Overview of Plickers
Plickers is an innovative, accessible, and engaging educational tool designed to facilitate classroom assessments and surveys without the need for individual student devices. Here’s a detailed look at what Plickers does and its key features:
How Plickers Works
Plickers operates through a simple yet effective system:
- Preparation: Teachers create classes and add student rosters on the Plickers website (plickers.com). They also prepare multiple-choice or true/false questions, which are organized into sets.
- In-Class Use: During class, teachers display the questions using the “Now Playing” feature on their laptop or computer. Students respond by holding up unique, paper-based voting cards, each with a barcode that corresponds to answer choices (A, B, C, D). The orientation of the card determines the student’s answer.
- Scanning and Results: The teacher uses the Plickers mobile app on their smartphone or tablet to scan the room, detecting the barcodes on the cards and recording each student’s response. The app instantly displays the results, which can be reviewed live or archived for later analysis.
Key Features
Accessibility
- Plickers is particularly beneficial in educational settings where student devices may be in short supply. It allows students to participate without needing individual electronic devices.
Customizable Cards
- The voting cards are free to print from the Plickers website and come in various formats, including larger fonts for younger students, making the tool highly adaptable to different learning needs.
Anonymous yet Individualized Results
- While the answers are anonymous to other students due to the small letters on the cards, teachers can identify which students submitted incorrect answers immediately after scanning. This information is also stored for later access.
Reporting and Analysis
- Both the free and paid versions of Plickers offer unlimited student reports. The paid version, Plickers Pro, allows for accessing student results with custom, unlimited date ranges.
Collaboration
- Plickers Pro enables teachers to create sets with an unlimited number of questions and share question packs with other Pro members, facilitating collaboration among educators.
Priority Support
- Users of Plickers Pro receive priority technical support, ensuring any issues are addressed promptly.
Versions and Pricing
Plickers offers both a free and a paid version:
- Free Version: Includes basic functions such as unlimited classes, students, and reports. Teachers can create sets with up to 5 questions and use layout templates to customize their questions.
- Plickers Pro: Available for $8.99/month, this subscription-based version adds features like creating sets with unlimited questions, sharing question packs, using images in questions, and accessing student results with custom date ranges. It also includes priority customer support.
Additional Benefits
- Offline Capability: Plickers sessions can be conducted even without an internet connection, making it versatile for various classroom environments.
- Engagement: The tool uses behaviorist principles to keep students engaged, as the assessment process is often perceived as fun and interactive.
In summary, Plickers is a versatile, user-friendly tool that enhances classroom assessments by providing instant feedback, promoting student engagement, and ensuring accessibility in diverse educational settings.