Startup Procedures: First Tasks

Gerald Bergtrom, Ph.D.Learning Technology CenterUniversity of Wisconsin – MilwaukeeOctober 2005

Edited by Tanya Joosten, Alan Aycock, Susan Gifford

This Tutorial covers a series of steps to performbefore starting your TP presentation

Either Express Startup Procedures

• Launch TurningPoint• Students set clicker channel (transmission frequency)• Select a Participant List (class roster).

Or Full Startup Procedures• Launch TurningPoint• Students set clicker channel (transmission frequency)• Close the opening default presentation.• Do a polling test.• Reset your session• Select a Participant List (class roster).

Use full startup procedures if the express procedures fail. If both procedures fail, see applicable trouble shooting tutorials

1. Launch TurningPoint (TP):

Double click the TP icon.

We suggest that you close the default presentation before opening your own TurningPoint presentation.

Running two presentations simultaneously may cause problems during polling.

2. Browse, find and open your presentation.

To do this, students press GO - # - # - GO -1For example press GO-7-3 for channel 73.

The clicker LED will glow red and green during this procedure, glowing green for about 2 seconds at the end.

It’s a good idea to start each class with a slide like the following one:

3. Have students set clicker channel

The classroom channel number is postedon the podium. This number must be seton each clicker at the start of class…

Important Reminder

Please key in the following on your TurningPoint Clickers:

‘GO - 7 - 3 - GO - 1’

This synchronizes channel 73 on your clicker with the same channel on the computer at the front of the room.

4. Load your Participant List (class roster).

See Tutorial 4 for details of this procedure

Select the participant list: click the arrow next to the (auto) indication, highlight and click on the appropriate Participant List…

The selected Participant List appears in the box.

You are ready to begin your TP session; when you poll students, their answers will now be

recorded.

5. It is useful to start each class with an F7 grid check of clicker function.

This is especially useful at the beginning of a semester, until you have confidence that your students know how to set their clicker channel and can recognize a clicker malfunction.

Create a simple interactive (question) slide…

Steps 1- 4 are the express start-up procedures. Include some or all of the following steps for a more thorough or a full start-up.

Click on the grid icon circled on the showbar, or press the F7 key.

As students press any answer, the box with their name will change color, indicating that their clicker is functioning correctly. This test can be repeated with any interactive (question) slide at any time during a session

Reasons why a student’s name won’t change color in an F7 grid check:

Problem: Solution 1. Clicker is malfunctioning because -student forgot to remove battery tabs remove ‘em -student did not set channel correctly re-set channel -clicker is broken exchange at bookstore

2. Student did not register clicker edit the participant list

3. Student registered clicker, but entered edit the participant list an incorrect clicker ID number

6. After a few weeks of F7 grid checks, students will know that their clickers are working. At this point, a quicker way to check if clickers and receiver are communicating is the polling test…

Notes: 1. a polling test puts the onus on students to know when their clickers are malfunctioning, i.e., their responses do not elicit a sustained green glow. 2. Use the F7 grid check before any multi-question quiz or exam.

Click on the lightning

bolt on the TP toolbar

Do a polling test. This test isadvisable at the start of each class to check that clickers and receiver are communicating.

Click on Run Polling Test.

Press any alphanumeric button on a clicker (or have some of your students do this).

Communication between clicker and receiver is confirmed by clicker info appearing in the window, click Finish.

You are returned to your presentation.

If the polling test fails, run the Response Device Wizard from the lightning bolt on the TP toolbar (see Troubleshooting II: All clickers fail tutorial)

…or contact Classroom Support.

7. To reset your presentation (Session), click on reset, then session.

This clears data from a previous presentations of offering of this session, including simulated data you generated when you were preparing or editing the presentation.

The End