Interactive Powerpoint presentations during lecture

In the fall of 2008, the Centre for educational Training and Research (CETAR) of the VU University decided to experiment with ways to increase student-professor interaction. They already had experience with voting machines and were looking to expand their possibilities. One of the possibilities they come across was using Send2vote to make PowerpointTM presentations more interactive.

While using the Send2vote PowerPoint™ toolbar professors discovered it was very easy to use and enhanced the interaction with their students. They used it to find common misconceptions, vote anonymously on provocative hypothesis and to check if the students were ready for their exams.

During the trial period we from Sendsteps and the VU University found several ways to improving our service:

  • Send2vote could not be used where the lecture room did not allow for internet access or network coverage. This will be resolved by creating a 'hotlist' of locations that are fit for the purpose.
  • For optimal performance, teachers should use a maximum of three questions per lecture and spread them out.
  • The response can be improved by using simple keywords and reminding students to store the number in their phones.

After four months the trial period turned out to be succesful and the VU decided on 2 February 2009 to do a university-wide rollout of Send2vote.

After the VU issued a press release on 2 february 2009 a bunch of media attention was given to this new way of lecturing. The result is that a number of universities have already shown interest.

Below are several articles in English and Dutch with respect to SMS and interactive colleges:

English articles:

Dutch Articles:

  • "Eerlijker antwoord door sms’en" by Trouw
  • "VU-studenten antwoorden docent via sms" by Nu.nl
  • "VU maakt PowerPoint-colleges 'interactief' via SMS" by Automatiseringgids.nl
  • "VU maakt colleges interactief" by Surfspace.nl
  • "Discussiëren in collegezaal maakt studenten beter" by NRC Next