Thousands of Ryerson students are required to obtain i>clickers for use in class this semester, but there are more affordable ways in which the university could implement a question-and-answer tool.

i>clicker 2, the model on sale at the campus store, looks like a TV remote. Students use the tool to electronically respond to questions their teachers ask in class. The device carries a $69.95 price tag at Ryerson’s Campus Store. The official retailer lists it for $53.64 on Amazon.

About 70 instructors currently require students to use i>clickers in their classes, Restiani Andriati, manager of Ryerson’s Digital Media Projects Office (DMP), said.

The DMP consults teachers on using instructional technology in the classroom.

Teachers do not need to go to the DMP before mandating i>clicker use for students, so Andriati does not know what the true number of i>clicker users is. Their use has increased in the last decade, she said.

Ryerson English student Steve Duffy is required to buy an i>clicker for the sociology of gender class he’s enrolled in. This is the first time he’s needed to buy one. He said he only needs the tool for participation, which is 10 per cent of his final grade. “I think that’s a bit corrupt, paying $75 for 10 per cent of your grade,” he said.

Duffy said he doesn’t understand why more teachers don’t use Brightspace’s quiz platform, which allows students to log in and answer pre-prepared questions at no additional cost to students.

Brightspace, or D2L, is the online system through which teachers can post course assignments and information for students. In April 2015, Brightspace replaced Blackboard, which Ryerson used for 12 years.

In 2015, Ryerson signed a three-year contract with D2L, said Jim Buchanan, director of client services at Ryerson Computing and Communications Services. The university agreed to pay an average of about $383,000 per school year for the duration of the contract.