Plickers Provide a Free, Easy Resource for Formative Assessment

Teachers at Ocean City Intermediate and Primary Schools in NJ just experienced two days of Professional Development filled with in-class coaching support and model lesson demonstrations. NJCTL's Melissa Axelsson demonstrated effective teaching methods using our SMART Notebook presentations. When it came time for the formative assessment questions, Plicker cards were used for a quick way to poll the entire class.

Plickers are a free resource found at https://www.plickers.com/. Teachers can use these cards and an internet connected device with a camera to quickly scan the room and collect the answers. Students hold up a unique card, turning it to include the multiple choice answer they select to the top. The teacher then anonymously displays the results so the class can debate the correct response. To enable teachers to use this easy, free resource, NJCTL has been switching over our formative assessment question types to all be multiple choice.