Plickers

   Plickers is an app that can be used for immediate feedback on how students are understanding the material.  A great tool for a formative assessment.  Basically how it works it that the teacher sets up questions in the app.  The questions can then be displayed on a smartboard, projector or tv.  Students have cards that have been assigned to them and they use these cards to answer the questions.  The cards have a code on them similar to a QR code that will be scanned by the teacher using a smartphone or tablet/ipad.  Each side of the card records a different answer, either A, B, C or D.  The device registers the students response immediately and creates a graph showing the teacher each students' response as well as the class total.  This allows immediate assessment by the teacher on whether or not the students understand the material.  I found the following YouTube video that has a great explanation of how the Plickers system works.

In my classroom I think I could use it in a couple of ways to test for understanding.  I could use it as an exit slip.  In my class I have 15 computers.  I would love to do more testing on the computer but with my larger classes I don't have enough devices.  Plickers would be perfect for these classes because I am the only one who needs a device.  I could also use Plickers in the middle of a lesson.  It would be a quick way to get an assessment without getting out paper, taking a quiz, and then taking the time to collect and grade.