In this supportive guide you will find resources on how to use this tool in your teaching. 

  • For general information about Poll Everywhere, please view the main tool page.
  • For details on technical help with this tool, please refer to the support section on the main tool page.

Overview

Using Poll Everywhere allows you to get a better sense of how the entire class is doing at the moment. This is more effective than getting feedback only from the students that are willing to speak in class or waiting for an exam to realize where students are struggling. Information gathered from using Poll Everywhere should inform your next steps in teaching.

Teaching examples

Enhance

Poll Everywhere activities could replace a paper-based low-stakes quiz at the start of a class. Students would efficiently respond on their web-enabled devices. The instructor would be able to collect the responses, display the results on the projector/screen, and discuss the areas of difficulty. The enhancement comes from students being able to immediately receive feedback.

Extend

Poll Everywhere activities occur throughout a class session (e.g., every 10 minutes). A few of the activities check comprehension of what was just explored in class but others serve different purposes.

  • An activity is asked before exploring the new topic and checks students' prior knowledge. By checking prior knowledge, the instructor gains insight into what the students already know and the students' brains are primed to make connections between what they already know and the new knowledge.
  • Another activity simply asks students if they want to see another example. This is immediate feedback to the instructor that helps them tailor the class to the students.
  • An activity at the end of class asks students to reflect on the class to identify any remaining areas of confusion. This reflection helps students consolidate their learning from the day and the instructor uses these responses to tailor the start of the next class session.

Empower

Students respond to Poll Everywhere activities throughout class that require them to apply and synthesize recently learned concepts to a new problem or context. After seeing poll results, students asked given time to convince their peers of their reasoning. After the discussion concludes, the instructor re-polls the class to see which arguments and justifications were most convincing (typically, it will be the correct answer – learn more about "Peer Instruction" here).

Videos and other Resources to support

If you are new to using Poll Everywhere, start with these videos in this order:

 

1. Poll Everywhere: Account Setup and Key Settings

 

2. Poll Everywhere: Creating Polls and Other Activities

 

3. Poll Everywhere: Inserting and Running Activities in PowerPoint
Choose either video based on your computer type

* Windows Users *
* Mac Users *

After you have your account set up and know how to create and run activities, explore these other functions of Poll Everywhere:

Syncing your Student Roster from Canvas

Exporting a Gradebook Report (for participation or correctness):
Poll Everywhere & Canvas Integration Guide for Educators (see Page 6)

  • Poll Everywhere recommends exporting grades regularly throughout the term rather than once at the end.
  • Each grade export will enter the Canvas Gradebook as an assignment out of 100.