Many of the tools listed below can be adapted to fit into multiple categories. Exploration and experience will often allow teachers to identify unique ways that a tool can be used or remixed to create a new way of assessing student understanding while engaging them in critical thinking.
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Lesson delivery platforms allow teachers to build a lesson that contains multiple activities and opportunities to assess students. Often built on top of existing slide shows or documents, students can be polled to measure their understanding through the lesson.
Creativity platforms allow students to display mastery of a concept in a unique way and often demonstrate a fuller understanding than a single question.
Asking students to make a video or audio recording explaining their thinking process, create an infographic or presentation with examples, or design a visual representation of a vocabulary term can illustrate a deep understanding of information.
Interactive Whiteboards encourage students to show their process of thinking and value the road to getting the answer as much as the final answer. Graphic organizers, note-taking, and student visual representations of a porblem can be supported by interactive whiteboards.
Simulations encourage students to relate conceptual knowledge to real world situations. Digital simulations allow all students to participate and experiment with different variables that affect a phenomenon.
Gamified platforms encourage students to practice skills by answering questions and earning points toward a goal similar to a video game. Gamified platforms can provide an engaging experience for students. Be careful not to over rely use these platforms as the level of questioning can be lower than other forms of assessment.
Station rotations can encourage students to work independently or in small groups while the teacher can work with other students at the same time. They can also allow students to work at an independent pace appropriate to their learning needs.
Video platforms can allow students to either watch a video about a concept and answer questions about the material presented. Be careful when selecting or creating a video formative assessment that the level of rigor for the questions will match your expectations for the students and that the video's length will be engaging for students.