"Classroom Technology" -Clickers in the Classroom

After reading, "Clickers in the Classroom: An Interactive Learning Approach" and "7 Things You should Know About Clickers," I looked at the years the both articles were published.  One was published in 2005 and one in 2007.  Both articles spoke about promoting clickers in the higher education classroom.
I know today that there are cell phone applications that high school students can download that have a very similar outcome.  The teacher poses a multiple choice question on the board and the students can respond anonymously to the question using their cellphone.  We have taken this technology to a new and better level.  However, in a first grade classroom most students do not have cell phones and they are just beginning to learn how to read and write as well as participate in classroom discussions and lessons.  I have a Promethean Board in my classroom and would like students to be able to participate in classroom discussions using a clicker approach.  I have heard of ActiVotes by Promethean and am wondering if this is the best approach to take with my students.
Here are the potential benefits that I learned from reading the articles and applying to my own classroom.  Students in first grade are sometimes afraid to raise their hands and also get distracted by other activities going on within the classroom.  A clicker approach would guide them to participation and would also keep them accountable and more engaged in the learning environment.  It would also allow me to see how much of my class understood a concept and can move on from it or not.  My question is: Are ActiVotes the best resource for this approach in an elementary classroom?

Management Systems: "How An LMS and BYOD Changed a School" - reflection on reading

I just completed reading Richard Jones' article, "How An LMSand BYOD Changed A School." Times have certainly changed since I graduated high school, or even since I started my teaching career. The old traditional classroom methods are becoming so foreign to our younger generations. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. Not bad for the students, or the teachers for that matter. 

The article refers to the blended method of teacher-led, student-centered learning through technological means. Moodle and personal devices were introduced into the classrooms of The Southport School in Queensland, Australia. Teachers were already integrating technology into the classroom, but this method was going to be a new "multi-way exchange" between teachers and students, and students with their peers. 

At one point, I would have been skeptical of such a bold move. I am guessing many teachers there with a rich history of success over the years would have been skeptical as well. However, this is the direction education is heading (until the next big paradigm shift), and the data supports its benefits. In the end, students were better engaged with the content, appreciated the additional freedoms it brought to the educational process, and were moving more in the direction of autonomous learning. For an educator, these new technologies provide a fresh way to meet the same principles we have valued for many years.