Poll Everywhere

I have used polling applications in class before, when I was teaching in the UK our Math department had a program called Quizdom with a set of little red devices that students could use in class to select answers. The program was set to show how students voted, and even flashed to a screen with racing cars between questions to show which student was ahead.

One of the first times I had heard of Web 2.0 tools such as online poling devices was at the Librarian Pro-D conference in October. I went to a talk by Crystal Stranaghan who is one half of the team at Live Your Dream Workshops. Crystal had some great ideas on how to get bring technology into the classroom using devices that students already have. The one that I most wanted to use was the polling website Poll Everywhere. Using an online tool such as this not only saves money (you don't have to purchase expensive hardware such as the Quizdom program) but also gets students using their devices in a positive manner in class. With the free account at Poll Everywhere you can poll a maximum of 40 people at one time, an adequate size for most classrooms. Poll Everywhere advises users that they are spam-free, phone numbers are kept private and that anyone participating in a poll will never receive unsolicited text messages.

As Neal Grandgenett discusses in his article Poll Everywhere from Mathematics and Computer Education (Vol. 46, Issue 1, Pg. 79) the results from quizzes can also be stored to review later. And there is also the option of using this application for "testing purposed by recording the correct and incorrect responses of each student using the unique number from their cellphone or other device to identify them. In addition, attendance could be taken by having students 'sign in' with a particular text message unique to that day or by responding at the beginning of class to a particular homework problem." Grandgenett also mentioned how Poll Everywhere had been used at his staff meeting, and how staff were engaged and the Dean was provided with useful feedback.

Poll Everywhere is also listed in Lisa Neilsen's 8 free and easy ways to begin educating innovatively in Technology and Learning (Vol. 30, Issue. 7, Pg. 16, February, 2010)

I have adapted one of my old PowerPoint presentations on plans and elevations to include Poll Everywhere. It was pretty easy to create. I simply created the multiple choice questions on Poll Everwhere and downloaded the PowerPoint file. I then copied and pasted the pictures from my original presentation.

I have tested it, and it works. (I only had access to two phones, so there are only two votes). The one downside to this program would be that it needs access to the internet to work. So if the internet is down or not working on a particular day, the poll will not work.

Then at the end of the lesson you can go to your questions on PollEverywhere.com and clear results if you have another class you want to use the same presentation with.