Replacing all TurningPoint clickers and receivers
Date: 4/24/2006
To: UMD Faculty and Staff Using TurningPoint "clickers"
There have been a limited number of hardware problems with clickers and receivers, but we anticipate that the failure rate would increase with this equipment next fall. To avoid this, we will be exchanging all clickers and receivers for new equipment at the end of this semester.
We have experienced a failure rate of about 5% with clickers this year. Perhaps more than that if one counts dead batteries that may have been replaced by students and not reported to us. TurningPoint has discovered a manufacturing flaw that causes early battery drain in many units and failure in some. At first they simply replaced them as units became defective, but they recognize that this will not scale if many students get new clickers in the midst of a semester and have to change their clicker ID number with faculty.
TurningPoint has offered to replace all of the clickers and receivers in circulation at UMD, in order to make sure that we do not see continued problems next year. This will be at no charge to us. Additionally, the manufacture of receivers has been improved and they will be replacing all receivers.
We anticipate that the technology will continue to work for most users through the next few weeks, so we would like to coordinate the exchange during the first two days of finals week. If the following arrangement will not work for you or your class, please contact ITSS and we will work with you to find a better solution:
FACULTY / STAFF:
1) All faculty who have been issued a clicker and receiver should get it back to me by Monday, May 8th. If you plan to teach with clickers again next Fall, then I will issue a new clicker and receiver to you immediately.
2) All professors and departments who have purchased any TurningPoint hardware should contact me to arrange for an exchange on either May 8 or 9.
STUDENTS:
3) Students who plan to sell their used clicker back to the bookstore can simply do so through the regular textbook buyback process and the bookstore will handle those clicker replacements.
4) Students who plan to keep their clickers and/or resell them outside of the bookstore buyback process will be able to exchange their clickers at a booth in Kirby Student Center (across from the bookstore). This booth will be available on Monday and Tuesday of Finals week, May 8-9, 8 am - 4 pm.
Our impression is that there have not been more than about 5% failure of clickers and receivers up until now, but that these will escalate if we don't replace all hardware before fall. We recognize that this is an inconvenience and I am disappointed that the hardware had manufacturing flaws, but I am also very pleased that the company is proactively replacing everything.
Our intention is to share this information with an alias of all students who have registered their clickers Fall 2005 and Spring 2006. If you could share this information in class and / or through your class aliases, that would also be helpful.
If any of these arrangements won't work for you, or you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Jason Davis (jdavis, 726-8782).