# DIY: A wi-fi student response system **\[flickr\]photo:12563361\[/flickr\]** Mobile phone ownership within the UK is regularly reported around 90% peaking to 95-97% for 16-24 year olds. While we know ownership is high, there is very little research on the type of phone young people have. Knowing the type of phone potentially allows us as educators to start tapping in to this resource. I'm particular interested in the data capabilities of mobile phones, [previously posting on various topics including 3G usage](https://hawksey.info/blog/2008/11/mobile-internet-mobile-life-mobile-learning/). One area not to be overlooked is wi-fi access. ## Wi-Fi Enabled Phones **Nokia** Nokia N95 8GB Music Nokia E71 White Nokia N85 Nokia E71 Grey Nokia N95 sport Nokia N96 Nokia N78 Nokia N82 Nokia 6301 Nokia N81 8GB Nokia N95 8GB Nokia E90 Communicator Nokia E65 Nokia N95 **Apple** Apple 3G iPhone White Apple iPhone **Samsung** Samsung i900 Omnia White Samsung i8510 Samsung Omnia 16GB Samsung Omnia Samsung G810 Samsung i780 **Sony Ericsson** Sony Ericsson C905 Silver Sony Ericsson C905 Gold Sony Ericsson G900 Red Sony Ericsson G900 Sony Ericsson C905 Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 Sony Ericsson P1i Sony Ericsson W960i **LG** LG KC910 **T Mobile** T-Mobile Ameo 16GB T-Mobile G1 MDA Vario II MDA Compact III **BlackBerry** BlackBerry 8120 Pearl Pink BlackBerry Bold Blackberry Curve 8310 Pink BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Titanium BlackBerry Pearl 8110 Pink Blackberry Pearl 8120 **Windows Mobile 5/6** HTC HP MWg Glofish i-mate Qtek There is now a growing list of phones (see column) which can connect to wireless networks. Importantly, this list is not just limited to the business exec prousers with their iPhones and Blackberry's, but also extends to free-on-contract phones which are already finding there way into students pockets. So assuming there will be a growing number of portable wi-fi devices knocking around campuses, which students are already prepared to carry with them on a day-to-day basis, how can we start utilising them? A particular area I'm interested in is students response systems (also known as audience response systems, electronic voting systems, clickers ...). Prior to joining the RSC I worked at the University of Strathclyde, arguably the first UK institution to integrate this technology as part of active collaborative learning. Having seen these systems in practice, particularly when combined with Peer Instruction (developed by Professor Eric Mazur), you cannot but be impressed with the level of engagement and learning gains students experience. \[Here is a [paper and video case study of what is done at Strathclyde](http://www.elearning.ac.uk/innoprac/practitioner/strathclyde.html) and [Mazur's Peer Instruction site](http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/research/detailspage.php?rowid=8)\] A number of response system manufactures supply 'virtual' versions of their handsets. The solutions tend to be either purely web based or an application add-on. Web-based is the most flexible as it only needs a device with an Internet connection and Internet browser with basic JavaScript support (theoretically you could use anything from a [Nintendo DS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_Browser) to a laptop). Application based requires a small application to be installed on the users device. This can be more limiting and unless the manufacturer has been incredibility busy developing different versions of their software for different platforms (you have the added complication of distributing the right software to your students). There is also a cost associated with using a response system manufactures solution. If your institution is already using physical handsets it however might be possible that a set number of 'virtual' licences come as part of the package. If you are looking for free solutions one option is [ClassInHand](http://classinhand.wfu.edu/) (CIH). CIH was developed by [Wake Forest University](http://www.wfu.edu/) and basically turns a Windows Mobile device into *"a web server, a presentation controller, and a quizzing and feedback device for a classroom instructor"*. Turning the Windows Mobile device into a web server means that any device with a web browser and a wi-fi connection can be used (again, anything from a Nintendo DS to a laptop). Unfortunately development of CIH appears to have ceased in 2003 and when I recently tried the software on my Windows Mobile 6 device it kept crashing :-( One other big limitation of CIH, apart from it not working, is the reliance on the web server being hosted on a mobile device. Not every member of staff will have access to one of these and with tight budgets a purchase might be hard to justify. An equally, if not more, portable solution would be to run a response system from a USB pendrive. To my knowledge no one has done this but all the components are potentially already out there. Similar to CIH, for a core you would want to run a portable local web server. There are a number of projects which already allow you to do this. I use [XAMPP](http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp/) which, at the the danger of completely loosing you non-techies, creates a integrated server package of Apache, mySQL, PHP and Perl. The bits I'm interested in are: Apache - the bit which can serve web pages; PHP - which allows you programme the pages to do clever stuff; and mySQL - a database which allows you to store and retrieve information. So a rainy weekend later here's what I've come up with: [DIY wireless student response system](http://vimeo.com/2542839) from [Martin Hawksey](http://vimeo.com/user937418) on [Vimeo](http://vimeo.com). Here are links to the components I've pulled together for this example: - [XAMPP](http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp/) - Portable web server - [PHP Libchart](http://naku.dohcrew.com/libchart/) - Simple PHP chart drawing library - [LiveWeb](http://skp.mvps.org/liveweb.htm) - insert and view live web pages in PowerPoint and here's my DIY code: - [Bare bones](http://www.mediafire.com/file/r54qjjyjydk/DIY-PI.zip) - 3 php files and mySQL script (you'll need to download Libchart) - [The works](http://www.mediafire.com/file/nozdnhmmzhm/xampp.exe) - a compiled version of XAMPP including 'bare bones' and Libchart ([Instructions and disclaimer here]()) If you've found this post useful you might also be interested in the JISC funded 'EVAF4All: Electronic Voting Analysis and Feedback For All' project being led b y Simon Bates at the University of Edinburgh. [More information on the project including the original proposal is available here](http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/elearning/projects/evaf/).