Poll+Everywhere

Would You Allow Students To Use Cell Phones In Class As A Daily Part Of Class Activity? =View or participate in the poll below. You will need PowerPoint to view the file and you must be in the slide show mode for the slides to update. The first 32 responders count. After you respond, the poll will update before your eyes. Neat!! = (Your computer may give a security warning because the Poll Everywhere link is a macro -- I let it link anyway) (If you don't have PowerPoint, get the viewer free from Microsoft at the following link): [|MS PowerPoint Viewer]



How Does Poll Everywhere Work?
As an account holder, I enter a question into the Poll Everywhere website. Respondents then view my poll and text their response. Poll Everywhere supplies a number to enter into the "call to" number, and then provides a separate 5-digit number for each of the responses. The responders enter their answers in as "text" and send. The Poll then updates real-time with the responses.

Why did you choose Poll Everywhere?
I originally wanted to have students collaborate by posting Algebra 2 notes on a Web 2.0 website. However, I realized that most Algebra 2 notes contain a lot of graphs and equations. There is no quick way to enter these into a computer, unless students have access to a TabletPC. Instead I decided to use Poll Everywhere as a method to present multiple choice questions to my class and have them answer by texting their response. My "Poll" would immediately update with their responses. Depending on the level of my account, I could even track their responses by student. This is a great, quick way to get feedback on student learning -- and the fact that they use cell phones makes it interesting for them.

How difficult is it to use?
If you have only text questions and answers, the poll is extremely easy to use. You just enter the questions and answers on the Poll Everywhere website, and then project the poll to your audience. However, this does not work for math teachers if you want to have questions containing graphs and equations. I originally tried to post equations and graphs into the space on the Poll Everywhere site, but that did not work. I was sunk.

However, Poll Everywhere had a solution. I download the poll into a PowerPoint presentation. As long as the poll was open, PowerPoint linked real-time to the poll. It showed the question and the updated responses. I created my graph question on one side of a PowerPoint slide and linked the Poll Everywhere chart to the other. It did take more time than just entering the question into the Poll Everywhere site, but that was not feasible for math, and the time was just a little longer.

What are the features and limitations?
Following is a list of features.
 * Quick entry of questions and answers if entered on the Poll Everywhere website.
 * If you can't use the Poll Everywhere website to enter questions and answers, you can use PowerPoint for your data, and then link the Poll Everywhere poll to data slide.
 * Each user has their own account.
 * Each user has an unlimited number of polls.
 * There is a 32 responder limit for each poll. However, for my use I can clear each poll after a class is finished and then its ready for another 32 responders. If you have larger classes, you can upgrade to 40 respondents.
 * For a $50 year fee, you can upgrade and get the ability to track each user's response. Each student in your class would have to register their cell phone as a user so they can track the number. Poll Everywhere even provides instructions to make this easy. Poll Everywhere appears to put a lot of focus on education.
 * A potential drawback is that students need cell phones with unlimited texting. About 80% of my Algebra 2 students appear to have both.

Do you have an example of how it worked for Algebra 2?
Following is an example of how I would use Poll Everywhere to check understanding after a lesson on graphing absolute value functions. Again, you will need PowerPoint to view the poll. Once in slide show mode, give each slide several seconds for the Poll Everywhere link to load.



Following is a table I copied from Poll Everywhere that provides the Poll Everywhere cost. It is free for educators. As mentioned above, the $50 upgrade is nice as it allows a teacher to track individual student responses. I will probably try the K12 free plan in Algebra 2. Then if I like it, upgrade to the $50 per year option to track students.

=Classroom Response System Plans for K-12=

No proprietary clickers. More affordable. No hidden fees.
||~ K-12 Free ||~ Individual Teacher ||~ School-wide ||~ District-wide || Minimum 200 students || Minimum 200 students || Maximum responses [|(?)] || **32** || **40** || **80** || **80** || Number of classrooms [|(?)] || **Unlimited** || **Unlimited** || **Unlimited** || **Unlimited** || Number of teachers || 1 || 1 || Unlimited || Unlimited || Grade your students responses ||  ||  ||  ||  || Approve what is displayed on-screen ||  ||  ||  ||  || Results by student, privacy controls, multiple devices [|(?)] ||  ||  ||  ||  || Choose your own keywords [|(?)] ||  ||   ||  ||  || Our K-12 pricing is possible due to two partners committed to education: Qualcomm and Mobile Messenger.
 * [|Business & Non-profit]
 * [|K-12]
 * [|Higher Education]
 * ~ [[image:http://www.polleverywhere.com/images/chalkboard_more_plans.png?240106f70487fce3f8d7dac8daa4cc45 caption="Need Poll Everywhere for less than a year or just a month? Click here for more plans" link="http://www.polleverywhere.com/plans"]]
 * ~  ||   || $129/year
 * $50**/ year || $2.50/student
 * ^  || Current Plan || [[image:http://www.polleverywhere.com/images/button_upgrade_medium.png?e89953882beeac95ed28e4525e2d35ae caption="Upgrade to the Individual Teacher Plan" link="http://www.polleverywhere.com/account/plans/33-individual-teacher/edit"]] || [[image:http://www.polleverywhere.com/images/button_contact_us_medium.png?284fdf929689da5448ed31a5f21c2f43 caption="Contact us to sign up for the school-wide plan" link="http://www.polleverywhere.com/plans/classroom_response_system_k12#"]] || [[image:http://www.polleverywhere.com/images/button_contact_us_medium.png?284fdf929689da5448ed31a5f21c2f43 caption="Contact us to sign up for the school-wide plan" link="http://www.polleverywhere.com/plans/classroom_response_system_k12#"]] ||
 * ~ Class size
 * ~ Classes
 * ~ Teachers
 * ~ Advanced Reporting
 * ~ Response Moderation
 * ~ Student Rosters
 * ~ Custom Keywords
 * ~ Technical Support || FAQ || FAQ, Email || Tier 2 Support || Tier 2 Support ||

Poll Everywhere sounds great. Where can I learn more?
I believe Poll Everywhere can be a valuable tool for quickly assessing student learning and substitute for the use of clickers. You can learn more from their website. [|Poll Everywhere Website]

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