Easy Exit Slip Assessment Using Technology

As all of us in the education world know, assessment of student learning is all the buzz. Standardized testing, benchmark testing, and the list goes on and on. For teachers, these types of tests may not contain the data and information they need to make the day to day instructional decisions. The formative assessments that are teacher created seem to have more valuable and immediate impact. One of these formative assessments is the exit slip. For years, teachers have been effectively using exit slips to monitor student learning. They are quick, easy and to the point. The problem with exit slips is the ability to quickly see data trends and to track the results over multiple exit slips. Technology resources can make the exit slip ever more powerful and effective than it is already. In my opinion, the two easiest ways to incorporate technology for exit slips is to use a Google Form or Socrative. After some thought, here is my suggestion on how to use these two resources in the easiest way possible.

Google Form
The first step is to create a generic Google Form. Once you have created a generic form, post a link to it or embed it on your website. Here is an example.

When creating my generic exit slip, the first question asked for the student's name. The other four questions are all text response boxes. By using text response boxes, I can use any type of question. Students can answer with a letter, number, sentence, paragraph, etc. This gives me the freedom to ask any type of question on my exit assessment. By making one generic form, I can use it over and over again.

But how can I use this if my classroom is not a 1:1 environment? Because the form is simply a place to enter the answers, students could answer the questions in a notebook and then transfer their answers to the form when they are done. Students can also enter their answers on their phones (if allowed) or from home because this exit slip is online.

When the students submit their answers, all of the data is collected in a spreadsheet. With all of the answers organized together, the teacher can quickly analyze the data and see if the students understood the concept. Teachers can also quickly see which students need further assistance. When teachers are finished with the data, they can erase it and reuse the form. The data can also be exported Excel if the teacher wants keep the data for further use. By not having to create new forms every time, hopefully this will save teachers time!

Exit slip data feeds into a Google spreadsheet

Socrative
Another option for using technology to administer exit slip assessments is Socrative. This free, online resource allows teachers to administer assessments through a web interface or with the Socrative student app. After setting up your free account, create a generic exit slip assessment just like in the example above. With Socrative, the first question (the student's name) is automatically created. The teacher needs to only create the generic short answer questions. Once created, this same assessment can be used over and over again saving teachers time!

When it is time to administer the exit slip assessment, the teacher will log into Socrative via the web or through the teacher app. In the quiz based activites section, the teacher will select "Start a Quiz". Socrative does have an exit ticket created but you cannot edit this quiz so I suggest making your own.

Click Start Quiz

After clicking "Start Quiz", select the quiz you would like and then administer it as a student paced quiz. Your exit slip assessment is ready to go.

Students will go to Socrative via the web or the student app. The students will be prompted to enter a room number. When your teacher account is created, you are given one room number that is used for all assessments given with Socrative. Students will now enter the answers to their exit slip assessment. When finished with a question, the students click submit and then will be moved onto the next question.

Socrative student interface

After answering all the questions, students select finish quiz. If students are sharing computers, they can click "Let another student take the quiz". This feature is good for classrooms that are not a 1:1 environment.

Completed Assessment

Once the assessment is completed, the teacher can close the quiz and have the results emailed to them or the results can be downloaded into Excel immediately. Teachers can quickly analyze the data for trends and  to see which students need further instruction.

Both of these resources could make using exit slips and analyzing the data easier for teachers. Give it a try and let me know what you think.