For a long time now I have been looking for a tool that enables
instant polling in the classroom or in the lecture room. I specifically
wanted something that:
- doesn't require registration (especially from the people I'm polling)
- updates very quickly
- works on any platform from computers to mobile devices
It looks like I have finally found what I've been looking for and
best of all it's free. The tool that I have found is Mentimeter and it
does all of the above.
- Here's an example of a poll I created where you can add your vote: http://vot.rs/d6dbde
- Here is a link to the results
http://mentimeter.com/public/5dc1bf7d6eeb (if you are one of the first
to read this article there may not be many results yet).
Creating the poll was really quick and easy I just went to
http://mentimeter.com and typed in my question, then I clicked on
'Create Question',
I then entered my selection of answer choices, chose a theme and clicked on 'Save and Start Presenting'.
The poll is then ready to use. There are a number of ways of sharing it.
You
can get a URL with a code to restrict entry or to make it quick and
easy to share in presentations (Here's one on the flipped classroom. The
URL is always http://vot.rs/ then you have a specific code for the
poll, which in this case is 23512 ) anyone with this code can then vote. By all means give it a try.
You can click on share after you create your poll and get a
direct web link which you can share through social media, such as
Twitter or Facebook etc.
By clicking on 'Share' on your poll page you can also get an
embed code or a link to to a public results page. I've embded the poll
below to show you how it looks.
So what's so great about creating live polls?
- Well they are
great if you are lecturing or presenting at a conference with a
wireless network as you can get instant feedback and responses that
everyone can share in and so involve more people. - You can use them in class as a quick test to see if students have understood your material.
- You can get students to create them and test each other.
- You can use them for opinion polls in class, both before and after discussions to see if there is any shift in opinion.
- The
responses are anonymous, so it's a good tool to use to get honest
feedback if you are doing action research in class, especially if it is
related to a sensitive issue, such as your own teaching style or methods.
What's not to like?
- Well there isn't much I can say that I don't like about this tool.
- I'd like to have polls with more than one question though.
- You have to be careful about using polls like this on mobile
phones if your students are having to pay a connection charge, so it
really helps to be able to get them on the wireless network if you are
using it in class.
I hope you find http://mentimeter.com useful and enjoy using it with your students.
Related links:
- 10 Tools for Increasing Engagement in Online Courses
- 3 Tools for Exploiting the Wifi During Presentations
- Questioning the Role of Technology in Education
- iPad Apps for English Language Teachers
- Technology can sometimes be wasted on English language teaching
Best
Nik Peachey
