Technology Headlines
Turning Technologies Announces ResponseWare Application Available on Apple App Store
Turning Technologies, LLC —Monday, January 05, 2009
Macworld 2009, January 5, 2009, SAN FRANCISCO--(via BUSINESS WIRE)--Turning Technologies LLC, a leader in the student response industry, announced the availability of ResponseWare on the Apple App Store. ResponseWare is a polling application that allows students to submit responses to interactive questions using their iPhone or iPod touch. The application immediately transfers their responses to a TurningPoint interactive polling slide which presents the class with a dynamic chart of the aggregate response data and stores student response data for later evaluation.
“The release of ResponseWare specifically for iPhone and iPod touch is a direct result of our commitment to the mobile initiatives we are seeing across campuses nationwide,” stated Mike Broderick, Turning Technologies’ CEO. “Abilene Christian University – a strong partner of ours – launched their iPhone initiative with incoming freshman just a few months ago and have seen a tremendous amount of positive reviews from both professors and students.”
“With iPhone and iPod touch, Apple has introduced a new learning platform no less transformational than the laptop--or the desktop before it," said Dr. William Rankin, associate English Professor and director of Mobile Learning Research, Abilene Christian University. "With each of these revolutionary shifts in platform, the barriers to student engagement have diminished, and with the innovative capabilities of the iPhone and iPod touch, they've fallen completely. Used in conjunction with powerful educational software like ResponseWare, I can now teach my students and receive formative feedback from them in ways that make my courses more productive, more responsive, and more meaningful, and my students are finding new ways to engage with their own learning, becoming participants and co-developers rather than passive observers.”
ResponseWare enables mobile learning – creating the ability for students to respond to interactive questions both inside and outside of the classroom. Students already accustomed to instant connectivity using their mobile devices will now be able to communicate their understanding of course materials and concepts immediately to their professor using those same tools. In addition, they will find the anonymous ability to ask questions and seek further insights as a useful learning technique.
This next generation of student response technology will appeal to educators as well. Expanded support for question types will further increase their ability to accurately assess student learning. In addition, the application’s integration with TurningPoint allows students to self-register for polling sessions.
Turning’s first release of ResponseWare in September 2008 was met with great enthusiasm in the education market – especially with higher education institutions interested in taking advantage of the instant connectivity available with mobile devices. With its initial solution eagerly piloted by professors and the popularity of both iPhone and iPod touch on campuses across the country, Turning sought to take advantage of the enhanced functionality available with application installations and further develop an improved user experience for students.
ResponseWare is available free from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
ResponseWare Features and Functions
Turning’s response solution for iPhone and iPod touch allows alphanumeric entry for single response, multiple response, fill-in-the-blank and essay questions. The diversity of response types increases communication options from traditional student clickers. ResponseWare also displays the question and answer choices on the device while polling. In addition, students logged into an interactive session can review previous polls as well as instant message the instructor with questions and feedback. ResponseWare works with any iPhone or iPod touch with version 2.0 or higher.
Simple Integration with Existing Technologies
With more than half of US college campuses using TurningPoint interactive polling software, ResponseWare integration in the classroom or lecture hall will be a simple implementation. It does not require special software to install or configure. Turning Technologies provides all of the hosting and web services necessary for a ResponseWare-enabled interactive polling session, which eliminates the need for any educational institution to host, maintain, and support the application and allows for immediate utilization of the response technology.
ResponseWare is available for free download at the Apple App Store. For more information about ResponseWare or TurningPoint student response systems, visit www.TurningTechnologies.com
About Turning Technologies, LLC
Turning Technologies, LLC develops interactive response systems utilizing the latest software and hardware tools available and transforms them into state of the art applications for audience and student response. The company’s flagship product, TurningPoint® Software and Responsive Innovations ResponseCard® keypads, integrate with Microsoft’s PowerPoint® software, providing the most advanced combination of knowledge and technology currently available in the field of audience and student assessment. In 2007, Inc. Magazine ranked Turning as the fastest growing privately held software company in the US, Priority Magazine recognized Turning as Small Business of the Year, and PC Magazine awarded the TurningPoint 2006 response technology the coveted PC Magazine 4 Stars Rating.
Contact: Turning Technologies LLC, 330-746-3015
