Schools in developing economies often have limited resources and students are therefore required to work together on the same computer which may not always offer the best learning experience.
One Computer, Multiple Mice
To help schools get the most out of their limited computing budgets, Microsoft has developed a new software platform called MultiPoint that allows multiple students in a classroom to interact with a single computer simultaneously using their own mouse.
As part of the MultiPoint platform, Microsoft recently released a free software add-in for PowerPoint -- Mouse Mischief -- that would let teachers create interactive presentations with True/False or Multiple Choice questions. When you play these slides on a computer screen (or a projector), the entire classroom can answer the questions using just their own mice.
With Microsoft Mischief, you can quickly create interactive presentations. Your slides can include images which will make your quiz all the more fun for small children. Student can even choose their own avatars using the mouse.
As the teacher progresses through the presentation slides, the students can select the answers of their choice. This is all done in a language-neutral manner, so the software can easily be used in classrooms around the world.
Mouse Mischief for Families
Mouse Mischief is not just for schools with limited resources. Even if classrooms have multiple computers, this software can help teachers get all the students interact together on the same screen. Parents can create quick presentations to help kids practice their homework or you could make interactive game show style quizzes and the whole family can join in!
The current release of Mouse Mischief will only run on Office 2007 and is not compatible with Office 2010. That means you cannot create new quizzes and presentations on computers that are not running Office 2007 but you can still install the player to playback Mouse Mischief presentations on any computer, including one that don’t have Office installed.
Mouse Mischief is one of the many applications that have been created for the classroom using the MultiPoint Mouse SDK. There are couple of other interesting applications like the Amazing Concert that would let students play music together using visual music instruments. For an overview of the research behind Mouse Mischief and the ways it is already being used in education, check this case study.
This is a video demo of a related product -- MultiPoint Server -- that allows multiple users to simultaneously share one computer using their own keyboard and mouse. In case of MultiPoint, students use a single PC display but here, they have their own dumb terminals connected to a single computer.
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