Learning Technology Guide - DEV

Plickers*

assessment

What is it?

Plickers is a student response system that allows instructors to collect quick responses through a mobile device by scanning students’ paper-based response cards.

What is its purpose?

Plickers is a tool that instructors use to assess students, grade theie answers, and compile immediate results in the classroom.

How do I use it?

To use Plickers, you can create an account on Plickers.com and download the app on your mobile device. 

After creating the account, questions are added using the Plickers Dashboard. 

 

After creating the test set, instructors are provided with an option to run the quiz in the classroom. Instructors scan the room using the Plickers mobile app to record  student response, leading to automatic report generation on the Plicker's backend. Results are consolidated and available on the Plickers platform to download.

Why would I use it?

The Plickers app can give teachers a snapshot of learner understanding, from which they can identify student needs and knowledge gaps that can then be addressed in real-time or during follow-up lessons.

Quick Facts
Category
Study Tool
Rating Level 
Web Search
Website
Plickers*
Last Modified
18 October 2022
Created
16 September 2022
License Available 
No
More Info

Security Concerns
Yes
Technical Support 
Vendor
Platform(s) 
IOS, Android, Mac, Windows

Ratings Information

CITL Rating

Select any category below for details about the criteria for each rating.

Functionality: ★★☆
Scale:★★☆
Minor Concerns. A class of up to 63 students can use Plickers because there are a maximum of 63 possible barcode patterns.
Ease of Use:★★★
Works Well.
Tech Support/Help Availability (for Instructors):★★☆
Minor Concerns. No campus-wide technical support is available. Technical support is provided by vendor.
Tech Support/Help Availability (for Students):★★☆
Minor Concerns. No campus-wide technical support is available. Technical support is provided by vendor.
Hypermediality :★★☆
Minor Concerns. Plickers allow users to add images to add depth to the questions and increase classroom engagement.
Accessibility: ★★☆
Accessibility Standards:★☆☆
Serious Concerns. The tool fails to meet accessibility guidelines (i.e. W3C WCAG 2.0 standards). Plickers do have a little degree of accessibility. The question must be clear to the students as it appears on the projected screen, and they must be able to orient their cards correctly.
User-focused participation:★★★
Works Well. Plickers are made to cater to a range of user demands, literacies, and skills.
Required Equipment:★★★
Works Well. Instructors require tablets or smartphones, while students need voting cards which can be printed using any regular printer.
Technical: ★★★
Integration/Embedding within a Learning Management System (LMS) :★★☆
Minor Concerns. The Plickers tool cannot be embedded as an HTML in our Learning Management System (LMS). However, grades generated from Plickers can be integrated with the Brightspace grade book by uploading the csv.
Operating Systems:★★★
Works Well. Plickers can be effectively accessed by users on Windows 10, Apple OSX, Android, and IOS.
Web Browser:★★★
Works Well. Any standard up-to-date web browsers(Chrome, Safari, IE, Brave etc.) can effectively access Plickers.
Additional Technical Requirements:★★★
Works Well. Without downloading any software or adding any browser extensions, users can use the tool easily.
Mobile Design: ★★★
Access:★★★
Works Well. Plickers work on a variety of mobile devices (laptops, android tablets, iPads)
Functionality:★★★
Works Well.
Offline Access:★★★
Works Well. Plickers offers an offline mode where instructors can scan students' Plickers cards. Responses are later uploaded to the cloud when the device has an internet connection.
Usage and Account Set Up: ★★☆
Sign Up/Sign In:★★☆
Minor Concerns. An instructor account is required, but learners are not required to create an external account or additional log in.
Cost of Use:★★☆
Minor Concerns. Limited aspects (Max limit on questions) of the tool can be used for free; an individual has to buy Plickers Pro for full access.
Archiving, Saving, and Exporting Data :★★★
Works Well. Users can archive, save, or import and export content or activity data as a PDF or CSV.
Data Privacy and Ownership:★★☆
Minor Concerns. Users maintain ownership and copyright of their intellectual property/data; data is shared public-ally (to “third party-business partners” for targeted advertising) and cannot be made private.
Social Presence: ★★☆
Collaboration :★★☆
Minor Concerns. The tool has the capacity to support a community of learning through synchronous but not asynchronous opportunities for communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users.
User Accountability:★★★
Works Well. Instructors can control learner anonymity. Each student may be given a separate Plickers card, which the instructor can designate, and associate the student's name with it for identification purposes.
Diffusion:★★☆
Minor Concerns. The tool is not widely known and popular, but it's easy to use and engage.
Teaching Presence: ★★★
Facilitation:★★★
Works Well. The tool has easy-to-use features that would significantly improve an instructor’s ability to be present with learners via active management, monitoring, and engagement.
Customization:★★★
Works Well. Plickers is adaptable to its environment: it can be easily customized to suit the classroom context and targeted learning outcomes.
Learning Analytics:★★★
Works Well. Instructor can monitor learners’ performance on a variety of responsive measures. These measures can be accessed through a user-friendly dashboard.
Cognitive Presence: ★★★
Enhancement of Cognitive Task(s):★★☆
Minor Concerns. The tool enables functional improvement to engagement in the targeted cognitive task(s).
Higher Order Thinking:★★★
Works Well. Use of Plickers easily facilitates learners to exercise higher order thinking skills (given consideration to design, facilitation, and direction from instructor).
Feedback on Learning:★★★
Works Well. Through Plickers, learners can regularly receive formative feedback on learning (i.e. they can track their performance, monitor their improvement, test their knowledge, etc.)

Security and Privacy

This service is not offered by Memorial University and has not been reviewed by Information Management and Protection.

Support Information

Plickers has a comprehensive Getting Started section that answers basic questions about installation, quick setup, test set creation, response scanning, etc.

The Plickers support team provide help over email.

 

Note: Instructional Support is available through CITL. Please connect with Learning Technology Coaches for assistance ltc_citl@mun.ca or visit the Teaching and Learning Exchange in ED 1001, St. John’s Campus.

Note: Instructional Support is available through CITL. Please connect with Learning Technology Coaches for assistance ltc_citl@mun.ca or visit the Teaching and Learning Exchange in ED 1001, St. John’s Campus.

Contact

Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

230 Elizabeth Ave, St. John's, NL, CANADA, A1B 3X9

Postal Address: P.O. Box 4200, St. John's, NL, CANADA, A1C 5S7

Tel: (709) 864-8000