Plickers!

 

Recently, I did a presentation on a tool called Plickers.  No not clickers, Plickers.  Plickers is an easy, free, formative evaluation tool that only requires one smart phone, or web connected tablet.  How it works is students are given a piece of paper with what looks like a QR code.  

Using your plickers profile you are able to create classes and add students specific to your class needs. When you enter a student, they are assigned a specific number.  This number connects with the number on one of the codes.  (Did I mention the codes are free pdf's that you can print!)

Each student will have the same code every time you use plikers in your class.

Next:  Create questions
Once you have signed up for your Plickers account you are able to create your classes and then create a library of questions.  There are three options: Survey, multiple choice or true false.  Create your questions and assign them to the given class that you would like.

Once the question is done you can add it to the specific plan you would like.

Then comes the fun part.  Think about those old scanners from Star Trek--

 

You use your tablet or smart phone you scan the room as students hold up their answer codes.   As you scan your classroom, the student names will pop up next to the cards that are successfully scanned. You will also see how many students respond and if their answer is correct or not.

Once everyone has scanned in you can look at the results live on your computer or on your device.

  

Reasons I like Plickers:  This tool is so user friendly, it doesn't matter if you are in a 1:1 program or a teacher using their own phone and computer to get by.  This tool allows for instant feedback without the need for multiple devices. 

Coming from a 1:1 setting, I enjoy Plickers because my students are distracted on the screen.  If we were to use another formative assessment tool, students finish and move onto other distractions on the computer.  This way students answer and focus on the question posed. 

Here is a short video that does a live demonstration of the scanning and data collection.

Cheers!


All images from Google Images