Random picker tools
built for teachers

Why teachers use PickerToolbox

PickerToolbox was built with classroom use in mind from the start. The most important requirement for any classroom tool is that it works immediately — no installation, no account creation, and no loading screen on a slow school network. Open the browser, go to pickertoolbox.com, and the app is ready. Your class list from last session is automatically restored.

The second requirement is fairness. Students notice when the same names keep coming up, and they notice when the same names never come up. PickerToolbox uses crypto.getRandomValues() — the same cryptographic randomness used in security software — so every spin is genuinely unpredictable. This matters for building trust in the classroom: when students believe the picker is fair, they accept the results and participate more willingly.

The third requirement is visibility. The wheel spinner is designed to be read clearly on a projected screen from the back of a classroom. The winner popup uses large, bold text that is immediately obvious even on a small projector from 10 metres away.

The four tools and how to use them in class

Wheel Spinner — cold calling and random selection

The wheel spinner is the tool most teachers reach for first. Type your class list into the settings panel on the right, or paste a newline-separated list all at once. Click SPIN! or press the spacebar. The wheel decelerates naturally and the winner appears in a large popup.

For systematic cold calling — where you want every student called before anyone repeats — enable the Remove winner after spin option in the settings. The wheel gradually empties as each student is called, and you can see at a glance who has and hasn't been picked yet. When the last student is called, reset and start again.

You can also upload student photos to the wheel entries, so the wheel shows faces rather than just names — useful in early secondary school where you are still learning names.

List Picker — instant no-animation draws

The List Picker uses the same class list as the wheel but skips the animation. Click Pick and the winner is highlighted immediately. This is faster for high-frequency use during a lesson where the spinning wheel animation would feel repetitive. The List Picker also supports drawing multiple winners simultaneously — set the count to 3 and click Pick to draw three students at once for a group activity.

Raffle mode draws winners sequentially without replacement, removing each winner before the next draw. This ensures no student can win twice in the same raffle.

Grid Picker — card reveal and group assignments

The Grid Picker displays your class list as a set of face-down cards, shuffled in a random order. Click any card to flip it and reveal the name underneath. This mechanic works well for assigning students to groups as a class activity — students can take turns flipping cards, with each flip revealing which group they are in.

In Teams mode, flipped cards are assigned to teams in rotation. The first flip goes to Team 1, the second to Team 2, and so on. The result is a fully randomised team assignment done one reveal at a time, which students find significantly more engaging than a pre-read list.

Decision Maker — coin flip, dice, yes/no

The Decision Maker covers three scenarios. The coin flip settles binary choices instantly — heads or tails. The dice roller produces a number from 1 to 6 and is useful for probability demonstrations or any activity that uses dice. The yes/no wheel has an adjustable bias, making one outcome more likely — useful for demonstrating how weighted probability works in a maths lesson.

Sharing your class list

PickerToolbox generates a shareable URL that encodes your entire wheel configuration — including all the names and settings. Bookmark this URL at the start of term and you can return to your exact class list on any device. You can also share the URL with teaching assistants or substitute teachers so they have the same list.

The URL contains only the data you entered. It does not contain any server-side data, and it does not require a login to use. Opening the URL on any modern browser loads the wheel exactly as you saved it.

Compatibility — works on all classroom devices

PickerToolbox runs in the browser using standard web technologies that have been available in all major browsers since 2015. It works on:

• Windows computers running Chrome, Firefox, or Edge
• Chromebooks (Chrome browser)
• MacBooks and iMacs (Safari, Chrome, or Firefox)
• iPads and tablets (Safari on iOS, Chrome on Android)
• Interactive whiteboards with a browser
• School-managed devices, including those with restricted app installation

No installation is required. No administrator permissions are needed. If the device has a browser and an internet connection, PickerToolbox works.

PickerToolbox can also be installed as a Progressive Web App (PWA) on Android and iOS, which adds it to the home screen and allows it to work offline after the first load. This is useful on tablets used in areas with unreliable school Wi-Fi.

A worked example: setting up PickerToolbox for five different classes

Secondary school teachers often teach five or six different classes a day, each with its own roster and its own picker needs. Here's how one teacher set up PickerToolbox at the start of term so that switching between classes takes seconds rather than minutes of retyping.

On the first day, during a free period, the teacher opened PickerToolbox once per class. For Period 1 (Year 9 Geography), they pasted the 28-student roster into the wheel, enabled Remove winner after spin, and bookmarked the resulting URL as "P1 Geography — Wheel". They repeated this for Periods 2 through 5, giving each class its own bookmark with its own saved roster, all stored in a single browser folder labelled "Pickers".

Each morning, the teacher opens the "Pickers" folder and the day's lessons are ready in order — click the Period 1 bookmark at the start of that lesson, and the correct class list loads instantly with no setup. When a new student joins Year 9 Geography in week 3, the teacher adds the name to the wheel during that lesson and re-bookmarks the URL (overwriting the old one), so the roster stays current without retyping the whole list.

For one-off activities — a probability demonstration with the dice roller, or a quick yes/no class vote — the teacher uses the Tools shortcuts in the nav bar rather than a bookmark, since those don't need a saved roster.

Copy-paste term-start setup checklist

Use this checklist once at the start of each term to get every class ready in under 15 minutes:

• 1. List your periods/classes. Write down each class you teach and how many students are in it.
• 2. Open PickerToolbox once per class. Paste that class's roster (one name per line) into the wheel or list picker.
• 3. Set class-specific options. Enable "Remove winner after spin" for cold-calling classes; leave it off for classes where you want repeat picks (e.g. quick warm-up questions).
• 4. Bookmark the URL. Name each bookmark clearly, e.g. "P3 Year 10 Maths — Wheel", and group them in one browser folder.
• 5. Re-save when rosters change. When a student joins, leaves, or moves classes, update the wheel and re-bookmark — the old bookmark just gets overwritten with the new URL.
• 6. Add a fallback. Keep one blank PickerToolbox tab bookmarked for substitute teachers or unplanned activities that don't need a saved roster.

Because everything is stored in the URL rather than a server account, this setup works identically whether you're on your classroom desktop, a personal laptop, or a shared school computer — as long as you have your bookmarks (or can re-paste the rosters quickly).

Frequently asked questions for teachers