Apr
2013
Classroom Response System CRS or clickers: questions to vendors
Good evening,
We are pleased to inform you that your classroom response system is chosen as final candidate for campus-wide adoption/support at St. Cloud State University. Should you be interested in pursuing this opportunity, we invite you to respond to the attached list of questions and to prepare a brief presentation for members of the selection committee and interested faculty/staff.
The deadline for responding to the questions is 12:00 pm (CST), Tuesday, April 9. This deadline will allow us to review the responses in time for the vendor presentations on Thursday, April 11, 11AM-1PM. The presentations will be held virtually via Adobe Connect: http://media4.stcloudstate.edu/scsu. Please let us know, if you need to test and familiarize yourself with the presentation platform.
The presentation should be no more than 10 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes for follow-up questions. We suggest that you focus on the highlights of your system, presuming a moderately knowledgeable audience. We may follow up via email or telephone call prior to making our final selection.
Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Classroom Response System Taskforce:
Dr. Anthony Hansen
Dr. Michael Rentz
Dr. Joseph Melcher
Dr. Andrew Anda
Dr. Tracy Ore
Dr. Jack McKenna
Dr. Plamen Miltenoff
| Questions to vendor |
| 1. Is your system proprietary as far as the handheld device and the operating system software? |
| 2. Describe the scalability of your system, from small classes (20-30) to large auditorium classes. (500+). |
| 3. Is your system receiver/transmitter based, wi-fi based, or other? |
| 4. What is the usual process for students to register a “CRS”(or other device) for a course? List all of the possible ways a student could register their device. Could a campus offer this service rather than through your system? If so, how? |
| 5. Once a “CRS” is purchased can it be used for as long as the student is enrolled in classes? Could “CRS” purchases be made available through the campus bookstore? Once a student purchases a “clicker” are they able to transfer ownership when finished with it? |
| 6. Will your operating software integrate with other standard database formats? If so, list which ones. |
| 7. Describe the support levels you provide. If you offer maintenance agreements, describe what is covered. |
| 8. What is your company’s history in providing this type of technology? Provide a list of higher education clients. |
| 9. What measures does your company take to insure student data privacy? Is your system in compliance with FERPA and the Minnesota Data Practices Act? (https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=13&view=chapter) |
| 10. What personal data does your company collect on students and for what purpose? Is it shared or sold to others? How is it protected? |
| 11. Do any of your business partners collect personal information about students that use your technology? |
| 12. With what formats can test/quiz questions be imported/exported? |
| 13. List compatible operating systems (e.g., Windows, Macintosh, Palm, Android)? |
| 14. What are the total costs to students including device costs and periodic or one-time operation costs |
| 15. Describe your costs to the institution. |
| 16. Describe how your software integrates with PowerPoint or other presentation systems. |
| 17. State your level of integration with Desire2Learn (D2L)?
Does the integration require a server or other additional equipment the campus must purchase? |
| 18. How does your company address disability accommodation for your product? |
| 19. Does your software limit the number of answers per question in tests or quizzes? If so, what is the max question limit? |
| 20. Does your software provide for integrating multimedia files? If so, list the file format types supported. |
| 21. What has been your historic schedule for software releases and what pricing mechanism do you make available to your clients for upgrading? |
| 22. Describe your “CRS”(s). |
| 23. If applicable, what is the average life span of a battery in your device and what battery type does it take? |
| 24. Does your system automatically save upon shutdown? |
| 25. What is your company’s projection/vision for this technology in the near and far term. |
| 26. Does any of your software/apps require administrator permission to install? |
| 27. If your system is radio frequency based, what frequency spectrum does it operate in? If the system operate in the 2.4-2.5 ghz. spectrum, have you tested to insure that smart phones, wireless tablet’s and laptops and 2.4 ghz. wireless phones do not affect your system? If so, what are the results of those tests? |
| 28. What impact to the wireless network does the solution have? |
| 29. Can the audience response system be used spontaneously for polling? |
| 30. Can quiz questions and response distributions be imported and exported from and to plaintext or a portable format? (motivated by assessment & accreditation requirements). |
| 31. Is there a requirement that a portion of the course grade be based on the audience response system? |
—————-
Plamen Miltenoff, Ph.D., MLIS
Professor
204-J James W. Miller Center
Learning Resources and Technology Services
720 Fourth Avenue South
St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498
320-308-3072
http://web.stcloudstate.edu/pmiltenoff/faculty/
“I am not strange, I am just not normal.” Salvador Dali
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