Evaluation of an Audience Response System for the Continuing Education of Health Professionals

There is no other field of study where Continuing Education is as important as the field of medical science. With new developments taking place year round healthcare professionals need to stay updated with the latest developments in the field of medicine, surgical procedures and technology. Modern medicine is constantly evolving and anybody associated with the industry has to stay abreast about the challenges that present from time to time. Around the world there has been a holistic approach to training professionals about these new advancements and refresher courses are almost a norm. The ways in which these courses are delivered have changed over time to improve knowledge retention levels among the participants.

One of these significant changes has been the adoption of Audience Response Systems in the classroom. In fact this has brought about paradigm shift in the way these Continuing Education programs are conducted and technology has brought in all-round improvement to the course programs. How have these systems benefitted the courses and the students? Detailed studies have been conducted on the impact of using these systems during short-term courses for health professionals. Here let us summarize some of benefits that have emerged during evaluation of these systems in Continuing Education for healthcare professionals –

Making Lessons Interactive
Studies have found that among the benefits of these system is the fact that it makes classrooms more interactive. When a trainer constantly seeks opinions and the views of his/her students there is increased interactivity in the classroom. As you know interactions fuel the innovative thought process and improve the reasoning power of the trainees which lead to increased knowledge retention. In the field of medicine, information retention is one of the must have traits that every professional needs to possess to navigate the challenges of everyday job. Professionals both at the individual level and as part of the group are tasked with understanding the problems and challenges and based on this understanding they have to come up with solutions to these problems. With such high levels of interactivity the course program also becomes interesting for the students and this improves the final output of the program.

Promotes Discussions & Peer Learning
As you may already know in higher education group discussions peer learning plays a very important role. In fact in Continuing Education, peer learning is more important than classroom lectures. Audience Response Systems are known to promote both Peer Learning and Group Discussions. In such classrooms trainees tend to learn more as their doubts and queries get clarified when there is active discussion on a subject and they hear examples and strong arguments from others. Since healthcare professionals come to classroom with varied experiences having dealt with unique cases in their career there is wider sharing of knowledge which helps everybody in the classroom. These systems can be used by trainers to create conducive environment for group discussion among the health professionals. At important junctures during the classroom sessions, trainers can throw open new discussions and debates that improve learning.

Higher Attention Levels
The success of any training program often rests on the attention levels of the participants. When attention levels are high knowledge retention also goes up. In the past trainers and instructors would have to rely solely on their own skills to improve attention levels among their students but Audience Response Systems have immensely benefitted the trainers as well as trainees in today’s classroom environments. In fact the same sets of trainees have reported higher levels of attention when these systems are added to the classrooms in comparison to previous training programs where these systems weren’t used. Since these systems can easily be integrated with your presentation software or Learning Management Systems it adds lots of visually attractive elements to the course which makes it more engaging for all the trainees who are part of the program.

Assess Performance of Students
Audience Response Systems can be used to assess the performance of the trainees on daily basis. Whether the knowledge of the trainees needs to be measured or their active participation in the training gauged these systems completely redefine the assessment process. It is a fair and unbiased tool when it comes to such assessment. In most Continuing Education programs these assessments are conducted in three phases – Pre-Class Assessment, Classroom Assessment and Post-Class Assessment. Each of these helps in refinement of what is being taught in the classroom and the level of knowledge retention among the trainees.

The potential benefits of using Audience Response System in Continuing Education for healthcare professionals are immense. Around the world they are being widely used across the board and over the years these systems have also undergone continuous improvement and kept up with the other developments that are taking place in training industry.

How Does a City Council Voting System Work?

Roll-call votes and ballot votes have had their fair share of fame in city council elections around the world. But in an era where it is possible to communicate with a person in another part of the world via video or find driving directions in the remotest corner of the globe ballot and roll-call votes sound primitive. In the electronic age it is no surprise that many city councils are switching over to electronic voting. City council voting systems have added a new touch to the whole election process making it fast and simple. The benefits are immense and city councils are fast adopting this system.

How Does The System Work?
There are two important elements in this voting system. First is the hardware which can be a voter’s smartphone or audience response handsets that are provided by the city councils. The voting happens on secured and encrypted software that allows the voters to choose the candidate they wish to vote or abstain from the voting process. The candidates can also make use of the software’s inbuilt feature for their campaigns. The polling process can be timed to ensure no votes are cast before or after the scheduled close of polls and once the poll closes the votes are counted automatically and the results can be declared within minutes.

The city council voting system automatically takes the roll call or attendance, records all the votes instantly and does away with the ambiguity that were involved in the traditional voting process. They can also increase participation in council polls by allowing voters to cast their votes remotely without having to be physically present at the voting centers. This state-of-the-art system has helped city council voting system bring down their polling costs substantially.

Advantages of City Council Voting Systems

Fair System
Traditional city council voting process had their flaws and it was near impossible to achieve 100% transparency in the election process. The new system makes the process fair as every single vote can be accounted for and there is no question of ambiguity in the election process or the results.

It Saves Time
Having witnessed ballot-paper based voting we all know how time consuming the entire process is. From printing the ballot papers to standing in queue to cast votes and the laborious counting of votes the traditional system of polls had its bottlenecks. This has been done away with the new system that not only cuts down the timeframe but makes each of the individual processes smoother.

One System May Application
The system benefits city councils in multiple ways. Apart from helping in the conduct of free and fair polls this system can also be applied to reach consensus fast or pass parliamentary motions. Whether it is a change in the byelaw under its jurisdiction or passing an important amendment the system can be put to place for smoother functioning of the city councils.

These advantages have propelled more city councils to adopt these electronic voting systems and enjoy the many benefits that they offer.

Electronic Voting Equipment – How They Have Changed Elections

Voting and Elections are an integral part of today’s society. While they are part and parcel of life in democracies they are commonly found in every country and throughout most political systems. From selecting student senates and local councils to choosing the national government, voting empowers the electorates. Traditional paper-based voting has long been the standard but while it has stood the test of time advances in technology are quickly rendering it obsolete. Electronic voting is fast gaining popularity around the world and everyone from local governments to student bodies seems to prefer it over traditional voting systems.

The popularity of electronic voting equipment is being driven by the fact that automated solutions do away with many of the ills and shortcomings of paper ballot-based elections. Those organizing elections have been able to bring down election costs substantially as multi-day elections are quickly reduced to a single day. In this piece we look at some of the major changes that electronic voting equipment have brought to modern elections and why they seem to be on track to replace ballot-based elections completely.

They Are Fast & Speedy
Speed is one of the primary reasons most organizations are advocating for the use of electronic voting equipment in all levels of elections. It is possible to conduct motions or votes within minutes if election organizers have access to electronic voting systems. There isn’t any need to print ballots or arrange for ballot boxes as all votes are submitted electronically. Vote tabulation is automatic and instantaneous so no need to count ballots or tally pieces of paper. Voting tools can be used to collect votes for motions, elections, and even for opinion polling. Voting systems are a great tool as they are easy to set up, simple to use, and quick to tabulate and display results.

They Are Audit able
One of the biggest downsides of ballot-based voting are inaccuracies. Votes are commonly tallied incorrectly. Manual counting is prone to user error and the choice of a voter can be ambiguous based on how the vote was written. Additionally, if ballots aren’t secure one or many voters can “Stuff the ballot box” and place multiple votes for a single candidate. With Electronic Voting systems vote tabulation is automated so the vote count is always correct. Vote selection is simple as a user needs only to press a single button. This vote simplification removes the inaccuracies generated by handwriting, check boxes, or bubble completion. Finally, each voting device allows only a single vote per candidate, so it is impossible to “Stuff the Ballot Box”

They Have Increased Participation
The success of any election be it local or federal ultimately rests on participation. Lower participation doesn’t give quite the same mandate to those winning the elections as is the case with larger turnouts. Electronic voting generally increases participation as voters are excited to use an innovative technology. Additionally, since voting is simpler more people complete the voting process which lead to higher vote counts and more participation.

Summary – Electronic voting equipment has changed the face of elections wherever it has been used in this article we take a look at some of the changes they have brought to this process.

4 Things to Look Out For In Audience Response Tools

Audience Response Tools have come to the aid of educators, trainers and presenters making presentations lot more interactive and engaging. But if you are searching for these tools on the Internet it is not the easiest of tasks. There are dozens of tools available that come with different features and functionalities and this can only add to your dilemma. The ideal way to go about this job would be to zero in on important features in these tools. Here are four things that you should look out for in audience response tools.

1. Plug & Play Set Up – You should always start by choosing audience response tools that come with Plug & Play setup. This will save you from the nerve wrecking process of having to configure a tool to be able to record audience response and use other features. Once you pay for these tools you ready to use them.

2. Customizable Features – No tool in this world can meet the needs of every client. You may want to implement the response system in a unique way and the tool you choose should come with the option to customize the look and functionalities. This ensures that the tool can meet your changing requirements.

3. Fixed Fee Tools – Subscription based response tools often lure clients with low rates. While this may seem attractive as you go along you will have to constantly pay for your usage. Fixed fee tools on the other hand charge you upfront and you have the freedom to use them as long as you want without having to worry about the spiraling cost.

4. Support & Training – The tools you buy may be used by different trainers in your team. This is where it becomes important to choose tools that come along with lifetime support and training. Here the service providers would train your team members in the use of these tools and how to use the advanced functionalities to get the best out of them.

When you keep these things in mind you will be able to choose the right audience response tools that will serve your need.

4 Reasons You Need to Incorporate Live Audience Voting In Your Sessions Today

You may have heard about live audience voting tools but never really cared to use them. Whether you are organizing a corporate session or planning a new course or training, these tools have become must-haves in all scenarios. Let us share with you four reasons why you must incorporate live audience voting in your sessions today.

1. Real-time Polls – The first and the most obvious advantage of using an interactive voting system is the fact that it allows you to conduct real-time polls. Whether it’s passing a new resolution or voting to choose the next executive members of your organization, you don’t need to undertake the time intensive methods of using ballot boxes. The results of the poll outcome can be declared instantly much to the advantage of everyone involved in the process.

2. Make Learning Interactive – With the help of voting systems you can turn your learning sessions into interactive two – way dialogues. As your audience can communicate using clickers or internet connected mobile devices the standard didactic lecture becomes a live discussion. This is a great advantage over the traditional ways where participants simply listen to a presentation, take notes and occasionally raise their hand with questions.

3. Improve Attendee Engagement – Whether you are running a corporate training session or holding discussions with your shareholders you always need to focus on improving attendee engagement. And what better way to achieve this than using a Provote system where your attendees would have the opportunity of polling on their opinions or views on every major part of the session. This not only improves your data collection but also helps increase their knowledge retention of the content.

4. Improved ROI – Each of these benefits that we have mentioned above helps in improving your ROI in terms of initiating a training program or meeting the stakeholders in your organization. You will have quantitative as well as qualitative data in your hand immediately and this helps in informed decision making the goes a long way in improving ROI.

Now that you know the incentives of having live audience voting in your sessions you should choose a tool that can easily be tailored to meet your needs and promises you complete value for money.

Summary – In this write-up we discuss four reasons why you must incorporate live audience voting in your sessions and the advantages they bring to the table.

How Data Analytics Reporting Tools Betters Your Presentations

How to improve presentations? This is one question that crosses the mind of every educator, corporate trainer and big audience speaker, more so in a tech savvy world. Your presentations have to be attractive, informative and engaging for you to be recognized as a powerful speaker. A decade back having a PowerPoint presentation running was considered cutting-edge; today it is more of a norm. Audience response systems have today become the differentiator between ordinary presentations and powerful ones. But you shouldn’t choose just any audience response system but one that comes embedded with data analytics and reporting tools. Here is how these tools help in improving your presentations.

Know Who Is in Attendance – When you conduct multiple sessions or deal with a large audience it can be an enormous challenge to know who attended your sessions or how many sessions each participant attended in a long drawn training program. This information is made available to you at the click of a button.

Response Comparing Ability – Most educators and trainers like to compare responses from their audience before and after the presentation. This allows them to gauge knowledge retention and if the presentation has been able to make its point. Data analytic tools makes these easy as the response can be compared side by side.

Data Filtering Capability – Modern presentations are fact and data driven. And these analytic tools help you filter data easily by choosing custom parameters. So you can filter the data based on parameters such as gender, education, ethnicity etc. which help you develop clear understanding of how your audience has responded to the presentation.

Text Responses Analysis – Audience response systems have allowed presenters to conduct multi-location presentations and also gather feedback and results using text messages. The challenge however is to analyze hundreds of text messages that come their way. Data analytic tools solve this problem as all text messages come to a central database and can easily be analyzed and turned into meaningful information.

These are some of the core benefits of using an audience response system that comes with data analytics reporting tools. There are many more features that would help you present your topics articulately and in a more engaging manner.

Summary – In this article we take a look at how Data analytics reporting tools can help in improving presentations and making them more engaging.

What You Must Consider While Choosing Audience Response Keypads

If you are planning to invest in an Audience Response System you can easily be overwhelmed by the choices you have on hand. In terms of the hardware, Audience Response Keypads can vary greatly between makes, models, and brands when it comes to the features and functionalities. Here we list down some of the important things that you need to carefully consider while selecting a keypad/clicker.

Number of Keys – This is one of the first things that you need to consider while choosing your keypad. At the bottom of the pyramid are keypads that have 5 keys which are cost-effective. But this also means that your questions or polls can only accommodate a maximum of 5 choices. There are keypads that have 10 or more buttons and you should choose one based on your needs.
Additional Keys – The basic keypads allow users to select the options or merely choose Yes, No and Abstain. They don’t come with dedicated Yes/No/Abstain buttons which can give trouble to participants who aren’t used to such systems. If you choose top-end keypads they come with dedicated keys making them more convenient for users.
Functionality – Audience Reponses Keypads come with different types of functionalities. From ones that let users only select options to those that have large display screens and built-in texting features. This is handy as this allows your audience to type in question or suggestions making the sessions truly interactive.
Range – Wireless keypads have replaced wired ones that were used to seeing about a decade back. But when you are choosing wireless keypads you need to take note of their range. Entry and keypads have a range of 200 feet which may not be enough if you are planning to hold a corporate event or training session at a large venue.
Price – And finally it all boils down to the price of the keypads. While basic keypads do come at an attractive price and may sound ideal are limited in terms of functionality and range. You should invest in them only if you are on a tight budget and don’t foresee changes to the way your training and other sessions are conducted. If you pay a little more and opt for the advanced systems it will keep you ready for the future.
Summary – Here in this article we take a look at some of the things that one needs to consider while choosing Audience Response Keypads to make the sessions truly interactive.

Audience Voting System (Religious Organizations)

What is a Voting System?

Churches and religious organizations are adopting voting technology daily. An audience voting system is comprised of voting handsets, software, and a receiver that collects responses and communicates with the software. Live voting technology allows churches to conduct elections, anonymously discuss sensitive issues and conduct general opinion polling. Since the technology is simple to operate and use, it is easily introduced to older population who don’t have much technology know-how.

Elections

An audience voting system can be used by congregations to elect church positions and leadership. Position nominees are entered into the voting software and displayed on a screen. The audience then uses audience response keypads or “clickers” to pick their choice. The clickers are simple to use and have 10 buttons allowing 1 button to correspond to each position nominee. Alternatively, in a multi-vote scenario, each person can choose multiple candidates in a single vote. Once the keypad button has been selected, the vote travels wirelessly to the receiver where it is aggregated by the voting software and displayed on screen in a graphical form. Votes that used to take days using paper can now be completed in minutes.

Anonymous Polling

Religious organization like electronic polling systems because they allow the open discussion of faith and other personal issues anonymously. An audience voting system can be set up so that each vote is completely anonymous, thus honest, and heart felt opinions can be collected. While it is true that voting systems can be linked to individual voters, it is much more common to randomly distribute the voting devices without tracking who is who. If your audience needs to be identified broadly, all you have to do is ask a question that segments the audience into a specific demographic segment.

Church Changes

A common way that religious organizations are using an audience voting system is to collect feedback on changes effecting their organizations. As population changes, it is important to review staff and facility assets to ensure that the congregation are being best served. How will a church closing or staff reduction effect your weekly participants? Why not poll the faithful and find out?

Choosing An Effective Content Management System Is A Bit Tricky

Content management systems allow organizations to store training and presentation content centrally in the cloud. The core function of these systems is to lock down approved content and disseminate that content appropriately throughout your organization. However, choosing effective content management solutions for your team is tricky without knowing your requirements and needs. When choosing a system, pick the most customizable tool available. System adaptation is paramount, as single path environments lead to lengthy training and frustration. On the other hand, customizable content management systems allow for the elimination of steps, functions and moulding the solution to fit your specific workflow and training process.

Content Management Customization

There are many distinct types of content management solutions offered in the market today. The clear majority offer the core functionality of storing and distributing content, but many of these systems are rigid and force a single workflow onto your organization rather than allowing for customization. Flexibility is key for content management solutions. Does the CMS system you are considering allow for custom branding? Are you able to rename buttons and objects based on your industry’s jargon? Can you customize the user experience and steps needed to accomplish a goal to match your specific needs?

Advanced Features

Cloud storage, 24/7 access and PowerPoint integration are often standard features across the industry, but some companies offer advanced features. Content Management Systems that include enhanced user reporting, interactive capabilities and even participant assessment options for corporate training and compliance reporting often make the best choices. Since advanced functionality and customization greatly vary, it is best to test the system before making the final purchase. Look for whether the content management system provides the built-in features that are needed by your organization.

Free Trial and System Pilot Options

It is without doubt that moving towards a Content Management System and away from Server File Storage and Virtual Private Networks is a big step. The move often takes large organizations months to complete and many more to train employees and managers on its use. It is for this reason that free trials and Pilot programs are critical when selecting the right company. Since the move is robust, never contract with a CMS provider until you can try the system out. Many companies opt for a Pilot program allowing large groups to dip their toe in the water without jumping in with both feet. The ideal length for a pilot program varies from organization to organization but the most common period is 2 to 6 months.

Enhance Your Learning Environment – Meridia

                                         

Audience response systems are effective presentation tools that motivate your audience and keeps them engaged and interested in your sessions. They promote two-way communication and help to remediate knowledge gaps. With the help of the Meridia audience response systems, speakers can engage each and every member of the audience and include the participants in the discussion. Additionally, audience members can express opinions through live polls, discussions and evaluations.

Ensures repeated success of the presenter in multiple sessions

Meridia audience response systems are specifically designed to ensure users initial and repeated success. Meridia’s EZ-VOTE software allows speakers to poll directly in PowerPoint, using only a video/media file, or in any other desktop and browser-based apps, such as Prezi. The system can be effectively utilized for electronic voting, live surveys, testing and even for conducting marketing research. The modern ARS system allows the involvement and participation of both live and remote audience members enabling participants to poll using handheld keypads or mobile phones, tablets, and laptops.

Utilized by educational institutions and business organizations

Many educational institutions utilize such technology to track attendance, monitor participation and for live group assessments. Businesses incorporate the Meridia audience response system into their training curriculum, allowing trainers to quickly engage their employees in knowledge based tutorials and track their progress using detailed reports and evaluations tools contained within the software.

Track audience responses in real time

Presenters can also track the responses of an audience in real time. After a question is asked and the participants respond using their keypads or mobile devices The Meridia audience response system quickly aggregates the data and displays the responses in a graphical (chart) format. Once collected, this data can be sorted demographically or filtered by a previous answer choice or a designated participant list. Additionally, response systems are great for live team games and competitions. The audience can be split into teams and individual and team scores can be shown at any time during a live training, or educational session.