Mouse Mischief
Encyclopedia
Microsoft
Mouse Mischief is an add-in to Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010 and 2007, the presentation program by Microsoft that is part of the Microsoft Office system. It runs on the Microsoft Windows
operating systems Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The program enables teachers to create and insert questions, polls, and drawing activity slides into Office PowerPoint lessons. When the lessons are played, students can actively respond to these slides, individually or in teams, by using their own mice to click, circle, cross out, color in, or draw answers on the screen.
Mouse Mischief emerged from a collaboration between two of Microsoft's research labs in India and China. In 2006, in response to the high student-to-computer ratio in many schools, Microsoft Research India (IDC) began working on a technical solution that would provide each student with a mouse and a cursor on the screen. They conducted several field studies of multiple-mouse software program and computer-aided education. This was extended by Neema Moraveji, then a researcher with Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, China, to class-wide interactions using a large display and interaction with PowerPoint. Initial uses were meant to support remote teaching from urban Chinese centers to villages. The remote-teaching component was soon dropped and utility was observed for in-class interactions.
Further studies by members of the same team were conducting experimenting with mouse-based text entry and the impact of pointing performance when seeing multiple cursors on-screen . Further research on Mouse Mischief continued when Moraveji continued research as a doctoral student at Stanford University's Learning Sciences and Technology Design program.
. Slides may contain text, graphics, and other objects, which may be arranged freely on the slide. Mouse Mischief adds three templates or “slide masters” to the standard PowerPoint templates: yes/no, multiple-choice, and drawing slides. These are the slides that students can click or draw on when then presentation is played.
Second, multiple-mouse lessons can help teachers connect with large classes. In classes with low teacher to student ratios, multiple-mouse lessons help teachers get every student involved, and it gives them feedback about each student’s grasp of concepts during lessons. In all classes, Mouse Mischief provides teachers with immediate feedback on the understanding and progress of the class as a whole. Using this information, the teacher can adjust the lesson to make it clearer, to review specific parts, or to add more examples.
Third, Mouse Mischief can help provide access to technology
for more students, even when resources are limited. A Windows MultiPoint technology, Mouse Mischief enables large groups of students to gain computer practice by taking advantage of computers already in the classroom. Unlike clickers, which are used in other classroom-response systems, mice connected to the teacher’s computer are relatively inexpensive and readily available.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Mouse Mischief is an add-in to Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010 and 2007, the presentation program by Microsoft that is part of the Microsoft Office system. It runs on the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating systems Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The program enables teachers to create and insert questions, polls, and drawing activity slides into Office PowerPoint lessons. When the lessons are played, students can actively respond to these slides, individually or in teams, by using their own mice to click, circle, cross out, color in, or draw answers on the screen.
Mouse Mischief emerged from a collaboration between two of Microsoft's research labs in India and China. In 2006, in response to the high student-to-computer ratio in many schools, Microsoft Research India (IDC) began working on a technical solution that would provide each student with a mouse and a cursor on the screen. They conducted several field studies of multiple-mouse software program and computer-aided education. This was extended by Neema Moraveji, then a researcher with Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, China, to class-wide interactions using a large display and interaction with PowerPoint. Initial uses were meant to support remote teaching from urban Chinese centers to villages. The remote-teaching component was soon dropped and utility was observed for in-class interactions.
Further studies by members of the same team were conducting experimenting with mouse-based text entry and the impact of pointing performance when seeing multiple cursors on-screen . Further research on Mouse Mischief continued when Moraveji continued research as a doctoral student at Stanford University's Learning Sciences and Technology Design program.
Operation
Like Office PowerPoint presentations, Mouse Mischief lessons consist of a number of individual pages or "slides.” The "slide" analogy is a reference to the now obsolete slide projectorSlide projector
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device to view photographic slides. Slide projectors were common in the 1950s to the 1970s as a form of entertainment; family members and friends would gather to view slide shows...
. Slides may contain text, graphics, and other objects, which may be arranged freely on the slide. Mouse Mischief adds three templates or “slide masters” to the standard PowerPoint templates: yes/no, multiple-choice, and drawing slides. These are the slides that students can click or draw on when then presentation is played.
Use in classrooms
Mouse Mischief has three major benefits as an educational tool for classroom use. First, it engages students. Rather than sitting passively, students can actively participate in lessons, using their hands as well as their minds. Participating with other students, instead of alone at their desks, also engages students. Working simultaneously on the screen in Individual mode with the rest of the class can encourage healthy interest and competition. Working in Mouse Mischief Team mode can help students learn collaboration.Second, multiple-mouse lessons can help teachers connect with large classes. In classes with low teacher to student ratios, multiple-mouse lessons help teachers get every student involved, and it gives them feedback about each student’s grasp of concepts during lessons. In all classes, Mouse Mischief provides teachers with immediate feedback on the understanding and progress of the class as a whole. Using this information, the teacher can adjust the lesson to make it clearer, to review specific parts, or to add more examples.
Third, Mouse Mischief can help provide access to technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
for more students, even when resources are limited. A Windows MultiPoint technology, Mouse Mischief enables large groups of students to gain computer practice by taking advantage of computers already in the classroom. Unlike clickers, which are used in other classroom-response systems, mice connected to the teacher’s computer are relatively inexpensive and readily available.
Criticism of Mouse Mischief
Some educators point out that Mouse Mischief doesn't allow for full student anonymity during the presentation. This, and the fact that Mouse Mischief does not have a reporting feature to highlight and gauge which student answered which question.See also
- Interactive WhiteboardInteractive whiteboardAn interactive whiteboard , is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device...
- Audience Response Systems
- Presentation Software
- Learning Management SystemLearning management systemA learning management system is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content...