Making a necessary evil fun and engaging!

Student assessment. It happens in schools all around the US .. all the time! Student assessment can make your extremely nervous. It can also make you wish the class period would never end.

I had the chance to share some online assessment resources with a group of teachers in February. They could name all of the icons below... except one!

They couldn't figure out the top, left icon. That is the icon for The Answer Pad.

The Answer Pad, like the other programs, allows your to assess students in an interactive format.

One thing I like about The Answer Pad is the fact you don't have to have a certain device. You can access it from the website, iOS app, or Android app. This means BYOD classes can use The Answer Pad as well as a one-to-one environment.

Once you create your account, you can start using The Answer Pad without having to enter the first student or question. This is a plus for me!  This means one less login/password for students (and me) to remember. I can also ask questions on the fly, which means I am prepared for those teachable moments.

When you select the Quick Connect feature, students enter the session with a Connect Code.  Once they are in the session, you can ask a variety of questions. I personally love the drawing question. This may be a little difficult with a mouse, but it forces the students do to more than mark a letter.

The Likert Scale question is also a good question for self assessment.  Ask the students who well they feel they understand the material.

You will see the student answers on your screen, which allows you to quickly check who does and does not understand the concept being assessed.

This is an example of a student, Eva, selecting thumbs up for the Up/Down question.

The Answer Pad also allows you to create student accounts and make assessments ahead of time.  You can also pay a yearly fee for more features. 

For me, however, I like the options available to me in Quick Connect. I can assess my students on the fly using multiple question formats. It doesn't matter the device type and I can see the student responses immediately and adjust the lesson accordingly.

Have you ever tried The Answer Pad?  If so, tell us about your experience!

Formative Assessment Resources - Socrative and Plickers

Teachers use formative assessment strategies through out the day to assess his/her class's understanding of the concept being discussed. You can find multiple articles, websites, presentations, etc on different formative assessment resources and strategies.

There are online tools out there for teachers to use, including KaHoot, NearPod, Socrative, The Answer Pad, and Plickers.  Even though each one can be used to assess students throughout a lesson, they each have a uniqueness about them.

Last week, we explored KaHoot and NearPod. You can find that post here. This week, we are going to dive into Socrative and Plickers.

www.plickers.com

Plickers is unlike the other formative assessments tools, because the students do not need a piece of technology to participate. They only need a piece of paper!

To start off, teachers go to the Plickers website, create a free account, and create classes. You only need the student's first and last name to create the student accounts. Once the classes are made, you can print off the cards. These are how the students will answer the multiple choice or true/false questions you ask through out the lesson.

The cards look like QR codes (but they aren't) with a number on each corner. This number matches each student in the class you set up. There is also an A, B, C, D on each side.  When a student wants to select an answer, they hold the card with the answer pointing upward. The teacher uses the app to capture the cards.  As you scan each card, you can see if the students answered correctly or not.  You can scan multiple cards at one time, so it is not as time consuming as it might sound. The Plickers app is an iPhone app, but you can download it onto your iPad too.

Plickers does have support materials available for teachers here. You can access my Plickers Quick Guide here.

www.socrative.com

Socrative is a formative assessment resource that could also be used for summative and even diagnostic. Teachers can create a free account on Socrative and start using the resource within minutes!

When the teacher account is created, you are assigned a "room number". This is the number the students will use to join the quizzes and activities you create. The students can join using any device with Internet access on the website or using the downloadable student app.  Teachers can create "on-the-fly" questions or prepare a quiz for future use.  The created quizzes can be teacher-led or student-led. This is where the summative and diagnostic connections come in.  Student-led quizzes allow the students to work at their own pace. Questions can be in various formats, including multiple choice, true/false, and short answer.  Reports can be accessed in multiple formats as well.

Socrative does have support materials available for teachers here. You can access my Socrative Quick Guide here.  

Do you use either one of these resources in your classroom? Share your thoughts with us!

Formative Assessment Resources - KaHoot and NearPod

Teachers use formative assessment strategies through out the day to assess his/her class's understanding of the concept being discussed. You can find multiple articles, websites, presentations, etc on different formative assessment resources and strategies.

There are online tools out there for teachers to use, including KaHoot, NearPod, Socrative, The Answer Pad, and Plickers.  Even though each one can be used to assess students throughout a lesson, they each have a uniqueness about them.

Today, I'm going to talk about two of those resources - KaHoot and NearPod.

www.getkahoot.com

KaHoot has taken the edtech world by storm!  Were you one of the participants in largest KaHoot game at FETC 2015?

KaHoot is one of those resources that pull you in from the get-go and I think it has something to do with the competitive nature in all of us.

KaHoot is a free resource that students can participate with on any web accessible device. Teachers can create multiple choice quizzes, two answer discussions, and two answer surveys.  The quizzes are most popular with students. Students earn points for answering correctly and the quickest.  After each question, the top 5 point earners is displayed along with a graph of how many people answered A, B, C, or D. The students love the points, but the teachers love the graph. You can see immediately if the class understands the question being asked or not.

After each KaHoot game, teachers can dive deeper into the reports, looking at how each student did on each question.  The reports can be downloaded or saved to your Google Drive account.

KaHoot does have support materials available for teachers here. You can also check out my blog post about KaHoot here. You can access my KaHoot Quick Guide here.

www.nearpod.com

NearPod is a resource I first saw in action a few years ago in a gifted classroom.  The teacher was reviewing information about their theme and wanted to make sure the students understood before they started their projects.  NearPod was the perfect resource!

NearPod is available for free and subscription.  NearPod is web-based, but you can also download their app on an iOS device and through Google Play.

Teachers created a lesson on NearPod using either content screens or activity screens.  On the free account, the content screens include a single slide, a video, or a slide show and the activity screens include open response, poll, quiz, or draw it.

To start the lesson, the students use the session code provided by the teacher.  Once in the session, the teacher can control which screen the students see.  When an activity screen appears, the teacher can see how each student responds. This information lets the teacher know if she/he can move forward or needs to reteach. After the session ends, the teacher can review the data further within the reports area of NearPod.

NearPod does have support materials available for teachers here. You can access my NearPod Quick Guide here.

What are your thoughts on Kahoot and NearPod? Do you use them in the classroom?  Tell us about your experience!