Using polls in the classroom creates an opportunity to reinforce important topics, encourage active participation, make lectures more engaging, and organically catalyze deep classroom discussions that a simple lecture may not otherwise bring to the surface.
Polling Software
Poll Everywhere
This web-based platform is perhaps the most popular tool for live polling. It allows for both multiple choice and free response questions. All you need to get started is a free account on their website. Students can respond to polls on the web or via text message, and results can be projected live in the classroom. To learn more about Poll Everywhere take a tour or sign up.
Kahoot!
Kahoot uses gamification to make polls more interactive for learning and offers three types of “Kahoots”:quizzes, discussions, and polls. Each of the three types of Kahoots are limited to multiple choice questions. Students can answer online or with mobile browsers by entering a code to access each Kahoot. The Kahoot must be used in conjunction with a classroom projector as students simply see shapes on their devices that correlate with answers projected on the screen; this is an effective tool to get everyone looking at the screen at the same time. Try Kahoot! for yourself.