I have blogged before about using Moodle to set up Choices polls, but if you don’t use Moodle, or if you prefer to use other tools, a good solution is Poll Everywhere, a web-based tool which allows you, for free, to set up a poll, which you can download as a PowerPoint slide, or in web format. This can be displayed for a class, and the students can take the poll via a website, or use twitter @poll followed by the code for each particular choice. This is then collated live, and displays as a chart in your PowerPoint presentation in real-time (twitter willing!).
This is a very powerful tool, and takes very little effort to set up. it is certainly well-worth experimenting with. You can set up a multiple choice style poll, or a poll which asks a question, and takes text messages from twitter and displays them on the slide as shown below.
All in all, it seems to me that this tool is something every teacher should have in their arsenal. It is free to use, easy to set up, and interactive. It is a great tool for the classroom, and for giving presentations as well. I give it a five thumbs up!
Dorian Love
smfarrelly
July 13, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Hi digiteacher,
This is Steve, from Poll Everywhere. I wanted to take a moment to compliment you on the great blog and thank you for the write up!
We really appreciate the positive words and are always elated when teachers like yourself can try us out and share your experiences. If you have any other comments or suggestions feel free to email us: support@polleverywhere.com or steve@polleverywhere.com
Thanks again!
Steve