TOP PICKS | 26 TOOLS

Top Tech Tools for Formative Assessment

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 tools below to find one that meets your needs. There are formative assessment apps for everything from discussion to quizzing, polling, and student responses to interactive lessons and videos.

Top Picks

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Interactive Lessons and Video

Edulastic

Powerful formative assessment tool tracks achievement of standards

Bottom line: Efficient platform supports teachers who are expected to assess and track student progress on meeting standards.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free, Paid An optional $100 per year upgrade adds advanced reporting and extras like text-to-speech, shareable rubrics, presentation mode, and more. The enterprise version -- which adds school- and district-wide reports, SIS and LMS integration, and custom PD -- is available but pricing isn't public.

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Nearpod

Interactive slideshow tool engages students, promotes collaboration

Bottom line: This effective tool leverages the capabilities of 1-to-1 environments and offers both teacher- and student-paced learning.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free, Paid The Silver edition is free for up to 30 students, the Gold edition is $120 per teacher per year for up to 50 students, and the Platinum edition is $349 per year for up to 75 students. In-app purchases are available for additional content, and schools and districts can receive volume discounts.

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PlayPosit

Simple design makes it easy to jump into interactive video

Bottom line: With features that are both basic and useful, it's an easy tool to learn; adding interactivity to video is a snap.

Grades: 2–12 Price: Free, Paid Basic accounts are free. Optional premium features are $96/year and include the ability to copy and edit other teachers' content, the ability to crop video, more question types, student-created content, printable worksheets, grade exporting, and advanced student data.

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Spiral

Provide instant feedback with collaborative, multimedia assessment tool

Bottom line: Engaging, easy-to-use tool that supports both formative and summative assessment while allowing for student collaboration.

Grades: 3–8 Price: Free, Free to try, Paid Spiral Teacher is free forever and covers up to five classrooms. The Pro Teacher subscription is $39 per teacher per year and offers unlimited classrooms, student accounts for home use, and progress reports. The Pro School subscription is estimated at $3 per student and offers the features of Pro Teacher plus additional features, including full integration with the school's LMS.

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Edpuzzle

Crop, customize, and remix online video content with interactive tool

Bottom line: As a flipped classroom or student creation tool, there are lots of opportunities for use, but teachers will need to be creative if they want students to engage.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free, Paid The basic version is free. The Pro Teacher plan is in development but is slated to cost $6.50 per month. The Pro School plan starts at $55 per month (call for quote).

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LessonUp

Flexible interactive presentation tool engages kids at school and home

Bottom line: LessonUp is for teachers who like designing unique lessons to reach every learner.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free, Free to try, Paid Free basic subscription and a free 30-day trial of the teacher license; contact for the annual subscription cost.

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ClassFlow

Robust lesson-creation, presentation tool offers built-in assessment

Bottom line: This powerful tool supports connected and blended learning from instruction to assessment, though it's best used to enhance already great instruction.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free

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Pear Deck

Go beyond the basics with interactive slide shows to assess and engage

Bottom line: While it has some limits, this engaging, useful presentation platform is a great option for formative assessment in one-to-one or BYOD classrooms.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free, Free to try, Paid The free version supports 30 participants, unlimited decks, and a few different slide types (multiple choice, text). The Individual plan is $99 per year and supports 50 participants, adds draggable and drawing slide types, Google Classroom integration, a dashboard, and more. Group and School plans are also available.

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Flipgrid

Pose questions, spark thoughtful video responses with stellar tool

Bottom line: A simple way for students and teachers to create online discussion, as long as your classroom culture is mature enough to use it wisely.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free

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GoClass

Deliver interactive lessons right to kids' mobile devices and tablets

Bottom line: Support learning in and out of the classroom with this multi-faceted content-delivery tool.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free, Paid Basic Account, Free; Premium Account, $99.99/year

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Quizzing, Polling, and Student Response

Classkick

Easy-to-use, real-time monitoring, feedback, and assessment for 1-to-1

Bottom line: It's a great option for teachers who want to go paperless, provide specific feedback, and encourage collaboration among students in 1-to-1 classrooms.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free, Free to try, Paid The free version offers unlimited assignments and feedback options. After a free trial, the Pro version is $9.99 per month; users can access grade automation, chatting options, extra editing tools, and more. A school plan is also available via quote.

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Mentimeter

Call on everybody at once with flexible, interactive presentation tool

Bottom line: This flexible tool supports the creation of dynamic presentations and can help teachers strike a balance between information and interaction.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free, Paid Mentimeter is free but with limited questions. The Basic version at $4.99 per month allows for unlimited questions, quizzes, more support, and the ability to export results. The Pro version costs $11.99 per month and adds options for customization and branding.

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Recap: Video Response and Reflection for Education

Multimedia reflection app puts a new spin on class discussion

Bottom line: By promoting regular self-reflection and inquiry through Recap, teachers can support more authentic learning and self-assessment among their students.

Grades: 2–12 Price: Free

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Formative

Superb real-time assessment tool a fit for 1-to-1, BYOD classrooms

Bottom line: Cleverly designed for teachers, Formative offers a flexible and attractive solution for gathering a variety of student response types and offering individualized feedback.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free, Free to try, Paid Basic features are free and include unlimited assignments and live student responses. Premium features are $12 per month (paid yearly) or a month-to-month price of $15 per month and include enhanced performance tracking, collaboration, advanced question types, and more.

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Sero!

Fresh approach to assessment through concept maps shows promise

Bottom line: This unique formative assessment platform's success will largely depend on teachers to keep content meaningful and relevant.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free to try, Paid The first month is free. Individual accounts cover up to 50 students for $10 per month, school plans range from $40 to $80 per month, and district plans are $300 to $900 per month.

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Socrative

Formative and summative assessment merge in snapshot polls and quizzes

Bottom line: Powerful and easy-to-use student-response system has the potential to support responsive teaching.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free, Paid The free version includes up to 50 students per session and one public room. The paid Pro version is $59.99 per year and includes up to 10 public rooms, 150 students per session, and other features.

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Kahoot!

Gamelike student-response tool can spark competitive fun

Bottom line: Effortlessly fun quizzing that can lead to productive formative assessment and student reflection if implemented effectively.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free, Paid While Kahoot! is free, there's a Pro version for schools priced at $1 per teacher. This version includes a shared folder for quizzes, co-creation and -editing of quizzes, and advanced reporting.

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Quizalize

Familiar game show-like quizzes with a few new features

Bottom line: Easy-to-set-up and mostly free way to assign quizzes and check for understanding with a handy but paid option for progress tracking.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free, Paid The majority of features and functionality are free. However, there's a premium upgrade for $7 per month ($69 per year) that offers long-term progress tracking and reporting.

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Plickers

Useful, low-tech rapid-response tool promotes formative assessment

Bottom line: This can be a useful tool for teachers looking to get quick feedback or snapshots of understanding in technology-limited classrooms.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free

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GoSoapBox

Solid web-based clicker tool gives instant feedback

Bottom line: The workable tool for online formative assessment offers a variety of worthwhile features.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free, Paid Free for classes of 30 or fewer. Six-month, larger class subscriptions range from $99 (for up to 75 students) to $279 (for up to 400 students).

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The Answer Pad

Simple, multipurpose assessment tool for the BYOD classroom

Bottom line: A simple but flexible tool for paperless testing and engaging student-response activities in the classroom.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free, Paid Teachers can upgrade to a "TAP+" account for either $9.95/year for up to 35 students or $19.95/year for up to 200 students. The school version is $2 per student.

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Poll Everywhere

Straightforward student-response tool does its job well

Bottom line: Great if you're looking for simple polling, but more robust features that make Poll Everywhere competitive with other apps come with the $50/year version.

Grades: 7–12 Price: Free, Paid Free version only allows for basic polls and lacks incorrect answers, feedback, and reporting. Paid version is $50 annually per teacher and adds the ability to score quizzes, give feedback, and track results. There's also a school version that starts at $1,000 annually and supports 200 student accounts (and up) vs. 40.

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Discussion

Kaizena

Nifty add-on enables audio and text feedback in Google Docs

Bottom line: If your classroom relies a lot on Google Docs, this might just be the feedback tool you're looking for.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free Free for teachers.

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Microsoft Teams

Collaborative platform helps manage multiple groups and projects

Bottom line: It offers a ton of options for integrating learning; the lack of some typical LMS features may make it a better fit for small groups or nontraditional group configurations.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free, Paid Microsoft Teams is included with Office 365 subscriptions, which range from free to $6 per month per student and $8 per month per teacher.

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Backchannel Chat

Real-time, moderated online discussions can engage and encourage

Bottom line: Backchannel Chat offers a fun and safe way to hold real-time online discussions that might just increase engagement, interest, and even learning.

Grades: 7–12 Price: Free, Paid The free version supports 30 students and has limited capacity for discussions and no private messages or avatars. The full version costs $15 per year for 50 students or $299 per year for 80 students.

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