Voting with PollEverywhere
By Jessica Gramp, on 18 February 2013
If you are interested in polling your students, but don’t have access to Electronic Voting Handsets (either installed in a lecture theatre or lent to students) you could use PollEverywhere instead.
PollEverywhere is an online tool that lets you set up polls that students can answer, either by sending a text message or using the Internet on their laptop or smart-device. It is free for for up to 40 responses per poll, so for classes larger than this the free option may not be suitable. There are Higher Education plans available for those who need it. Try it out here: www.polleverywhere.com
Online-only tools (with no text messaging capabilities) exist, but the ones I have looked at have several issues that would prevent me from using them myself or suggesting them to others.
[edit: list of systems to avoid removed]
If you are a UCL staff member you can contact E-Learning Environments (ELE) for further information about electronic voting.
A colleague has asked me whether students have to pay for their text messages to PollEverywhere. Text messages are charged at standard rates if they choose to text in their response. Many people these days will have generous (or even unlimited) text plans, so they will not pay anything additional to use this service.
Alternatively, students can use a laptop, tablet or smartphone and vote via the website instead. If they are connected to the wireless network (eduroam) this will incur no cost. Otherwise, if they connect via their mobile data plan they will be charged for this data usage.
As long as the room you are teaching in has free Internet access, there is a free option for students to use. Every poll will have both options available, giving students the ability to choose what is best for them. Therefore, as long as every student has a smart device, or enough text messaging credit to respond via text, they will be able to participate.