Plickers is a formative assessment tool designed to make the process as simple, quick, and easy for teachers as it should be.
This tool is already used by millions of teachers worldwide. This is thanks to an all-in solution that can be used on most iOS and Android smartphone devices with ease.
Since this works offline if needed and students use cards, no other devices or an internet connection are needed. This is designed to make accessibility as inclusive as possible, which is part of why it is so well-used by teachers internationally.
Being free to use makes Plickers even more appealing. This guide aims to explain what you need to know if you're considering Plickers for your class.
What is Plickers?
Plickers is an app-based polling tool that's designed to be used by teachers and students for formative assessment in class.
Usefully, this allows teachers to collect helpful data on student progress with an easy monitoring system. That can mean working on exit tickets, quick checks, or warm-ups to lessons, all within this framework.
This operates on a group scale so teachers can work through questions at scale with the class, while still keeping track of responses both in the moment and longer term.
How does Plickers work?
Plickers requires the teacher to use the app, perhaps on a smart device or, ideally, projected to a large display. They can pick questions from their own curated libraries or add questions as they go.
Teachers can print sets of Plickers cards for free, which range from the starter set of 40 to larger set of 63. Both are available in larger fonts and sizes. Cards, which all vary slightly, are also numbered 1-40 (or 1-63) as needed, so individual student answers can be identified and tracked.
Students are then all given cards that they present in different orientations to denote different responses to various questions. At this point these need to be scanned, using a smart device, which can be a bit of a pinch point if that doesn't go smoothly.
Teachers can project answers onto a screen automatically if desired. Crucially, responses are saved so that both students and teachers can see progress in that round of questioning.
What are the best Plickers features?
Plickers is very straight-forward to get to understand and use. It's super affordable since students don't even need devices to have their responses digitized.
The website offers helpful additions such as a scoresheet as well as question history reports, allowing teachers to track student progress over time.
Use of imagery is possible allowing for big picture-style question rounds, which can be an engaging way to get going before teaching a new subject while also assessing current knowledge.
This can be a useful polling tool as well as a question-and-assessment system. Thanks to the check-it-later assessment style, this is great for keeping track of all students without any issues of embarrassment based on giving back responses as you work along.
How much does Plickers cost?
Plickers is free to use but this is also a premium tier option for those teachers that want more.
The Free tier gets you all the features.
The Plickers Pro tier, at $71.88/year, has advanced content sharing and design allowing teachers to create Sets with unlimited questions, as well as collaboration to create with other Pro users.
Plickers best tips and tricks
Open up
Open a lesson or new subject using a set of questions to assess student knowledge before going further.
Mid-lesson
Use these questions mid-lesson as a way to refresh on what's been taught and also to keep students alert and focused.
Exit ticket
End with questions as a way to cement learning and see how students are taking in what's being taught.
