Please turn on your cellphones
A Kiwi inventor has come up with a way to help the shy ask questions during presentations
Tuesday, June 22 2010 || News || BY Caitlin Sykes
If so, Adam Hutchinson reckons you’re not alone.
“Within the Kiwi culture it’s pretty prominent that we don’t like to cause a fuss or cause a scene,” says the director of Christchurch-based tech company Texsys. “But that restricts a lot of people so they don’t want to ask a question within, for example, a lecture theatre.”
Hutchinson had also often heard overseas speakers comment on how unresponsive New Zealand audiences are; it wasn’t that we weren’t interested, he figured, it’s just we were too embarrassed to speak up.
So Hutchinson has launched a product to help us shy Kiwis.
Called EHand, it’s an audience response system that allows people to anonymously submit questions during presentations via text messages from their cellphones. Here’s how it works. The presenter opens the floor and gives the audience instructions on how to submit their questions. Then, using a unique user name and password, the speaker logs on to EHand’s web portal, where they can view the audience’s questions, all filtered for inappropriate content, in real time.
EHand was launched in March and Hutchinson says the initial target is the e-learning market. Some university courses can have hundreds of students in a single lecture where “absolutely no one wants to put up their hand”, says Hutchinson. EHand could not only help students ask questions, but allow lecturers to gauge how much students have understood and adjust their teaching accordingly.
Ian Macdonald, academic programme manager at Lincoln University’s commerce faculty, says the university is keen to look at how EHand could be used to help teachers and students communicate both in lectures and outside the classroom, for use by the likes of student services.
“The concept of technology facilitating interaction between students and teachers is really quite exciting,” says Macdonald. “And engaging with students using technologies that they’re comfortable with is particularly attractive.”
I can imagine the swear word filtering would be needed in many lectures!
Posted by Anonymous at 12:47 on June 23, 2010
This is an awesome service... means the presenter doesn't get distracted and can answer questions in his/her own time. Also the audience can get their question across straight away without having to wait or forget. I guess there are so many applications for this if it is integrated properly. I'm quite interested to see it in practice. Pretty cool.
Posted by Ben at 07:03 on June 22, 2010
This would be awesome at Uni. it sux having to hold your hand up for ages until the lecturer gets a chance to ask you for your question... and then feeling like a dick when everyone looks down on you for wasting time with questions. I would definitely be more likely to ask a question if I could txt it instead.
Posted by John at 18:04 on June 22, 2010
This was at the PM's forum in ChCh a few weeks back and we were able to submit our questions to the Prime Minister, was handy. Wdnt have raised my hand 2 ask it
Posted by James at 17:41 on June 22, 2010
Isn't this just using technology to hide the symptoms of a social issue? I'd be interested to see whether this system encourages audiences to participate aloud in the long run, or whether it actually _discourages_ previously active audience members from participating?
Posted by Harley at 11:31 on June 22, 2010
People have been using twitter to do this for at least 2 years that I know of.
Posted by Richard at 11:17 on June 22, 2010
I agree with Harley. How difficult is it to raise your hand and ask a question?
School children don't have this problem...
Posted by Hamish at 03:35 on July 8, 2010
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