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Poll Everywhere

Score8.6 out of 10

16 Reviews and Ratings

What is Poll Everywhere?

Poll Everywhere is an event management software system offered by Poll Everywhere.

Embrace Smart Phones and Engage Your Audience with Poll Everywhere

Pros

  • No need to distribute or account for 'clickers' -- PollEverywhere works with any device, even an old fashioned flip phone
  • Because the polls are URL based you can engage with both an in-person and remote audience at the same time
  • PPT Integration is very easy, even for novice technical users
  • Analytics are strong, if you choose to require registration you can really drill down on where certain responses are coming from
  • Innovation -- Poll Everywhere is always rolling out new features and poll types. The most recent feature of group 'competitions' can add a fun gaming element to any class or event.

Cons

  • While you can technically embed a poll into a website on LMS, the features are rather limited. Embedding multiple polls in different sites/courses from one account has been problematic. Users tend to default to something like Google Polls or Qualtrix instead
  • GradeCenter integration with our LMS (Blackboard) while possible, is not as robust as we'd like to see
  • Some of our users have felt limited by the only being able to do one poll at a time. We have not found a great way to collect multiple polls at once or to create user-paced polls
  • Managing groups of users (in our case classes) using the same poll set can be cumbersome.

Return on Investment

  • The most obvious financial advantage is not having to account for the physical clickers and batteries
  • Because of the PPT integration, training and IT support is minimal
  • Because of the campus/organizational license, our students have spaced any subscription or device costs. The app, etc is completely free for end users.

Alternatives Considered

Qualtrics and Top Hat

Other Software Used

MindTap, Zoom Video Webinar, Blackboard Learn, Adobe Connect

Good Supplemental Tool for Classes.

Pros

  • It's deceptively simple to use. Showing how to use the features, create & modify questions, and viewing polling data, is much easier than it first seems.
  • There are a surprising amount of alternate ways to poll users and present questions in more ways than just "Question and 2-4 possible answers." It's pretty easy to customize.
  • It's very, very, very easy to use as an attendee. There's not anything complex or invasive in order to sign in and vote in polls.

Cons

  • I wish it were easier to group and store reports of polls. That's one area, in terms of verifying a user has participated, that's a bit of a pain.
  • In addition to my first point, I wish that when attendees vote via text, that they are required to put in a name much like the browser version. Part of how we use Poll Everywhere is to verify attendance and participation and this could be I think a little easier to do.

Return on Investment

  • It's helped for us to give a good, interactive experience for students, that has potential for better utilization.
  • There definitely needs to be a better balance for how it is used, because if this software is used too much in a presentation, it gets distracting from the actual material in the classroom. Too little and folks (on certain topics) find themselves bored and waiting to actually "do something."

Poll Everywhere Leverages Existing Tech, Saves Money

Pros

  • Stellar customer service/tech support
  • User-friendly question creation (just a few clicks)
  • Consistently making improvements based on user feedback
  • Offers pretty robust free version that we can share with our teachers in training

Cons

  • SSO integration could be a little smoother
  • LMS grade integration requires many steps, sometimes frustrates faculty
  • New quiz/gaming feature is still not as good as Kahoot - some technical issues in presentations

Return on Investment

  • We were facing an unplanned $20k yearly expense if we had stayed with our previous clicker provider
  • Poll Everywhere made it so we did not have to increase student fees or find another way to fund the initiative; we had enough in current fees to cover the usage
  • In pilots, students preferred using Poll Everywhere to clickers

Other Software Used

Articulate Storyline, Zoom, Qualtrics, Blackboard, VEGAS Pro

A Simple But Overwhelming Poll Favorite With Adaptability

Pros

  • Easy to use and get up and running. You can quickly set up a poll everywhere question or survey in a matter of minutes.
  • Fun and creative. Poll Everywhere allows users to interact via text message on their phone or through the web app/site. Great for student engagement.
  • Saves the results. One of the best features is that you can take the results from the poll or survey away with you to check back on at a later date. This is perfect for teachers to be able to assess and modify their lessons.

Cons

  • I can honestly say I like everything about Poll Everywhere. Its simplicity is a complete advantage over other programs.
  • I actually like how users are anonymous when they respond. However, you can have users/students sign-in if you are running the premium version of Poll Everywhere.

Return on Investment

  • Enhanced interaction during lessons
  • Increased student engagement
  • Increased opportunities for student voice

Alternatives Considered

Socrative, exit ticket and google forms

Other Software Used

Google Drive, Schoology, WordPress

Magnificent

Pros

  • Class instruction
  • Quiz
  • Team building and group assignments

Cons

  • Free option needs to add more options

Return on Investment

  • So far, the ROI is high because we utilize it frequently as an innovative way to engage students.