Tech Finds: Poll Everywhere
Since I am currently taking a class focused on mobile learning and the educational possibilities of the cell phone, I have been introduced to so many cooI, new teaching tools. One of my more recent discoveries is the app Poll Everywhere. Poll Everywhere is an SMS/texting based service that allows educators, business leaders, speakers, etc. to gain feedback from a group of people, whether it be a live audience or a virtual one. The polling generally takes place by texting a key word to an assigned number, but it can also be done through Twitter or on Poll Everywhere’s website. One of the benefits of Poll Everywhere is the ability to see votes in real time. This would allow the person conducting the poll to know almost instantaneously the results of the poll. Poll Everywhere also has the capability of allowing audience members, or students, to text in comments and questions, which could be used for a question and answer forum or panel discussion.
The capabilities of Poll Everywhere in a classroom setting seem endless. Educators can use this resource to track student progress, identify areas of weakness and collect feedback without putting students on the spot or embarrassing them. Specifically as a future English teacher, Poll Everywhere could be helpful for gaging comprehension levels in order to help me know if I need to review material or not. It could also be used to determine the effectiveness of a particular activity or implementation of technology, as well as a means of gathering data for an action research project. Probably one of the most helpful features of Poll Everywhere, especially for middle and high school teachers, is the profanity and moderation filter. This feature not only prevents inappropriate content, but also aids in keeping the comments focused and on-topic, while still allowing the speaker/ teacher to decide which comments and questions should be addressed. Overall, Poll Everywhere seems like a simple, direct way of evaluating students and opening up conversations with all students, using a technology that is relevant to them and removing some of the factors that typically prevent or intimidate them from actively participating in class.
