PollEverywhere

What is PollEverywhere?
PollEverywhere is a simple web-based application that can be used in and outside the classroom to create multiple-choice or open-ended polls. You can also use PollEverywhere in distance learning classrooms or fully online courses.

How does it work?
You ask a question with the PollEverywhere app. Students respond via a text message, a web page, or Twitter. Everyone sees responses live on the web or in a PowerPoint presentation. Please note: you can embed polls in PowerPoint or Keynote presentations, display in a web browser, or embed in a course site.

Why use PollEverywhere?

  • Have your students take a more active role and use their responses to drive your lecture
  • Engage students who might be reluctant to voice their opinion in class
  • Check for your students' understanding by asking multiple-choice questions
  • Engage students in deep thinking by asking open-ended questions
  • Hold students accountable for their learning and class participation (showing up in class is not enough)
  • Create a non-threating environment for classroom discussion and hear from each student in your class
  • Help students develop listening skills by discussing their response with a peer and then responding
  • Teach students to interpret data and laboratory reports by answering a series of questions
  • Have your students summarize big concepts in a couple of words

Key Features:

  • Works with any device instantly: smart phone, dumb phone, tablet/iPad, or laptop/desktop.
  • Easy and versatile: use polls for formative assessment to guide a lecture, flipped classrooms, exam review, attendance, quizzes, participation, team competitions.
  • Ready data and reporting: student response data is available in a variety of forms, from flat data sheets to graded scorecards to pivot tables and correlations.

Types of Poll Questions:

  • Best answer from several correct ones. It requires students to carefully weigh evidence for and against alternative choices, all of which could be correct. Committing to an answer in advance makes students more invested in the subsequent discussion – and more likely to have generated ideas to share. As the results display, close calls show that the question is a difficult one – and worthy of debate.
  • Student perspective. Asks students to share their opinions and personal experiences – anonymously or by name. These questions help connect sometimes-abstract material with students’ own lives. They can also help students understand each other better and consider perspectives different than their own, facilitating richer discussions.
  • Misconception question. Highlights common misunderstandings and are generally answered incorrectly by 30-70 % of students. They have been shown to facilitate learning when paired with peer instruction models (e.g., class breaks into pairs or groups to discuss the revealed answer.)
  • Peer assessment. Encourages students to provide constructive feedback on each other’s work. Students are more able to provide honest, constructive feedback since voting provides a degree of anonymity.

Getting Started

Faculty

Students

Guides and Cases

Support

Help

Drop in for a quick conversation with our friendly ATS staff via Zoom, or you can always submit a ticket.