Plickers ~ Could be a Formative Assessment Game Changer
Plickers
Had a question from a colleague during in-service last week asking about the app that acts like a student response system. I know I may have shown this to some folks previously, but it’s worth revisiting. It’s called Plickers. There is an app for both iOS and Android devices as well as having a web interface that allows you to input questions more easily and access a “live” view in order to project questions and result to the whole class.
This is a free “polling” app that allows you gather student responses to teacher generated questions without the students needing a device. Each student is given a card (these are printed from the site) that contains an image that looks similar to a QR code. This code is used to show the student’s answer choice (A, B, C, D or T/F). The student holds up the card and the teacher uses the app on their phone to quickly scan them. Answers are immediately populated on the teacher’s device, and as I said earlier, if projected in “live view,” they also populate for the class to see. This is a great tool for formative assessment. Often, this app is best shown in action to get the whole picture of how it works so I’ve added a video about set up and how the scanning works. The video opens at the 15:39 mark with scanning. The complete video will walk you through the setup process as well.
Pros:
Free
Easy setup
Real time data gathering
Increases student engagement
Same card can be used over and over
Great “help” section on the website
Cons:
Cards have to be printed and possibly laminated to be more durable and lamination could show a glare.
Response choices are limited to A, B, C, D and T/F
Enjoy!