Dive Brief:

• Simple clickers of the past are gone, replaced with better technology that lets students respond to a larger range of question types and empowers teachers to offer immediate feedback.
• District administration reports the clicker-based systems have long-lasting batteries and are highly durable, best for schools that don’t have strong Wi-Fi or BYOD/1:1 programs, and top devices include clickers from Activote, Qwizdom and Qomo, which each have their own draws.
• Free app-based systems include Socrative, Poll Everywhere, Pear Deck and Kahoot, and the app-based systems often have more expansive data collection options, giving teachers the opportunity to watch students respond in real-time, offer feedback, and sync results with a learning management system.

Dive Insight:

This latest generation of feedback technology has given schools greater ammunition to personalize learning. If teachers can identify where students are on mastery of certain topics in seconds, they can better tailor instruction to their needs. Schools across the country are exploring new strategies and technologies for personalized learning, which creates new opportunities to serve students at every level of the learning spectrum.

AltSchool, which has gotten attention from major education funders, prizes its “bespoke” teaching model, which is based on a proprietary digital platform that gives teachers the tools they need to personalize learning for every student. Just this week AltSchool announced it would partner with three schools around the country and share its platform as the next step in its growth.