Comparison of Different Commercial Wireless Keypad Systems

Wireless keypad systems have been in limited use for the past 10 years in the classroom.1,2 Such systems can be used to quiz students in real time during the class, thus engaging students more directly in the lecture.3 Nonetheless, until recently widespread use of such keypad systems has been limited for several reasons. First, the original systems were relatively expensive but perhaps more important was the reluctance on the part of faculty to change the existing passive lecture format.4,5 However, problems associated with large lecture classes6 and the validation of the concept of “interactive engagement” from the high-statistics study of Hake7 has changed the opinions of many. In addition the desirability of peer learning,8 which is enhanced with a response system, has also been accepted. At the present time a number of commercial systems are available. The purpose of this paper is to present a comparison and summary of what is commercially available9 and a reminder that keypads are a dramatically effective teaching and learning tool.