Cards FAQs and tips

Below we've included a few of the more common questions that come through to our helpdesk, in the hope that they may help if you've hit any issues.

And in addition, further down the page there's a collection of card-related tips, which you might find useful when working with Plickers cards in your classroom.

Frequently Asked Questions

If the question you have in mind isn't listed below, please feel free to contact us via our web form, or by emailing our support team at support@plickers.com. 

• Yes indeed. When you set up your Classes & students, you'll assign each student a card number. This will probably lead to the situation where card number 1 is assigned to several different students, each in a different Class.

  This is absolutely fine, since those students are not in the same class period at the same time, and so card number 1 will only be read as one individual student in the Class for which Now Playing is running.

  This is one of the reasons why we recommend against sharing Plickers accounts. It may start causing confusion for the scanner during Now Playing, as card numbers might start getting used in multiple locations at the same time.

  Using the same set of cards can work particularly well if you:

  • Keep a set of our sturdy plastic cards in your classroom (available on Amazon.com)
  • Leave a card attached to each desk or seat
  • Use an assigned seating system so that you know where every student will be seated during class

• To ensure that the Plickers app reads the cards quickly and easily, we'd recommend printing on white paper or cardstock.

  You can also laminate the cards to make them more durable, but try to avoid laminating if you don't have a matte option. The typical glossy laminate can create glare on the cards, which can make them difficult for the app to read quickly.

  Another way you can make your cards more durable is to ask your students to paste them onto the inside cover of a notebook; this way they will always have their card for class. We do have stickers available for purchase at this link for this kind of thing too.

  When considering adding cards to workbooks, you may want to encourage students to attach their card using a random orientation, so that when they're holding it up, their answer will still be anonymous.

• This is because we'd like you to have the most accurate data possible, and your students to feel comfortable answering honestly.

  The small print of the choices and the unique shapes on each Plickers card help provide anonymity, meaning students can answer questions without worrying about what their classmates might think.

  It also reduces the chances of classmates copying each others' answers.

  If you feel your class would benefit from a larger print version though, we do have a set available on the Get Plickers Cards page.

• Similar to the above, the cards are designed in this way to allow anonymity for students answering questions. If the choices were featured on the back of the cards, then other students might be tempted to take a peek.

• Yes indeed. You can change any of your students' card numbers in the class roster page at plickers.com.

  To get there, select your Class from the left-hand sidebar, then click on the graduation cap icon on the right.

  If you then select your student's name, you'll see the option to change their card number in the right-hand sidebar.

• It may be that you need to calibrate your scanner on your mobile device. The option to do this is located in the Settings tab in the Plickers app. For more details, please follow this link and look for the toggle section called The scanner isn't returning the intended answer.

Tips

When it comes to using our cards, hopefully the tips below will help create an even better Plickers experience for you.

• Some Plickers teachers choose to print our free cards and then laminate them to make them a little more durable.

  If you decide to go this route, we'd recommend using a matte laminate in order to reduce any glare. This will help the scanner pick up answers more efficiently.

  Alternatively, we do offer durable plastic cards on Amazon, which may be preferable to spending time laminating.

• To help students remember their Plickers card, we've heard a few teachers mention that they ask their students to attach their Plickers card to their workbook, either on the inside or outside cover.

  As a further tip, we'd also recommend asking students to orientate their card randomly when they attach it to their workbook - i.e. locating a choice other than A at the top. This is to ensure they're still able to give anonymous answers.

• If the above tip sounds interesting, you might like to consider our Plickers stickers. These are available on Amazon and you can use them to turn any flat surface into a Plickers card.

• There are a few things you and your students can do to help the scanner log student answers quickly and efficiently.

  Here's what your students can do to help:

  • Hold the cards as straight and still as possible, to allow the scanner to read the barcode efficiently.
  • Try not to cover any part of the barcode while holding cards up for the scanner.

  And here's how you can use the scanner in an optimal way:

  • Try to be at least 3ft away from the cards. The recommended distance to scan from is between 6ft and 15ft if possible.

  • When scanning in an environment where it's not possible to fit all cards in the scanner view at once, it's good to take a slow and steady approach, as described in the steps below:

    • Hold your device still and scan one area of the classroom (wait for all cards in the viewfinder to be logged)
    • Then move the scanner steadily so that it covers the next portion of the room
    • Wait for all cards in that section to be logged
    • Repeat until all cards are scanned

  And for more on scanning, please feel free to head over to our dedicated help page here.