct session ID.

For a large class, you may use handsets from both sets with one of the hubs, but you will

need to change the session ID on the handsets so that they all work with the same hub. This

can either be done prior to the session or by the students at the start of the lecture.

The number of the hub can be found on a sticker on the underside of the hub. Each carrying

case also has a sheet listing the session ID for that set of equipment.

The session ID can be checked on the handset as follows:

1. Switch on the handset

2. Press the Menu button until it says Search on the screen

3. Press the right arrow button once and the screen will read Sess. ID

4. Press the Send button

5. You will then see the session ID scroll across the screen, followed by the word Change

6. If you wish to change the ID, press the Yes/T button

7. Type in the new session ID and press the Send button

8. The handset should now work with the new hub

LAUNCHING THE PRESENTATION

You must launch the presentation before students turn on their handsets.

To display the presentation containing questions in a lecture, open PowerPoint. You will

then be able to choose the presentation settings in the dialogue box, which has three tabs. A

brief overview is given below. For more detailed instructions for individual settings, see the

Qwizdom Actionpoint documentation in the handset bag.

If you wish to save results to a file, browse to the location where you wish to save the file

and enter a file name. The General tab allows you to indicate whether you wish students to

view feedback on right/wrong answers or not.

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The Login tab allows you to set login options. You should see the host and host session

number, which indicates that the hub is plugged in and working. If you are not requiring the

students to log in (“anonymous”), these options will be greyed out.

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The chart tab allows you to set options for the display of the results chart. You can alter

where it appears by clicking the appropriate layout picture.

Once you have chosen your options, press the OK button and the presentation will appear.

Click the Resume Slide Show button which appears on the screen.

To advance the presentation with the mouse, click somewhere on the centre of the screen.

You can then use the mouse to move between slides.

USING THE HANDSETS

When the students come into the room, they should be given a handset (either each or per

small group depending on the number of students in your class). To switch them on they

should press the Menu button (which has a symbol next to it). The handsets

should register the hub automatically.

If a presentation has not been started, the handsets will display 'Find Net' or 'No Host'. Once

a presentation has been started they should say 'Qwizdom'. If they still display 'Find Host',

they should press the Send button (with a black and white arrow on it) to connect.

When a question slide is displayed on the screen the question options will be sent to the

handsets and the students will see the available answers on the handset screen. Once they

have pressed the appropriate button, they should use the Send button to submit the

answer.

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USING THE PRESENTER REMOTE

Qwizdom Set 1 also contains a tutor handset (presenter remote), which allows you to see

the results of the questions and display them to students. This handset can be used to

control PowerPoint slides and to send out spontaneous questions to students. Like all the

remotes, the tutor handset should be switched on after the presentation has been launched.

USING QWIZDOM TO MONITOR STUDENT LEARNING

The method outlined below allows you to use student IDs with the Qwizdom handsets.

It involves the following steps:

Assigning the handsets

Creating a participant list

Requiring a participant ID

ASSIGNING THE HANDSETS

This only needs to be done once – once it is done, the list is saved to your PC and the

remotes will store their number until you change computers. You will need to have

administrator privileges on the computer.

1. Connect the hub to your computer.

2. Open PowerPoint.

3. Click on the Configuration Settings button.

4. Select the radio button next to Fixed Set.

5. Click on the Assign button.

6. Pull down the arrow next to the Host dropdown menu and select ”Qwizdom HID

Host”. This should then automatically add the Session ID.

7. Click on the Start button and then switch on the remotes by pressing the Menu button (hold it down a few seconds until the remote switches on)

8. They may ask for a session ID – type in the number from the bottom of

the hub and press the Send button (double arrow) on the remote.

9. You should then see all the remotes appear on the screen. Once this has happened click on Stop.

10. Click on OK.

11. Click on OK to quit from the Configuration Settings page.

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This process can be done in advance of the session as long as it is done on the computer

with which you are going to use the remotes and the hub. Alternatively you can do it with

your students at the start of the session.

Until you use a different computer with the hub and handsets, these settings will remain.

The settings will remain even when the hub is unplugged and the handsets switched off.

CREATING A PARTICIPANT LIST

These steps need to be done once in advance of the session. This sets the login numbers the

students will use on the handset. When they enter their ID, the system will automatically

assign them the remote number listed in the Participant List. You may either type the

student names in manually or import a list from an Excel file. To enter student names

manually, do the following steps:

1. Open PowerPoint.

2. Click on Participant Wizard button.

3. Select the radio button next to Create New Participant List and enter a name for the list.

4. Click Next.

5. On the Template Selection screen click on the Next button.

6. On the Participant Field List screen, click on Participant ID item in the available

fields box and click on the button to transfer it to the Selected Field box. (It may already be selected).

7. Do the same thing with First Name and Last Name.

8. Click Next.

9. You should now see an Excel-like spreadsheet. Type in values for Participant ID and student names. Students will use the participant IDs to activate their handsets.

10. The remote ID will be automatically assigned in the spreadsheet.

11. When you have finished, click Finish and save the file to the desired location.

The file will be saved to C:\Program Files\Qwizdom\Qwizdom ActionPoint\Participant Lists

and it will have a .QPL file extension.

If you have more than one group, it would probably be best to create one list that contains

all your students from both groups. For example, the first student on a Tuesday might be 01

and the first student on a Friday might be 33. This will make it easier to read the results as

you won't have more than one student with the same ID.

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Because a participant ID for Q4 remotes can have no more than eight (8) characters, it is not

possible to use the University student ID number.

If you prefer, you may import names for the participant list from a Microsoft Excel file.

Instead of steps 1-12 above, use the following procedure.

1. Download a student list from Astra and create a table in Excel.

2. Assign unique ID numbers to each student.

3. Save the file in .CSV (comma delimited) format.

4. Open PowerPoint.

5. Click on Participant List Management button.

6. Select the radio button next to Import.

7. Click Next.

8. Search for the .CSV file you want to import.

9. Click Open.

10. Match the fields on the left (from the CSV file) to the fields on the right. This maps to participant list fields. (You may need to untick “First record is header” or it will ignore the first record).

11. Click OK when all the fields have been matched.

12. Click Finish and give the file a name.

REQUIRING A PARTICIPANT ID

This needs to be done each time you use the handsets with the students.

1. Connect the hub to your computer

2. Open the PowerPoint presentation you wish to use

3. Click on the Qwizdom icon

4. For “Participant List”, choose “Browse for participant list...”

4. Click on the browse button to locate your participant list.

5. For Save Results, click on the browse button and then browse to a location on your computer to save results and enter a file name. The results will be saved in .QRX format.

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6. On the Login tab, click to tick the box next to Require login by ID.

7. If you wish to display a login screen that will indicate either the name or participant ID of students as they login with their handsets, click to tick the box next to next to Show Login Screen.

8. Untick “Add and Allow Unregistered Participants”

9. Your screen should look something like this:

10. Press OK and the presentation will start.

11. The students can now switch on their remotes.

12. They should see an Enter ID on the screen – they should type in the ID. assigned to them in the participant list and press the Send button.

13. Once this is done they should see Qwizdom on the front of the handset.

14. If you have ticked Show Login Screen, you will see a screen such as the one below:

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The login screen will register students as they switch on their remotes and login. You

can toggle between showing their names or participant IDs. When you are ready to

start the presentation, click the Presentation icon.

The settings laid out above are in addition to any settings you may want to use for your

presentation.

TROUBLESHOOTING

USB HUB

If you are in a teaching room, we recommend the following:

1. Plug in the hub before logging into a teaching computer - this helps the computer

load up the drivers for the hub as part of the log-in process

2. Wherever possible, plug the hub into a USB connection at the back of the computer;

these ports work more quickly than the ones at the front. If it isn't possible to do

this, and there's a Sympodium (smart screen) use the USB connection on the side of

this.

If you intend to use Qwizdom on your own computer or a laptop etc, we recommend that

you plug in the hub while you are installing the ActionPoint software. This should ensure

that the drivers for the hub install correctly.

If you haven’t been able to do this, or you are still experiencing problems with the hub being

recognised by the computer we recommend the following:

1. If you selected to install the Qwizdom tools you may find that this can prevent

Actionpoint or AnswerKey from connecting to the host correctly. To stop this from

happening do the following:

Click Start > All Programs > Startup

Right click and delete "Qwizdom Tools". Confirm the delete if prompted.

Restart your machine.

2. Follow the instructions for installing the drivers at the bottom of

http://www.qwizdom.co.uk/actionpointissues.php

HANDSETS

If the handsets say Access Denied or Denied, the User ID hasn't been entered

correctly.

http://www.qwizdom.co.uk/actionpointissues.php

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If the handsets 'hang' when the ID has been entered and the Send button pressed, the User

ID hasn't been entered correctly.

If the handset reads Find Net, the User ID hasn't been entered correctly.

To re-enter the User ID in any of the cases above:

Q4 remotes (small handset)

Press the Menu key

Use the right arrow button to scroll to User ID

Press the Send button

Press the “Yes” button when the screen reads Change? Re-enter the User ID


Q5 remotes (large handset)

Press the C button

Re-enter the User ID


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