Although not a chemistry app, I have been using Classkick in my chemistry class strictly as a formative assessment tool and wanted to share the many benefits I have found with it. Classkick is a free app that is currently available through the itunes store. I use it with the iPads I have in my classroom. Soon, classkick will be available on other devices besides just the iPad.
One of the things I love about Classkick is its ease of use. What sets it apart from other apps I use for assessment purposes is that it turns my students iPads into a white board that they can use to SHOW ME THEIR WORK! I have used other apps for multiple choice questions but when it comes to assessments when I need to quickly see the math work of a stoichiometry problem or I ask my students to draw particulate models of atoms then I can’t truly assess this by asking a multiple choice question or even a short answer question. For me to truly gain an understanding of what my students are doing, I need to see their work.
Another benefit is that I can see all of my students work in real time on my iPad as it shows me each of their screens. The students can virtually raise their hands and I can join in on their screen or I can allow other students to join in on their classmates screens and help one another. I highly recommend that if you are using iPads then you check it out. The capability to post questions with pictures or with videos, then share those questions with other teachers, make this an incredibly useful tool. I look forward to using it next to show my lecture slides in class while having the capability to mark all over them while lecturing.
