What is a classroom response system, exactly?
There are three parts, as EDUCAUSE describes them: software that shows the question, a way for each student to answer, and a receiver or internet connection that collects the answers. The products on the market differ mostly in the second part:
| Type | How students answer | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Handheld clickers (also called keypads or voting handsets) | Press a key on a small radio device | iClicker remotes, OMBEA ResponsePad |
| Phone and browser polling | Scan a QR code or enter a join code on their own device | Mentimeter, Slido, Poll Everywhere |
| Both from one supplier | Clickers in some rooms, phones in others | OMBEA ResponsePad and ResponseApp |
For a longer comparison of the types, see the sibling student response systems guide.
1. How do students answer, and what do they need?
Ask the supplier: "What does each student need in their hand, and what do they have to do before the first question?" Count the steps. A clicker is usually "pick it up, press a key." A phone tool is "unlock, connect to Wi-Fi, open the link or scan the code, maybe log in, then answer."
Also ask what happens with a student who has no device. In Jisc's 2024/25 survey of 15,398 UK higher education students, 37% said they lacked access to a suitable device at some point in their studies. In schools, the question is often moot: phones may not be allowed at all (see check 3).
2. Does it depend on Wi-Fi or internet?
Phone-based tools need a connection for every student, and most need the presenter's computer online too. Mentimeter's own help page, for example, says that an internet connection is required while presenting and that without one its slides cannot collect votes (as of November 2026).
In the same Jisc survey, 60% of UK university students reported Wi-Fi connectivity issues on or off campus. In England, the Department for Education's digital and technology standards for schools and colleges include a core wireless network standard, so ask your IT team whether the rooms you plan to use meet it.
Radio clickers talk to a USB receiver at the front of the room, so they keep working when the network drops. Ask for the receiver's range in meters and test it from the back row.
Test it yourself: run a 30-student trial in your worst-connected room, at the busiest time of day.
3. Does it fit your phone policy?
If your school bans phones, a phone-based system is out for students. Rules differ by country:
- US: at least 40 states plus Washington, D.C. require districts to ban or restrict student phone use, according to Education Week's tracker (updated October 2026). Some are bell-to-bell, others cover only instructional time.
- England: the Department for Education's mobile phone guidance says all schools should be mobile phone-free environments by default. It became statutory on 29 June 2026, for schools to follow from 1 September 2026.
These rules cover schools: K-12 in the US, and primary and secondary schools (high schools, in US terms) in England. Universities set their own policies, and many lecturers ban phones in their own classes.
4. How many students can answer at once?
Ask for the maximum per session and per receiver, and whether that number has been tested in a real room. Ask how many devices the supplier can lend you for a test, and fill your largest room with them.
5. Does it work with the slides you already use?
Ask:
- Which presentation software does it work in? PowerPoint on Windows, PowerPoint on Mac, Keynote, Google Slides, a browser?
- Which versions? Some add-ins exclude the browser or Microsoft Store versions of PowerPoint.
- Are question slides real slides, so they keep your theme, fonts and animations?
- Can you add a question on the fly in the middle of a lesson?
Bring your own deck to the demo, not the supplier's sample slides.
6. Can answers be anonymous and named?
You need both modes. Private answers are more honest: in a study by Stowell and Nelson, students who raised hands got 98% of review questions right, against 82% for students answering privately on clickers, which the authors read as hand-raisers following the room. But for graded quizzes, attendance or exam practice you need each answer linked to a student.
Ask: How do you link a device to a student? How long does that take for a class of 30, and for 300? What happens if a student forgets their device or swaps with a friend? The science education teams at the University of Colorado and the University of British Columbia, in their clicker guide call "the combination of anonymity and accountability" a major virtue of clickers. Test both modes in the demo.
7. What reports do you get, and where do they go?
Ask for:
- Results per question and per student.
- Export to Excel or CSV, and ideally PDF.
- A way to combine several sessions to follow a class over a term or semester.
- Integration with your learning management system or gradebook, if you need it. Ask exactly which systems, and whether it is a live sync or a file import.
8. How does it handle student data?
Ask where answers and names are stored: on the teacher's computer, or in the supplier's cloud, and in which country.
- US: schools and universities that receive federal education funding are covered by FERPA, the federal student privacy law. Ask the supplier how their product supports FERPA compliance.
- UK: schools are data controllers under UK GDPR. The Department for Education's data protection guidance for schools includes a section on procuring edtech. Ask for the supplier's data processing terms.
A system that stores named results locally, with no student accounts, keeps this simpler. A cloud system with student logins needs more paperwork, but makes results available anywhere.
9. Is it accessible?
Ask for an accessibility conformance report. In the US, many public institutions buy against Section 508 and ask for a VPAT. In the UK and elsewhere, the reference is usually WCAG. For hardware, check button size and feel, whether students can confirm their answer was received, and whether a student with low vision can use it. For phone tools, ask whether the answer page works with screen readers.
10. How much setup does each lesson need?
Time it. Ask the supplier to set up from a closed laptop to the first answer while you watch. Then ask: Is there pairing or a channel to set? Do students log in? How long do batteries last, and what kind are they? Who charges or replaces them across 30 classrooms?
Then run a pilot. Two to four weeks, two teachers, at least one large class and your worst room for Wi-Fi. Collect three numbers: minutes of setup per lesson, share of students who answered each question, and the number of sessions where something failed. For how to run the first lessons, see the sibling article on how to use clickers in the classroom.
How does one clicker system answer these checks?
As one example, here are OMBEA's answers, taken from the features page and FAQ:
- Answering: ResponsePad clickers, with no setup, pairing or syncing. ResponseApp lets students answer on phones, tablets or laptops for open questions and word clouds.
- Wi-Fi: none needed for clickers. The ResponseLink receiver works within 100 meters.
- Capacity: up to 2,000 participants in one session.
- Slides: the PowerPoint add-in adds a tab to PowerPoint on Windows (Office 2010 to Microsoft 365 desktop; not the Microsoft Store or browser versions). A separate app, Response 360, runs on Windows and Mac next to Keynote or any other tool.
- Anonymous and named: an anonymous mode, and named results by pasting a class list and letting each student press a key.
- Reports: per question and per student, in Excel or PDF, combinable across sessions.
- Batteries: about three years in normal use.
The schools and higher education pages show how these work in a lesson and a lecture.
