Kathleen Trousdale

Individualized Project: Plickers in the classroom

Dr. Dogan

November 27, 2017

 Technology has been growing within our society at a rapid pace. When I was in high

school, work was typically done with the aid of the library or hardcover books that were checked

out. Internet was not something that was in all households and was not a necessity. Times have

certainly changed at a quick rate. The internet and handheld electronic devices are now used in

every aspect of our day. Everywhere we look there are laptops, tablets, smartphones, and

numerous other devices that are being used by children. These devices can be useful within the

education of our children, especially since they are used in such a big way. Teachers need to

incorporate these devices into their classroom curriculum to ensure that our students stay

engaged and learn the essential content. Plickers is a new technology that is interactive and can

be used in the classroom as a whole, in small group, taking quizzes and so much more.

Plickers can be used in a variety of ways at various age groups. Plickers is a free

application that can be downloaded on a device by the instructor. The instructor is the only

person who needs to have this downloaded. Plickers cards can be printed from the website and

will be assigned to a student with the corresponding number. This is so the cards can be used

and the technology aspect will record the answers based on the number card that the students is

using. It is imperative that students use only the cards assigned to them, otherwise when answers

are recorded it will be under a different student.

Students have evolved and learn in a multitude of ways including a more active and

involved approach. Lecture and whole group instruction is still used in the classroom; however,

research shows that group instruction presents five simultaneous challenges: maintain students

attention, give each student sufficient opportunities to respond, provide individualized feedback

for students responses, monitor each students learning, and prevent and deal with disruptive

behavior (Twyman & Heward, 2016, pp. 2). These reasons indicate a reason that education
professionals need to make a change in their teaching style to ensure students are receiving the

content. Plickers changes the mindset of group teaching while actively engaging the students in

the lesson with response cards. Response cards (RCs) are cards, signs, or items that students

hold up to display their answers to teacher-posed questions or problems (Twyman & Heward,

2016, pp. 3). By using cards like these students are able to participate without others zoning in

on whether an answer is incorrect or show where a student is struggling. Plickers uses response

cards that are able to be scanned and the teacher receives the information. By using this

application teachers can generate a report that allows them to see who responded correctly or

incorrectly. Reports can also be generated to get a percentage of students who are successful or

not, so the teacher knows what content needs to be gone over in another way to ensure the

students are receptive.

It is known by all that there is a time and place for everything and children like to play.

So why not incorporate play into the learning process? With this app learning can be turned into

a game where students do not always have to be so serious in school. Play and engaging in

various activities that are enjoyable release endorphins into the brain that allow the brain to

remember more information. Educational gamification can add an external motivation factor in

the learning process mainly due to the fact that an alternative framework for the educational

challenge is built up on the basis of creativity behavior. Students should face the academic

subject not only as a job to do, but as a game to play (Sanchez-Martin, Canada-Canada, &

Davila-Acedo, 2017, pp. 52). Plickers can be introduced to the students as this form to make the

lesson fun and inviting for the students with a lot less stress added. Winning is always the goal

when proposed with a game. With this app getting the right answer is learning, see the results
but not knowing who got it right or wrong will make the students dig deeper to fully understand

the answer, so the next time there will be no second guessing themselves.

The plickers app not only has to be used with students in the classroom. This method can

also be used within your professional learning network. Within this network professionals can

interact with one another to give information to others. Professional development is necessary to

ensure that teacher have the most updated information, and that the students are being reached.

Even as teachers we can get bored by the same things that have been taught year after year even

though there may be new information that will be useful in the classroom. Professional

development is typically held in small or large groups to give new techniques and ways teachers

can reach their students. With that being said, plickers can be utilized in this setting as well to

indicate what material is being received by the teachers in a statistical manner. Simple names

can be input into the program prior to teacher arrival and then cards will be given out at the door.

The instructor may not know the exact person that is providing the information, but will get a

clear understanding of how the information is perceived by recording the answers that are given.

Incorporating new ways is beneficial to more than one party in the education field.

The bottom line is teachers need to find a way to reach their students with the content in

the grade level that they are teaching. Plickers doesn't require kids to have mobile devices,

laptops, or expensive handheld clickers (Byrne, 2014, pp. 35), but it gives them the opportunity

to be actively engaged with the teacher and the activity. The students only need to have their

assigned card and the teacher will do the rest with the app. Depending on the age students will

react different to the application by being either excited or bored in the activity. Teachers have

used this technology in a variety of ways from taking quizzes to simple understanding. Students

can anonymously give an answer only the teacher can see, so this will help with embarrassment
issues that could arise. To use it, enter your students' names and assign a Plickers card to each.

The polling is still anonymous from the students' perspectives, but you can see how each

responded (Byrne, 2014, pp. 9). This is a new way to pinpoint areas that may need extra

emphasis on an individual basis. More students will be reached by being able to see a response

rather than just going with the flow and stating that something is understood to start a long line

of struggling.

Education needs a strong foundation to grow and build upon. As essential step in

assessment for learning and as learning, teachers need to: plan assessment concurrently and

integrate it seamlessly with instruction (Assessment, 2016). Students have a way of sheltering

their own minds and actions to be accepted by their peers; one of the grouping factors could be

getting the wrong answer and being the center of a new joke because something is not

understood. Using what is available is the best tool that teachers have along with using the

professional learning network. We are here for our students and it would be a disservice to

bypass a teaching tool that can make a significant difference. Plickers is the tool that should be

picked up and used for the best interest of the students and teacher in the classroom.
Assessment, A. (2016). Ask assessment abby: linking assessment and instruction. Gazette-

Ontario Association for Mathematics. 54, (4).

Byrne, R. (2014). Cool tools. School Library Journal, 60(12), 35-n/a. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/docview/1628095805?accountid=7107

Byrne, R. (2014). Communication tools, updated. School Library Journal, 60(9), 17. Retrieved

from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/docview/1557618856?accountid=7107

Plickers. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2017, from http://www.plickers.com/

Sanchez-Martin, J., Canada-Canada, F., Davila-Acedo, M. A. (2017). Just a game? Gamifying a

general science class at university collaborative and competitive work implications.

Thinking Skills and Creativity, 26, 51-59.

Twyman, J. S., & Heward, W. L. (2016). How to improve student learning in every classroom

now. International Journal of Educational Research, 1-13.

doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2016.05.007