Tag Archives: student response systems

by | May 24, 2020 · 9:37 am

Asking and Promoting Effective Questions

“Questioning is one of the thinking processing skills which is structurally embedded in the thinking operation of critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem-solving”
(Cuccio‐Schirripa & Steiner, 2000, p. 210).

 

Young children as natural inquirers

Young children ask an estimated 10,000 questions per year before they begin formal schooling (Harris, 2012). Preschoolers increasingly use questions to seek information. These questioning skills develop rapidly during infancy and the elementary school years. Elementary school students develop the ability to ask precise questions to receive accurate information (Ronfard, et al., 2017).

 

Who asks the most questions in the classroom?

Despite young children’s natural inclination to ask questions, previous research shows that children rarely ask questions at school compared to teachers who usually ask predominantly rote memory questions, at rates of 1–3 questions per minute (Gall, 1971; Susskind, 1969; Susskind,1979; Ronfard, et al., 2017).

 

Why might some students refrain from questioning?

Research shows that questioning drops in school and classroom environments compared to home when teachers take an authoritarian stance, or when students’ questions are regarded as ‘stupid’, as providing an ‘impolite challenge’ or as adding to current stress (Ronfard, et al. 2017).

It is important for teachers to develop students’ curiosity not only by asking questions but also by encouraging students to develop their own questions, thus owning their learning process.

Students’ ability to ask good questions has multifold benefits according to Chin & Osborne (2008).

For students:

  • Allows them to direct their own learning
  • Fosters discussion
  • Helps with self-evaluation
  • Arouses their curiosity thus increasing motivation and interest in a topic

For teachers:

  • Helps them diagnose students’ understanding, thus acting as formative assessment
  • Evaluates higher-order thinking skills
  • Allows for further inquiry into the topic
  • Invites critical reflection on classroom practices

 

Recommendations:

Below are several recommendations for asking effective questions in various subjects, as well as encouraging your students to come up with their own questions!

 

Create A ‘Cognitive Disequilibrium’

To stimulate students’ question-asking and spark students’ curiosity, teachers might set up some kind of ‘cognitive disequilibrium’ in the classroom, through confronting students with gaps of knowledge, obstacles to goals, unusual events, projecting contrasts, and decisions that require choosing between alternatives (Chin & Osborne, 2008).

Stimulate Curiosity Through Observation

Providing stimulating prompts for observation is an effective way to stimulate curiosity. One example is provided by Tammy, an upper elementary school teacher, is encouraging students to observe, then investigate observations through writing questions, and classifying them to searchable and investigative questions. Teachers can then build lessons based on students’ interests.

In Social Studies

The Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet (provided by the Global Digital Citizen Foundation) offers questions to promote critical thinking on any given topic, especially when students are to explore or discuss new information.

In Novels

Questions could be used to promote critical thinking and deeper understanding when reading novels. Through suggesting choices about different possible scenarios as well as using close-ended and open-ended questions, students are encouraged to think, allowing the advance of cognitive and emotional processing. Elaboration using the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” could be found here.

In Mathematics

Questions could be used not only as a prompt to start exploration but also throughout the work to stimulate thinking, encourage students to reflect on their work, make connections, and help them share their representations.

Consider the following prompts provided by the Ontario Ministry of Education in their  special edition (#21) of the  Capacity Building Series on asking effective questions, which help students:

  • Share their presentations

(How have you shown your thinking- e.g., picture, model, number, sentence? )

  • Reflect on their work

(What questions arose as you worked?)

  • Make connections

(When do you see this math at home?)

  • Share feelings, attitudes and beliefs about mathematics

(How do you feel about mathematics?)

  • Retell

(How did you solve the problem? What did you learn today? What were the steps involved?)

  • Predict, invent or problem solve

(How are adding and multiplying the same? What would happen if ..?)

More examples of questions could be found in the previously mentioned document.

In Science

In attempt to make individuals critical consumers of scientific knowledge, the ability to ask good thinking questions is an important component of scientific literacy (Chin & Osborne, 2008).

In science education, strategies to enhance students’ question-asking as recommended by Chin & Osborne (2008) are:

Teacher modelling and use of appropriate stimuli, questions prompts, and taxonomies

  • Teach student categories of question types that differ in the nature of higher-order thinking skills
  • Provide sample self-questions that focus on specific cognitive processes (e.g., comparing, analysing, predicting, hypothesising, explaining)

Structuring tasks through use of physical support, time and targeted activities

  • Encourage students to record their questions in a learning journal, allowing them to think about gaps in their knowledge and allowing the instructor to modify instruction to address students’ needs.
  • Establish a problem corner where students can supply problems of the week (Jelly, 1985)
  • Allow shy students to take the time to craft their questions through email or discussion forums
  • Encourage students to write questions to be used in the evaluation (Eisner, 1965; Zoller, 1994)

 Providing social support

  • Provide a warm classroom climate with low criticism
  • Provide praise to those who invent questions, avoid repression
  • Encourage students to ask questions that help them find relationship and coherence in search of understanding

 

How to encourage students to come up with their own questions?

According to The Right Question Institute, the skill of Question Formulation has several benefits:

  • providing learners the cognitive skills to solve real-world problems
  • shifting the view of ignorance from a weakness to an opportunity
  • aiding in arriving at better questions
  • increasing engagement
  • adding joy in learning and researching

 Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana of the Right Question Institute developed 6 steps in the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) for educators to help students formulate their own questions.

Step 1: Present with a question focus (QFocus) that is not in the form of a question (a prompt which could be an image, primary source, etc.)

Step 2: Encourage students to pose questions about question focus while following the four rules

  1. Ask as many questions as you can.
  2. Do not stop to judge, discuss, or answer questions.
  3. Write down every question exactly as stated.
  4. Change any statement into a question.

Step 3: Identify different types of questions (open-ended or closed-ended), transform questions to the other type, and add to the list.

Step 4: Students prioritise questions

Step 5: Educator and students discuss next steps

Step 6: Students reflect on the process of asking questions, and move into next steps

For more elaboration, you could read this article on QFT by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana.

Always remember that children are young inquirers and their ability to develop precise questioning skills strengthens with age, given the supportive environment- so let’s create that!

Guest Post: Nashwa Khedr, EDCP graduate student, project assistant 2020

References:

Chin, C & Osborne, J (2008). Students’ questions: a potential resource for teaching and learning science, Studies in Science Education, 44(1), pp. 1-39, DOI: 10.1080/03057260701828101

Cuccio-Schirripa, S., & Steiner, H.E. (2000). Enhancement and analysis of science question level for middle school students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37, 210–224.

Gall, M. (1971.) The use of questions in teaching. Review of Educational Research, 40, pp. 707-721.

Harris, P. L. (2012). Trusting What You’re Told: How Children Learn from Others. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Minigan, A. P., Westbrook, S. Rothstein, D, and Santana, L. (2017). Stimulating and Sustaining Inquiry with Students’ Questions. Social Education 81(5), National Council for the Social Studies. pp. 268-272

Ronfard, S., Zambrana, I. M., Hermansen, T. K. & Kelemen, D. (2017). Question-asking in childhood: A review of the literature and a framework for understanding its development. Developmental Review, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2018.05.002

Susskind, E. (1969). Questioning and curiosity in the elementary school classroom. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Yale University.

Susskind, E. (1979). Encouraging teachers to encourage children’s curiosity a pivotal competence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 8(2).

Ontario Ministry of Education (July 2011). Asking Effective Questions. Capacity Building Series. Special Edition no. 21 Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/cbs_askingeffectivequestions.pdf

 

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by | October 16, 2018 · 6:06 pm

Creating an Inclusive Environment through Digital Tech (LLED 360 – ELL)

BC’s classrooms and school populations are evolving which includes a growing number of English Language Learners who are entitled to support. To help Teacher Candidates in LLED 360 begin to consider this need, we worked with some instructors and their classes with some digital tools that will help ALL students, including ELLs.

Image the creation of Dr. Ruben Puentedura, Ph.D. http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/

We discussed the theory behind selecting tools – specifically for ELLs and inclusive educational environments – by creating the distinction between tools for instruction and tools for learning. This was followed by taking that knowledge and applying it to the needs of ELLs based on their language proficiency levels. I also want to add that the class brought up the importance of a teacher evaluating a digital tool using the SAMR model. (Watch this SHORT video)

Afterward, we launched into Padlet to access TCs background knowledge on Digital Technologies and how they are currently being used in the classroom. This activity frames our conversations but also models how you can engage a Language Learner by giving them models to read, vocabulary to borrow, and time to think before providing an answer.

Padlet allows the creator to curate responses (a.k.a posts) and then select what format to view them in – we used a Wall so everyone could post at the same time but then we transitioned it to a Stream so that we could read responses one at a time. We then looked at other features of Padlet and discussed how it specifically supports ALL learners in a classroom. We also saw that the teacher is able to moderate the wall – a valuable affordance! A low tech version of this would be sticky notes or placemats or writing on the walls… with the limitation that not all learners can see at a glance the contributions of others… That said, it also allows for more movement when we write on the walls or circulate in a gallery walk!

In Margaret Early’s section, she introduced REWORDIFY – an online application that allows users to enter text and simplify it. This is great for teachers to adapt text for their students so that they can access the content and recognize key content vocabulary.

The second portion of  her class focused on Student Response Systems (SRS) and specifically how using the ESRU model allows these digital tools to be used for formative assessment (read more on the ESRU model HERE). Margaret and I each led a session based on groups modeled after classroom stations.

The Student Response System/All-class response or SRS tools we tried out where Plickers and Socrative, The third option, but we ran out of time, was for TCs to self-teach themselves Kahoot or Quizalize. The big takeaway is that these tools don’t have to be used only for summative assessment at the end of a lesson. They can be used for a K/W/L (know, wonder, learned), as a temperature check to immediately find out who needs support or to change the direction of a lesson, or as an exit ticket to inform the teacher of what to review or spend more time on in the following lesson.  

We also had some great questions brought up in class regarding screen time and youth. After discussing with Yvonne, she recommended Screen Time for Young Children  and Digital Media and screen time Guidelines for children and youth from the Canadian Pediatric Society which discusses this concern. I’ve also included a Canadian Guidelines of Physical Activity because it includes recommendations for teens, not just young children. Teachers can also educate their own students about appropriate uses of technology and model the transformative creative aspects it provides.

Slides from Margaret’s class:

In Kyle Stooshnov’s section, we focussed on multi-modal student response using ‘WhiteBoard style applications’ including Explain Everything, Showme and Puppet Edu which are common apps in local districts. We took the time to ‘play’ with Showme since it’s a free option TCs could download.

Using a Digital Whiteboard in a group allows TCs to practice their oral language as they worked together to accomplish a specific task. TC’s were challenged to use the ShowMe App to share how to make a paper airplane as a way to explore the benefits (and challenges) of using Digital Whiteboards. They were able to take photos, add text, draw their own arrows and if we had more time they would have also been able to narrate their presentations in-app.

Lastly, we discussed the resources available on the Scarfe Digital Website. We appreciate all the feedback TCs provided so we can make changes and improve it.

The slides below were used in Kyle’s class and include Digital Whiteboard resources which differ from the slides used in Margaret’s class.

Another approach we discussed was incorporating a ‘backchannel’ for students to ask their questions or make comments as they occur to them during a lesson. The teacher might watch the channel or simply review it afterwards and address it later in the lesson or the next day… There are many tools to help with this approach including some of those explored for All-Class Response. A backchannel can provide ‘student voice’ by letting them post questions throughout without needing to raise their hands or feel like they’re interrupting. It can also provide some anonymity for learners and some formative assessment for the teacher. In conversation with some school district admin, learning to leverage the backchannel was mentioned as valuable for early career teachers. Recognize that it exists and leverage it when possible.

When selecting a tool, consider carefully your needs, access and whether it is valuable for students to view the responses of others in real time or if it is better for only the teacher to see responses (i.e. moderate responses). Deciding on your purpose and knowing which tools afford which options is important.  Teams or Google Classroom are in use in many SDs and will provide backchannel options.

A NO TECH version of a backchannel chat could be a question box or a parking lot poster on the wall. Students have sticky notes, cards or notepaper and record questions as they occur to them. Students can share their notes in the box or on the poster during a break or as they wish/need to move (when and how they share depends on their needs and yours… are you comfortable with students standing and moving while you are speaking or while others are speaking? do you have students who NEED regular movement breaks? can you schedule a time for everyone to move? Another NO TECH approach is a snowball – students record their ideas/questions and crumple and toss… a bit chaotic but, depending on your needs and the environment, valuable!

It was a pleasure working with the group of soon to become Educators! If you’d like to explore anything related to teaching, learning and digital technology further, please be in touch or click the ‘Ask a Question’ link in this blog.

 

Additional Resources

Colourful Handouts

Padlet Instructions | Socrative Instructions | Plickers Instructions | Kahoot Instructions| Quizalize Getting Started Guide

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by | October 11, 2018 · 5:34 pm

Tech Integration for Secondary Science (EDCP 467 – Junior Science)

Walking away from this afternoon’s session working with Secondary Jr. Science Methods TCs and their instructor Leslie Johnstone, I realized I hadn’t taken a single photo to help capture the engagement in the classroom. Ah, well, the moment will live in my brain at least ;D. Below are some promised links and notes about our session. 

We utilized one of the Scarfe Teaching and Learning Studios (Scarfe 1007) to provide a stations based approach allowing some student movement and choice (and to be sure students know that these ‘student priority’ spaces are available for them to use!). After a brief introduction in Prezi to five themes of technology integration, students had 10 minute opportunities to dip their toes into each theme at facilitated and self-directed stations.

Remember, in a Secondary Science classroom, especially if students are new to cooperative learning, I would advise creating groupings in advance of class. The groupings might be homogeneous or heterogeneous and based on any number of factors including ability or interest  depending on the objectives of the teacher and the needs of the students. Sometimes, randomized groupings can be used and have the added benefit of introducing students to opportunities to interact with many different members of the class. There are many online options. GroupMind, a lovely little App developed by Louai Rahal an Education PHD student & instructor I met a few years ago, is free and open for you to use with no sign up required. For more on groupings, this article by Beatrice A. Ward (1987) is worth a read.

Our themes:

  1. Whole class student response – We discussed the value of incorporating approaches including digital technologies that move beyond ‘teacher asks question’, ‘students raise hands and respond one at a time’. Students had the opportunity to put their ‘teaching hats on’ and explore Padlet or Kahoot. Some might have seen this station as a wee bit off task as students became pretty engaged in playing ‘Halloween’ Kahoot… Still, with a little prompting, students were also considering issues including
    • Student privacy (Kahoot and Padlet do not require students to login or give personal info!)
    • What constitutes an effective question?
    • How might gaming and competition impact student learning and how might it be leveraged or tempered…?
  2.  Video and Simulations in the Science classroom – afford the opportunity for students to try experiments that might be otherwise impossible or, perhaps, just inaccurate if done hands-on. Sims and video can also support varied learners including ELLs in pre-playing or re-playing hands-on experiments. Check out PHET for some free, open access sims.  For some amazing video experiments, see: Olympian vs. Toaster and Evolution of Bacteria on a Megaplate
  3. Google Tour Creator – Sharon Hu, Learning Design Strategist, shared the possibilities of creating a 360° VR environment that offers an immersive experience learners can explore on their own. Students found out how to use existing templates (ranging from human anatomy to the solar system) and how a group of learners can customize and annotate the template and use it as a collaborative storytelling tool.
  4. Teachers and students can create their own videos, digital stories and multimedia presentations using a variety of freely available tools including (but not limited to) Viva Video and Sway. *As UBC students, faculty and staff, we have access to some robust proprietary applications including:
    • Camtasia (we’ll look at this one in another workshop!)
    • VideoScribe (the animated hand we tried out today)<
    • UBC Students, staff and faculty can download these and other applications either through ‘Canvas’ (click on Help  and select ‘Software Distribution’) or through UBContheHub.
  5. Augmented Reality – How might this emerging technology increase learning through rich media experiences and ‘hands’-on access to otherwise unaccessible objects or media? Does it go beyond toy?
    1. Theodore Gray’s Elements – interact with the periodic tables on a handheld device (this one is a paid app but very powerful and worth chatting with your school librarian about!)
    2. Science 360 – an app and website that houses a large database of science videos and content
    3. Leslie had fun sharing Curioscope Virtual-i-tee – a very cool AR T-shirt & accompanying App that allows students to peer inside the human body
    4. Merge Cube – this $15 AR spongy cube & accompanying free apps allow students to hold the the beating human heart, lungs, the earth and even the entire solar system in their hands! The ‘hologram’ that appears in your VR headset, ipad or smartphone is interactive to an extent (you can see different sides of an object by turning the cube or with a swipe or tap, adjust the view, see annotations, or even look inside of the object)
    5. StarWalk – allows you to see the night sky ‘in real time’ at any given place or time. Hold it up to view the horizon or sky above you; hold it down to the floor and see through to the southern hemisphere. This app is transformative in that without such an app, students really have a difficult time visualizing the movement of the celestial sphere (and we definitely can’t show them this during the school day!).

It was a pleasure working with the group of soon to become Educators! If you’d like to explore anything related to teaching, learning and digital technology further, please be in touch or click the ‘Ask a Question’ link in this blog. Look for Eric in the foyer on Wednesdays or visit Janis or Yvonne in a drop in or workshop sometime this winter! Schedule here.

Cheers!

Yvonne

 

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by | February 12, 2018 · 11:39 am

Word Clouds

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A word cloud is a cluster of words that responsively shows most used words as larger or more pronounced that lesser used words. It is a form of data visualization sometimes called ‘text’ or ‘tag’ clouds. You sometimes see a word cloud to represent the tags used for posts on a blog.

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A word cloud allows you to represent the most important or most used information in a single graphic. One might create a word cloud using a paragraph or two of text in order to visually tease out relevant information or you might use a word cloud to represent the results of a brainstorm or group discussion.

illustration of a word cloud from wordsift.org

Word cloud of text from this post using wordsift.org

Word clouds are excellent for visualizing the attributes of a character, the key points in a plot or features of a civilization. I’ve even used word clouds as a way of having students share their observations of a particular place, field trip location or image/video. Word clouds also make fun gifts… have a group of people share words to describe someone they wish to thank, then share the cloud with the recipient! Perfect for framing! Depending on your purpose, there will be a ‘tool for you’!

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Steps:

  • Determine your purpose or objectives
  • Select a tool that meets your needs
    • Keep in mind data privacy as you make your selection – avoid tools that require personal information or login.
    • If you want multiple people/students to add to the word cloud, select an all class response tool that allows co-creation.
  • Add your text and create. In most Word Cloud applications, you can also manipulate the text to an extent using themes, colours, font, orientation, shape. Typically, you can also limit the number of words and eliminate select words.

Co-creation tools (multiple people can add words to a single cloud in real time):

    • Answer Garden – this is a student response system (no login required) where you can launch a particular question for a brainstorm, gather responses from a group and a word cloud is autogenerated.
      • A quick and visual way to share the results of a brainstorm!
      • No sign up needed (by teacher or students).
      • Teacher can set up an Admin password and make various adjustments/moderate resposnes.
      • The ‘AnswerGarden’ can be embedded in a Canvas page (find embed code in ‘share’ settings)
      • Students can access and respond from within Canvas.
      • Drawback: When using the direct link to the ‘garden’, there are large banner ads. These do not appear in the Canvas embed.
    • MentiMeter – is quite a powerful all class or student response system.
      • allows multiple question types and a variety of data visualization options (scatter plot, bar graphs, charts, text bubbles, word cloud and more).
      • Menti requires teacher sign up but no student sign up.
      • The Menti ‘live presentation’ can be embedded in Canvas.
      • Drawback: Students access and contribute via menti.com using a join code (not directly in Canvas)

Individual Tools (copy and paste a block of text to create a word cloud):

  • WordSift.org is my preferred site since it was created and is maintained by a Stanford grad student and is the result of a grant project linked to an academic institution! They even include a ‘theory’ section including references and several useful teaching tips on their website. With WordSift, users can upload/paste text, create and manipulate word clouds and capture the results in moments. It has an intuitive interface with no login required and plenty of tutorial info. There is so much potential here for the creative user or educator! Once created, select on an individual word to see a visual map thesaurus (much like ThinkMap above!), see words ‘in context’, definitions and images. Use the settings wheel to adjust number of words, orientation & more.
  • WordClouds.com allows you to paste a block of text to create a custom word cloud. The cloud can be ‘masked’ with a visible shape or ‘unmasked’ (without a border or visible shape). When you arrive at wordclouds.com, select File, New Word Cloud –> File, Paste/type text (or import from URL or file upload!)

Unique uses of WordClouds for visualization:

  • ThinkMap Visual Thesaurus: Word clouds or maps autogenerated when you enter a word into the thesaurus! (free trial only or paid subscription needed)

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by | February 9, 2018 · 3:32 pm

Socrative.com

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Socrative is an online assessment tool that allows teachers to assess students through the use of cloud-shared quizzes, exit slips, and informal question prompts.
The students can take the quizzes using their smartphones and laptops and teachers can see immediate feedback. Teachers are able to write quizzes using Socrative’s web applet and are also able to see statistics evaluating a student’s performance. Socrative also allows teachers create team learning games. Quiz question options include multiple choice, true/false, and short answer. Quizzes that a teacher creates can be exported and downloaded, so teachers are able to share quizzes with other teachers.

 

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Deploying Socrative quizzes works well within a classroom setting, allowing students to use any electronic device to submit their answers. Socrative offers flexibility to teachers when it comes to how they would like to deploy Socrative quizzes. Socrative gives the ability to launch pre-created quizzes through:

  • a Regular Quiz
    • Students will complete the quiz by answering one question after another.
  • a Space Race
    • Students will be organized into teams and will compete against each other in seeing who can answer the most questions quickest.

Teachers can also utilize an Exit Ticket option to allow students to give feedback about the class and have a field for them to answer a question you pose. You can use this option as a mandatory quiz for students to complete before they are able to exit the class (as the name suggests.)

Socrative can deploy “quick questions.” This is useful for cases where a teacher has not previously prepared to ask a specific question in class, but would like to see immediate feedback. These “quick questions” can be Multiple Choice, True/False, or Short Answer.

*Keep in mind that multiple choice/selection questions are the most difficult to create well, so pre-planning them is always optimal.

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Create a quiz

  • Sign up for a Socrative account at socrative.com
  • Create a quiz by going into the Quizzes tab, then click “+ Add quiz”
  • Give your Quiz a name, and build your first question by choosing multiple choice, t/f, or short answer.
  • Add an explanation to your answer for more completeness.
  • Save the question, continue building your quiz.
  • Once you have finished, click Save & Exit and launch your quiz.

Launch

  • Click into the launch tab, and choose whether you’d like to deploy your quiz as a regular quiz, a space race game, or an exit ticket.
  • Choose your quiz, choose your delivery method (instant feed back, open navigation, teacher-paced)
  • Give out your Room Code and ask your students to input it into here to participate: https://b.socrative.com/login/student
  • Once your students are finished the quiz, click the finish button, and click the view Chart button to see the results of your students.

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by | December 19, 2017 · 5:58 pm

Poll Everywhere

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Poll Everywhere is an interactive tool that allows you to engage with your audience and receive responses and/or feedback in real-time. It is a very popular tool used around the world by educators in various fields with audiences both big and small.

 

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Poll Everywhere can be used when trying to gauge your students’ understanding of various topics in class, making it a valuable assessment tool to track the class’s progress. It can also be used to receive feedback or spark a discussion. As the instructor, you can create questions and responses. The students then select their responses and submit them as a text message, or through a tablet or laptop. Responses are received in real time and can be displayed to you and your audience.

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In order to begin, you will need to create an account. Depending on your needs, you may sign up for a free account which allows you to have up to 40 responses per poll, or you can enroll as a student or instructor for a fee (USD).

Once the account is active, you can begin to create questions, including multiple choice, Q & A, open-ended, and more. You can even create interactive word clouds and upload images. In addition, you may also choose how you wish to display the results.

Questions you’ve created will be saved to your account and can be reused with various “groups” (or classes). In addition, there are extensions that can be added to your computer or laptop so that Poll Everywhere can be incorporated into different applications such as Google Slides, Powerpoint or Keynote.

After you have completed your questions, you will be given a URL and/or number that students can use to submit their responses. As soon as responses are received, a graph will begin to load showing the results.

 

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by | July 18, 2017 · 12:54 pm

Plickers – Student Response System

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 ‘Plickers’ is a free Student Response or All-Class Response System (SRS), useful for those without access to one-to-one devices in the classroom. All you need are some downloadable and printable class cards, the Plickers app, and one handheld device. The students hold their cards up based on their answer (A, B, C, D), the teacher scans the cards from anywhere in the classroom using a smartphone, tablet or iPad, and the responses are automatically entered.

You and the class can view a graph of responses if you connect your computer to a projector (without your students seeing who provided which individual response). Teachers can ask multiple choice questions or yes/no questions and can save the results of each quiz or poll in their teacher account.

NEW: Plickers now has hybrid and online mode for using plickers face to face, online (or in both modes at once!). The Plickers question editor allows you to include advanced mathematical and scientific equations. In addition, the ability to include images, Gifs, sound and other multimodal features might add a more gameified feel!

 

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Regular check-ins with your students during instruction aids formative assessment and future planning. Teachers often use thumbs up/down or hands up or fingers to try to gauge understanding or interest but these ‘systems’ can be difficult if not impossible to track. Plickers allows you to save the individual student responses (and you don’t need to ‘give away’ any of your students’ information to do so).

Plickers can even be used in the gym or outdoors (be sure to download the large sized cards if using in large spaces). This youtube video shares how one teacher uses a ‘magnet version of Plickers’ called ‘Plagnets’ in a PHE class.

Many teachers lack access to individual devices needed to use other student response systems (iClickers, Socrative, Menti, Kahoot and others). With Plickers, all you need is an app, one device and printable cards for your students. Some excellent features include (excerpts below from Plickers.com):

1. Scoresheet: “review your students’ results over multiple questions. Use it to spot learning trends with students, identify questions to review from a unit, or even get grading done faster.”

2. Individual Student Reports: On the left panel of Scoresheet, you can print individual student reports or save them as a PDF. The first sheet provides an overall class average and lists the 3 most commonly missed questions for you to save for your records, while the remaining pages contain individual student reports including the question and answer choice selected.
This resource can be used in a second language classroom such as French Immersion, Core French, etc.

More information about features is available   on the Zendesk on the Plickers website.

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Go to Plickers.com and set up a free teacher account. When you select ‘classes’, you will be prompted to enter student names or aliases which will automatically be assigned to a plicker card number. If you teach multiple classes, you can simply create a new class and add the new students and there’s no need to have a separate set of plickers cards since the app easily lets you toggle between your classes.
Now all you need to do is think of some excellent questions – remember, the questions you ask can make or break an assessment opportunity. Think carefully about your questions. I’d also suggest having a few ‘generic’ questions (i.e. temperature checks, checks for understanding) that you can use at any time regardless of subject or content.
Plickers Quick Start Instructions

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