10 Formative Assessment Tools to Check Learning in Real Time

In the past, formative assessments were a challenge for teachers. Due to the lack of technology, it was time-consuming, and teachers had limited ways to assess student understanding in real time. But the rapid growth of digital tools has completely transformed this process, making formative assessments more efficient, interactive, and impactful.

Now, teachers can gather real-time insights into student learning with ease. These tools provide interactive assessments, instant feedback, and valuable data that allow educators to track progress, identify areas of struggle, and adjust lessons accordingly.

In this article, we’ll explore 10 formative assessment tools that have transformed the way teachers assess and support student learning, helping them stay connected and responsive to students' needs.

Formative assessment tools are digital platforms or resources that help teachers track student progress in real-time. Instead of waiting for final results, like summative assessments, these tools generate instant data and give immediate feedback on student understanding, participation, skill development, and misconceptions. 

It doesn’t matter if you're teaching in-person or remotely, formative assessment tools can help make learning more responsive and effective.

Features of Formative Assessment Tools

Check out the features of formative assessment tools below:

• Instant Feedback: Provides immediate insights into student progress, allowing teachers to adjust lessons in real-time and address learning gaps promptly.

• Engagement: Utilizes interactive formats such as quizzes, polls, and games that actively engage students and keep them motivated throughout the learning process.

• Data-Driven Insights: Collects real-time data to help teachers assess student performance, identify areas for improvement, and adjust instructional strategies to meet individual needs.

1. Tarphi

Tarphi is an all-in-one formative assessment platform that saves teachers time by combining lesson delivery, interactive quizzes, and real-time feedback in a single tool. Traditional methods often require multiple disconnected tools, which can be time-consuming and limit insight into student understanding. Tarphi streamlines this process, allowing teachers to focus on instruction rather than setup.

With AI-assisted content creation, teachers can quickly generate curriculum-aligned quizzes in multiple formats such as, multiple-choice, true/false, short answer, fill-in-the-blank, and more. These quizzes can be delivered as solo practice or competitive games, keeping students engaged while providing actionable insights during lessons. Key benefits include:

• Live polls and linear scales for instant feedback

• 8 different quiz formats for diverse learning needs

• Gamified solo and competitive review games

• Real-time analytics to identify learning gaps

• AI-assisted content creation for faster lesson prep

Unlike generic quiz platforms, Tarphi ensures curriculum alignment, integrates gamification with pedagogy, and supports structured engagement without losing classroom control. Teachers can assess understanding, differentiate instruction, and turn formative assessment into a fun, interactive, and actionable experience.

2. Kahoot!

Kahoot! is widely recognized for creating quizzes that are both fun and interactive. Teachers can create live quizzes with timers, music, and leaderboards, which helps engage students in a competitive, yet educational environment. It also offers opinion polls, which help to get student responses in real time. Kahoot!’s simple interface and ease of use make it a go-to tool for formative assessments in classrooms.

3. Wayground

Wayground (formerly Quizizz) is a popular platform that offers fun, interactive quizzes, polls, self-paced practice, and instant feedback. It’s ideal for formative assessment with its live modes, such as Teacher-led and Student-paced, as well as gamified features that keep students engaged. This flexibility allows teachers to assess students' understanding in both structured and fun settings.

4. Mentimeter 

Mentimeter is a powerful tool for creating interactive presentations through polls, word clouds, multiple-choice, scales, Q&A, and quick forms. It allows teachers to quickly gauge student understanding and gather real-time feedback during lessons. This makes it particularly effective for formative assessments that aim to engage students, check comprehension, and encourage participation.

5. Wooclap

Wooclap is ideal for engaging larger groups with a variety of interactive question types like MCQs, word clouds, and polls. Teachers can instantly check student understanding in real-time, making it a valuable formative assessment tool for lectures or large sessions. Wooclap’s competitive and team modes allow for gamified assessments, making it useful for keeping students engaged while checking comprehension.

6. Slido 

Slido is an effective tool for quick formative assessment using audience Q&A, ranking, rating, quiz, and survey. With these options, teachers can assess their students' understanding in real-time. It’s especially useful for classroom discussions, allowing teachers to quickly assess student engagement and adjust the lesson accordingly.

7. Poll Everywhere 

Poll Everywhere ensures formative assessment by providing real-time feedback on student understanding through polling, word clouds, Q&A, and clickable images. It’s highly effective for interactive class discussions, helping teachers quickly assess comprehension.

8. AhaSlides

AhaSlides allows for interactive presentations with built-in quizzes, polls, word clouds, Q&A, Brainstorm, and rating scale. This makes it a good tool for assessing student engagement and understanding during lessons. It promotes active participation and immediate feedback, which are key components of formative assessment.

9. Nearpod 

Nearpod combines formative assessments with interactive lessons. Teachers can incorporate quizzes, polls, and collaborative boards into their lessons to engage students while gathering data on their understanding. Nearpod’s ability to integrate assessments into lessons makes it an effective tool for continuous learning, though it requires more setup than some simpler quiz tools.

10. Socrative

Socrative is a real-time formative assessment tool that enables educators to create interactive quizzes, polls. It offers instant feedback, automates grading, and provides detailed reports to highlight student progress. With its real-time response collection and personalized insights, Socrative helps teachers quickly identify learning gaps and provide targeted support. 

The best formative assessment tools are engaging, flexible, offer multimedia options, provide quick feedback, and give valuable data insights. Choosing the right tool with these features for your classroom can make a big difference in how well your students learn. Here’s what to consider when selecting one for your classroom:

Real-time Feedback

Choose a tool that gives immediate feedback to students as they complete assessments. This helps students see where they’re excelling and where they need improvement. It also gives you the chance to adjust your lesson plans and provide support right away.

Fun and Engaging

Engagement is a common challenge in classrooms, especially during review sessions or assessments. A good tool should transform routine quizzes into interactive experiences that motivate students to participate. 

Platforms such as Tarphi use gamified quizzes, live polls, and competitive or collaborative game modes to make learning dynamic, keeping students interested while still focusing on academic outcomes.

Adaptability

Every student is unique, and a good formative assessment tool should adapt to their needs. So, always choose one that allows you to adjust the difficulty level or content based on each student's progress, so no one feels left behind.

Multimedia Options

Try to choose an assessment tool that includes images, audio, video, etc. These multimedia options allow students to engage in different ways and make formative assessment more interactive.

Tools like Tarphi allow teachers to include images, GIFs, audio, and video as part of both the questions and answer options. This incredible flexibility helps teachers to assess students from a variety of perspectives.

Data-Driven Insights

The true value of formative assessment comes from actionable data that guides teaching decisions. A strong tool should provide reports that highlight class-wide trends as well as individual student progress, moving teachers away from guesswork and into evidence-based instruction.

Tarphi delivers comprehensive analytics, including class-wide performance summaries, student-wise results, question-level insights, points earned, and response times. These detailed metrics give teachers a solid foundation to assess understanding, identify learning gaps, and adjust lessons in real time, ensuring every student gets the support they need.

While digital formative assessment tools have many benefits, there are some challenges teachers might face. Here are a few common issues and ways to tackle them:

Technical Issues

Ensuring that your chosen platform works seamlessly with classroom devices is crucial. Connectivity problems, software glitches, or incompatible hardware can interrupt lessons and frustrate students. A reliable solution is to select tools that are compatible across devices and have backup access options. 

Platforms like Tarphi are designed to work smoothly on laptops, tablets, and Chromebooks, minimizing technical interruptions and keeping lessons flowing.

Student Engagement

Even with digital tools, some students may be hesitant or disengaged during assessments. Passive participation or reluctance to answer can limit the insight teachers gain about student understanding. Engagement can be improved by offering varied formats such as interactive quizzes, polls, gamified challenges, and real-time feedback. 

Tarphi’s combination of gamified quizzes, live polls, and strategy-based games helps keep students actively involved while maintaining structured, teacher-led control.

Data Privacy

With digital tools, safeguarding student information is non-negotiable. Not all platforms provide robust privacy measures, which can create concerns for both teachers and parents. Always choose tools that comply with privacy laws like COPPA, FERPA, and GDPR. 

Platforms like Tarphi prioritize security, giving teachers peace of mind while collecting and analyzing student data for actionable insights.

So far, you know that formative assessment tools play a crucial role in boosting student engagement and providing real-time feedback as well as helping teachers make quick adjustments to their lessons. With digital tools like Tarphi, teachers can easily create interactive quizzes, gamify assessments, and get useful insights into student progress. By choosing the right tool for your classroom, you can improve learning, provide personalized support, and make teaching easier, whether in-person or remote.