Tech Mentor Meeting Requirement

In-class demo of Poll Everywhere – A Web 2.0 Tool

My students do not like when we review in class. But we have to. To make reviews interesting I like to try out different tech tools to engage my students. One such tool I came across at a Tech Mentor meeting was Poll Everywhere. Immediately I knew this was something my students would eat up. Interactive, engaging, anonymous. It is web based and there is an app for iOS.

I decided to give it a try and quickly made up a few poll questions. I downloaded the app for my iPhone and when my Social 9 class came in we were ready for review. Being a BYOD school, everyone had their devices with them and those that did not (2 students) used our school netbooks.

I explained how the poll works (either by going to the web address or texting in the answer) and the students quickly caught on after the first question.

I was surprised by the reaction I got – 100% participation (I know this because I set the poll to only allow devices to vote once and I see how many responses come in by use of the iOS app).

A positive experience, I have not incorporated this into my tech tool bag. I highly recommend others to give this a try. Great for multiple choice questions, open ended questions, and even class discussion.

Rating: 4 out of 5 – Students must have internet to access polls. If a school is not equipped with WiFi or if students do not have a cell phone with data then they must partner up with someone who does.