While giving an opinion by actually raising one’s hand may never become completely extinct, the devices can give voice to people too shy to speak up.

“Those who talk in class aren’t necessarily those who have the most to say,” said Eric J. Johnson, director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School. “But with a clicker, everyone in the room has input and they can express their opinion anonymously.”

But critics say that feedback from clicker surveys is inherently superficial, foreclosing nuanced analysis. And they point out that they can become just one of many must-have devices that are easy to lose, like a Kindle or a cellphone.

From the Times.

I think it is often true that the students that speak the most have the least to say.