Classkick

Tablet software that lets teachers watch all their students working at once and provide feedback in real time

Overview

Classkick, an iPad app, aims to replace pencils and paper in classrooms with whiteboard-like tablets that students can use for writing their work. Co-founders Andrew Rowland and Dylan Hall met one another in 2008 when they worked for the same school as Teach for America corps members. Teachers can only partly track how students are doing when interactions like lesson practice, grades and feedback happen only on paper. But, say the founders, using tablets with the right software will allow teachers to better monitor student understanding of topics.

Classkick helps teachers do real-time checks for understanding. The software makes a student’s tablet work like an electronic whiteboard: Students have a space to work out problems and complete assignments, and a teacher can track students’ work through a screenshot of all students’ workspace. Teachers can also add comments to individual student workspaces or offer “hints” to classes as a whole.

In autumn 2014, Classkick got a big shoutout from mathematics teacher and blogger, Dan Meyer, who offered five reasons why he likes Classkick. At the top of the list: "Teachers provide the feedback. Classkick makes it faster." Meyer also notes: "This isn’t “instant student feedback” like their website claims. This is feedback from humans and humans don’t do “instant.” I’m great with that! Timeliness is only one important characteristic of feedback. The quality of that feedback is another far more important characteristic." Meyer's blog also includes a thoughtful back-and-forth about what Classkick can--and should--do.