In our Design and Development II course (EDET 703,) we were tasked with investigating a Web 2.0 tool for teachers to use in their classroom. I chose Plickers, an instant feedback quiz tool. It is an affordable replacement for remote clickers, smart phones, tablets or laptops, where students hold up printed cards to reveal answers. Any teacher can use this tool if s/he has one smart phone and an internet connection.
The teacher scans the printed cards with his/her cell phone, and the app records answers and saves the data in the classes that are set up through the teacher's account. The answers are coded, so students can not copy the answer from each other. This is an effective way to provide instant feedback to students even when there is not a class set of computers.
 Screenshot from the app at the time of
scanning,
App indicates whose card has not
been scanned
|
 Example of a Plicker card that a student would reveal to the teacher |
To use Plickers, the teacher must create a classroom at plickers.com. In setting up the classroom, the teacher types in the students' names. The program will then assign a number to their name. The teacher distributes the numbered card with a distinct pattern to the student. To administer a quiz, the teacher may display the quiz on the projector or print and distribute paper copies of the questions. It is recommended that the cards be printed on card stock, distributed, and collected when the quiz is over. Laminating the cards for long-term use is not recommended, because the glare from the plastic interferes will scanning.
 The teacher can display a bar going across the answers to indicate the distribution of answers. |
 Or the teacher can reveal real-time answers from students. Additionally, teachers can reveal the correct answer on the board with these results. |
Students orient the answer card so that a, b, c, or d is at the top of the square, and the students will hold the card up for the teacher to view. The teacher scans the room with his/her cell phone, with names appearing in the app on the phone. The names of students that were scanned appear in the Plickers site. Teachers can choose the reveal correct answers to provide real-time feedback for students. After the quiz is completed, teachers can create reports, using the data to determing the tempo and direction of future lessons or to identify students who would benefit from remediation.
Teacher might employ an instant quiz for a variety of reasons:
Teachers with one-to-one technology might find the following quiz tools to be more attractive alternatives: Socrative, Quizalize, Quizbot, Kahoot and QuizStar. These tools do not require you to create distribute and collect cards. These tools not only record students' performance, they also track individual students' performance over time.
