Plickers

We have tried Kahoot and Socrative in our classrooms here at Mepham. Now I am about to try something a little different. "Plickers is a powerfully simple tool that lets teachers collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices." Our BMCHSD Bring Your Own Device Policy is wonderful, but not all our students have their own devices. Plickers eliminates the need for student devices and relies only on the teacher to have a device, in this case I am using my iPhone 6.

Each student in your class gets a Plickers card, similar to this one below (it's free to print at Plickers.com or you can buy a set from Amazon.com). It acts as a QR code. The teacher downloads the Plicker app and logs in to Plickers.com on a computer, which then projects the questions on a screen or SMART Board. The teacher would import the class roster prior to class so that each numbered card corresponds to a student.

Plickers Card (In this class belonging to John Smith, see roster below).
This card can be used by multiple classes, over and over again. 

Class Roster

Students hold up their Plickers (paper clicker) orientating it so that the correct answer is on top. For example, the Plickers orientation above would indicate that the student believed the correct answer to be "B" because the letter "B" is on top. Then the teacher, using her/his smartphone would use the camera feature to scan the classroom picking up on students Plickers (as QR codes).

This is what the students see on the board. 

Once all students have been scanned, you can click on the graph and reveal the correct answer. This game can be played at the teacher's own pace. Allowing you as much time as you need to go over each question. I used it to review a lesson on plagiarism. Students and teachers get formative assessments right away in the form of a bar graph.

The students LOVED it and once I figured out how to use it, I realized that it is super easy! The best part was I didn't have to troubleshoot any technology issues.  The teacher is able to then print reports and see which students correctly/incorrectly answered each question. I really liked using Plickers for review/exit cards and can also see it used for a motivation as well. The ease of use and quick learning curve on this educational tool makes it a winner for sure!