Our Turn IT On consultants have been discussing quick and easy ways to gather real-time formative assessment data from each pupil. They were looking for a way of quickly gathering anonymous answers from everyone in a class and collating the information with instant feedback, ideally a free alternative to the class sets of electronic devices, all requiring batteries which always seem to run out right when you need them.

Plickers was the favourite solution.

Plickers is a free app, available from the App Store and Google Play Store and you only need to install it on one teacher device.

The app is downloaded onto the teacher tablet or phone and each pupil is assigned and given a printed response card with a unique image, including letters A,B,C,D.
Using the app or logged in at picklers.com the teacher projects the question to the class on the board with multiple choice answers.
All pupils hold up their card with their answer upright at the top and the teacher uses the app to begin scanning the class.
All answers are scanned from the front of the class showing a real-time overlay of which answers are correct or incorrect and who is still to answer.
After all answers are scanned the correct answer is shown on the board, along with a bar chart of how the class answered. Each pupils answers can be seen and saved within the app.

The team have found this app to be a great hit in classes. Pupils answer more confidently thanks to the unique images and small font of the answers, meaning others in the class don’t see their answers and teachers find it an asset to collect and compare real-time formative feedback with just one device.