ABSTRACT
As the author made the transition into a new career helping teachers learn about educational technology, she wanted to address the growing digital divide between teachers who struggled with technology and those for whom it came easily. In her earlier work as an adjunct instructor, she had recognized online teaching as a burgeoning opportunity at a time when tenured and tenure-track faculty seemed largely uninterested. The iClicker can be an amazing tool for teachers who are comfortable with such specialized technologies. For teachers at the other end of the spectrum, iClickers are cumbersome, frustrating, and time consuming to learn. Cell phone polls, however, can be a gateway technology for teachers struggling to use 21st-century tools. The ease with which this readily available technology can be used to collect real-time data empowers teachers and students to collaboratively explore new applications for networked educational technologies.
