No matter your content area, teachers must use assessment tools to track student growth and progress. There are tons of tech tools you can use collect assessment data.
Through formative assessment, teachers check student understanding, get valuable data on student learning, and then use that data to modify instruction. When teachers know what students know (or don't know), they can adjust to meet students right at their level. The best formative assessment tools also help students self-reflect and assess, figuring out where they are and where they need to go as learners. Browse the below Formative Assessment Tools that can be used in the classroom. There are formative assessment apps for everything from discussion to quizzing, polling, and student responses to interactive lessons and videos.
This list has a wide variety of features and options to help you solidify your formative assessment strategies. Many of the tools below are great for both formative and summative assessments.
- 6. Kahoot!
- 7. Socrative Teacher
- 8. Google Classroom
- 9. Padlet
- 10. Plickers
Edulastic is a powerful standards-based assessment tool that tracks student progress. An efficient platform for helping teachers assess and track student progress on meeting standards and building understanding along the way.
Edulastic is a user-friendly online assessment system that provides instant data for teachers, administrators and students, so you can adjust instruction and measure growth and achievement. Unlike most other tools, Edulastic is designed to serve as a common benchmark system and teacher formative assessment tool in one, allowing teachers and administrators to create assessments with more than 30 technology-enhanced question types that mirror end of year state tests.
Price: Free for teachers, district-sharing requires a paid license
Devices: Web
If we missed any of the Best Formative Assessment Tools, tell us about them!
Nearpod is a free assessment tool for teachers to facilitate the collection and use of formative assessment data in the classroom. This use of additional formative assessment activities can also have major classroom benefits and help lead to increased student engagement and achievement.
Nearpod offers nine types of formative assessments to capture student understanding in any lesson. Teachers can check for understanding with Nearpod by sending out polls, quizzes, Collaborate Board, and open-ended discussion questions.
Price: Free, Paid
Devices: iOS and Android
EdPuzzle allows you to turn videos into a quick assessment. EdPuzzle is a video editor that allows both teachers and students to add voice-overs, comments, resources, and quizzes to existing or self-created online videos. Choose a video on YouTube, Khan Academy, Crash Course, or upload your own. Edpuzzle is a flipped classroom or student creation tool with lots of opportunities for use, but teachers will need to be creative if they want students to engage. You can crop, customize, and remix online video content with this interactive tool. All the students’ answers are gathered for you so you can quickly assess.
Price: Freemium, basic account is free, additional features available with paid accounts
Devices: Web
Flipgrid is a simple way for students and teachers to create online discussion, as long as your classroom culture is mature enough to use it wisely. Flipgrid is a video discussion platform, that allows students to respond to questions, topics, and reflect using video. Students can also respond to each other, leave comments, and more. It’s a great tool for supporting your students to make their thinking visible.
Price: Free to try, Paid
Devices: Web
Blooket is a web-based assessment platform designed to engage students in review and formative assessments. Teachers can create or use existing "Blooks" to build multiple choice style assessments where students can earn points to play and upgrade different games.
Just like with other formative assessment tools, Blooket is engaging and motivating for students to answer and respond to questions. Students can not only get answers correct but also work as a team and strategize! It encourages students to cheer each other on as they go through their game quests together.
Price: Free
Devices: Web
Kahoot is a game-like student-response tool that can spark competitive fun. Effortlessly fun quizzing that can lead to productive formative assessment and student reflection if implemented effectively. Kahoot lets you add polls, word clouds, Q&As, and more to presentations and create an interactive experience for students, who can vote on/respond to questions and engage with the presentation in real time.
Price: Free, Paid
Devices: Android, iOS and Web
Socrative is a web-based formative assessment tool that allows teachers to create quizzes, ask questions, collect exit tickets and feedback. Using Socrative, formative and summative assessment merge in snapshot polls and quizzes. This tool is a powerful and easy-to-use student-response system has the potential to support responsive teaching. I love how you see students’ results in real time, and you can add explanations if students get a question wrong. Students can get instant feedback, or you can make the quiz self-paced or lead it yourself.
Price: Freemium with up to 50 students
Devices: Android, iOS and Web
Google Classroom can help teachers streamline summative and formative assessments. For example, you can use the platform to quickly create, distribute, and collect digital exit tickets or auto-graded assessments.
Google form can be considered by teachers as a learning evaluation instrument and as an alternative to making online questions.
Price: Free
Devices: Android, iOS and Web
Padlet is a super easy to way to create an online bulletin board that allows teachers and students to share and collaborate. What’s great about Padlet is that it offers so much flexibility! It works on any device, and you can share just about any type of information–text, links, upload files, photos, videos, just about any kind of response. There are also many different ways you can design your pages. Customize the background, organize information in new ways.
Price: Free, Paid
Devices: Android, iOS and Web
10. Plickers
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
This assessment tool allows teachers to collect on-the-spot formative assessment data without the need to have students use devices or paper and pencil. Teachers create and print specially coded cards that students hold up in class as their response. The teacher uses the Plickers app to scan the cards and collect the data.
Price: Free
Devices: Android, iOS
Did your favorite assessment tool make the list? If not, let us know.
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