Mouse Mischief - Creating Mischief in the Classroom.

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.

In 2006, to respond to the high student-to-computer ratio in many schools, Microsoft Research (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, which led to the development of the current Mouse Mischief software. A description of one of these studies and the researcher’s conclusions are reported in the article Multiple Mice for Computers in Education in Developing Countries.

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 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.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_Mischief