Beginning this semester, Middleton Library will no longer provide clickers for checkout, and students will now have to purchase a new clicker license that could cost between $21 and $55 in addition to the clickers themselves.
Director of Library Communications and Publications Sigrid Kelsey said the rental clickers will not be coming back to Middleton, and they were returned to their original owners — LSU Student Government.
“It all has to do with licensing,” Kelsey said. “Instead of buying a clicker that multiple people can share, each person that uses a clicker has to buy a license.”
This new model for clicker use was not decided upon by the University, but by Turning Technologies, the clickers’ manufacturer. Because each person has to buy a license for their own clicker, it defeats the purpose of sharing them through library distribution, Kelsey said.
Regardless of whether you previously owned a clicker, the new system mandates each student who uses a clicker must purchase a clicker license.
Students can purchase licenses and licensing bundles, which include a new clicker, through the University’s bookstore or online at the manufacturer’s website.
Turning Technologies has also now developed an app, ResponseWare, which includes many of the same functions that the physical clicker did.
But according to the University’s Information Technology Services, it is up to the teacher’s discretion whether the app can be used, and students still have to purchase a license for the app.
Some teachers may not possess the correct software for the app, according to the University’s IT Services.
When purchasing a license, students must create an account through Turning Technologies. The license is then applied to their account using the TurningPoint Cloud Registration System, which allows the student to use their individual license on both a clicker and their mobile app.
According to the University’s IT Services, students should register their Turning Technologies account through the link provided by their professor, using their LSU email address. After purchasing a license, students must make sure their Device ID, found on their physical clicker, is registered on their account.
Licenses and license bundles range in price from $20.99 to $54.99, and each license sold comes with a mail-in rebate offer. The rebate is worth $20.99 and is available to be processed online, using the code “Rlsu20.”
Representatives from Student Government did not respond to a request for comment on the clickers in their possession, previously rented out by Middleton.
“When we were needing to discontinue that service, we asked them if they wanted them back,” Kelsey said about returning the clickers to Student Government. “I don’t know what their plan is.”