Poll Everywhere staff guide

Poll Everywhere is a student response system that is simple to set up and use and allows for student participation via mobile devices. You create polls and quizzes, and students answer multiple choice or open questions via a fast mobile-friendly web page or by sending text messages. The poll or quiz is updated in real time with their answers. Advanced uses include marking answers as correct, registering students to track achievement and using questions with clickable images. Using student response systems have proven impact in engagement, participation and achievement.

The simplicity of the tool allows you to focus on its teaching and learning potential:

• Promoting active, collaborative and deep learning,
• Increasing participation and interactivity,
• Increasing retention of core information,
• Immediate feedback is available,
• Because it can be anonymous, it is a safe environment to participate,
• Enables team competitions.

In January 2024, Single Sign-on was switched on for Poll Everywhere.

• If you already have a licensed account: Select City Single Sign-on and use your usual university credentials and MFA to log in.
• If you have never had a Poll Everywhere account: You don't need to request an account, just log into Poll Everywhere using your university email and password, and usual MFA, and an account will be created for you.
• If you previously had a non-licensed account under your university email address: Please follow the steps below.

1. Request an account via the IT Self Service Portal.
2. You will receive an email invitation to join the University account. Don't select the link in the invitation yet.
3. Log into Poll Everywhere using your university email address and the password you originally used to set up the Poll Everywhere account. If you can't remember your Poll Everywhere password, select the option to reset your password. At this point you will not be able to use your usual university password.
4. Accept the email invitation.
5. Your existing account and all your existing activities will be transferred to the licensed University account.
6. Log in with Single Sign-on from this point onwards.

If you cannot log into Poll Everywhere using Single Sign-on for any reason, please request an account via the IT Self Service Portal.

• Please provide 2 working days' notice for account set up.
• You will receive an email with instructions on how to join the University's premium service plan and a link to do so.
• You will receive a separate email inviting you for training.

1. Go to the Poll Everywhere site.
2. Enter your @city.ac.uk email address
3. Select Log in with City, University of London
4. Enter your university password when prompted.
5. Complete the MFA using your chosen method.

NB: Staff use www.polleverywhere.com to create and present polls. Students use www.pollev.com or the free mobile app to respond to polls.

Writing questions is one of the most important elements of using this tool. Ideally, questions will motivate and assess students, revealing their level of mastery of the content and factual recall, and any misconceptions and interpretations. Keep in mind that writing effective questions is different from writing exam or assignment questions. Questions that are too easy might not motivate students, who tend to see them as a waste of valuable contact time, and might give students a false sense of security about their knowledge. 

A good way of avoiding these pitfalls is to use a simple methodology that is learner centred and pedagogically focused. According to Beatty, good poll questions should have a:

• Content goal: Directly related to the course content; often have correct and incorrect answers. They might ask students to remember facts, concepts, or procedures.
• Process goal: Exercises cognitive skills: analyse, explain, describe, etc.
• Metacognitive goal: Learning about learning and engage critical thinking about subject matter or process.

To write polls, start by:

• Defining your learning aims: What do you want your students to be able to do (factual recall, content assimilation, skill development, etc.)?
• Defining the goal for the question: Are you aiming to promote discussion? Raise awareness? Stimulate cognitive process? 
• Choosing the appropriate type of question: Qualitative questions, analysis and reasoning questions, multiple defensible answers, etc.

References

• Beatty ID, Leonard W.J., Gerace W.J., Dufresne R.J., 2006. Designing effective questions for classroom response system teaching. [Online] Available at: https://srri.umass.edu/sites/srri/files/beatty-2006deq/index.pdf [Accessed 26 January 2015]

Educational Technology Workshops

The Digital Education Team runs a programme of workshops on all our educational technologies and digital accessibility. The sessions are run both online and in-person throughout the year. View full details and sign up on the LEaD events calendar.

Request training

You can request one-to-one or group training on any of the University's educational technologies or digital accessibility via the IT Self Service Portal.