Poll Everywhere Activities and Resources

by | Dec 2, 2021 | Instructional design, Services

This post focuses on Poll Everywhere as a tool for student engagement. For more on Poll Everywhere at UChicago, please visit the Poll Everywhere service page and consider registering for the upcoming workshop “Poll Everywhere Faculty Discussion” to be held on December 9th, 2021.

Blended Synchronous Learning has offered us unique challenges as well as unique opportunities to develop new ways of teaching. However, some of our previous tools can still be used, albeit in new ways, to face these unique challenges. Poll Everywhere is one such flexible student engagement tool that will work in person, online, and in blended classrooms.

With Poll Everywhere, you can ask engaging warm-up questions to your in-person and remote students and encourage all synchronous students to contribute by discussing the results. You can also use Poll Everywhere in conjunction with your lecture presentations and share your screen via Zoom to keep both in-person and remote students engaged at all times. Below, we have highlighted four activities that you can easily implement with Poll Everywhere in a blended synchronous learning environment.

Prior Knowledge Survey

Create a survey and ask students to rate their level of understanding on a new topic that you will present. Review the responses and then adjust your lesson according to gaps in your students’ knowledge. Use the Survey question type in Poll Everywhere for this activity.

Lesson Review

Similar to the prior knowledge survey, you can ask students to submit topics they are confused about from the previous lesson and reading. Other students can also upvote the responses they agree with. Review the top responses, and then you can start your class session by reviewing the difficult concepts and questions from the readings. Use the Q&A question type in Poll Everywhere for this activity.

Icebreakers

You can use Poll Everywhere to ask fun questions to grab student attention and help start discussion. Some funny examples are below. Use the Q&A question type in Poll Everywhere for this activity.

  • Please rank the following foods from most sandwich to least sandwich.
  • Please rank the following French fry types based on your preference.
  • Which way do you hang the toilet paper?
  • What are your thoughts on TikTok? Would you use it?
  • What is your favorite “weird” food combination?
  • Do you think pineapple belongs on pizza?

Take the “Classroom Temperature”

Students may be overwhelmed with the amount of material presented in your course but are often too shy or embarrassed to speak about it. This can affect the overall learning process. You can periodically check the students’ thoughts on the pace or difficulty of the course with short, two- or three-question surveys. Ask the students to provide honest, open feedback about their experiences so far. Many students will appreciate and share their thoughts in an anonymous setting. Use the Survey question type in Poll Everywhere for this activity.

Open Door Policy

Create a poll for students to submit general questions, share their concerns, and give honest feedback throughout the semester. This poll can be a part of your “open-door policy,” and it can be active at all times, even outside of class. Use a pinned Q&A question type in Poll Everywhere for this activity.

More Information about Poll Everywhere

If you have any questions or would like to discuss Poll Everywhere, please stop by our Office Hours or contact Academic Technology Solutions to schedule an individual consultation.