Polling Tools to Keep Students Engaged

Classroom polling is a great way to keep students engaged in the lesson. By asking questions and getting feedback from the class, you can gauge their understanding of the material and make sure everyone is on track. In addition, polls can be fun and interactive, which helps to maintain student attention.

There are many different polling tools available online, so it can be tricky to know which one to choose. Some factors to consider include ease of use, features, pricing, and compatibility with your existing learning management system (LMS).

In this article, we'll discuss what classroom polling is and some of its benefits. We'll also discuss the top polling tools you can use to improve your lectures as well as how to conduct good classroom polls.

What Is Classroom Polling, and What Are Its Benefits?

Classroom polling is a form of assessment where students answer questions posed by the teacher in real-time. This can be done with physical clickers, mobile devices, or even via online school voting.

There are several benefits to using classroom polling, including:

• Checking comprehension–by asking a question and having students vote on the correct answer, you can quickly gauge whether or not they understood the material.
• Interactiveness–classroom polls make lectures more interactive and engaging. This is especially useful for keeping students' attention during longer lectures.
• Customizable–based on the results of a poll, you can adjust your lesson on the fly to ensure that your students are getting the most out of it.
• Fun–classroom polling can be a fun way to break up the monotony of lectures. By adding some friendly competition to the mix, you can make learning more enjoyable for your students.
• Sparking discussions–after a poll, you can open up the floor for discussion. This is a great way to get students thinking critically about the material and to share their own insights.
• Boosting effectiveness--many research studies have shown that students learn better when they engage in active learning activities. Active learning refers to any learning activity where the student is actively engaged in the material, as opposed to passively listening to a lecture.
• A way to prepare students for voting–classroom polling helps students learn about democracy and the importance of elections. This will encourage them to participate in future real-world elections as they grow up. 

What Are the Best Polling Tools to Keep Students Engaged?

Here are some of the best polling tools to keep students engaged:

ElectionBuddy

ElectionBuddy is the complete package when it comes to classroom polling (and any type of school-related elections in general). We offer multiple ways to vote, such as cellphones, computers, and tablets. This means no student will be excluded from the poll because of a lack of technology. In addition, our polls can be customized using photos, documents, and websites, making classroom polls more interesting.

ElectionBuddy also lets you create polls in multiple languages, which means everyone can participate, regardless of their first language. Lastly, our live reporting feature lets you see the results of the poll in real-time, so you can adjust your lesson accordingly.

Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere is a widely used tool that is compatible with most LMSs. It's simple to use and offers a variety of features, such as the ability to create custom polls, share results in real-time, and export results for later analysis.

Socrative

Socrative is another popular tool used for classroom polling. It allows you to poll fifty students at once, offers shareable links to make the poll more accessible for students, and can launch up to twenty quizzes at once.

How to Conduct Quality Classroom Polls 

Now that we've gone over some of the best polling tools, let's discuss how to conduct high quality classroom polls:

Keep it short: When posing a question, make sure it is short and to the point. This will help prevent students from getting lost or confused.

Make it relevant: The questions you ask should be relevant to the material you are covering in class. This will help students see the value in participating in the poll.

Make It engaging: To keep students engaged, try to make the questions interesting and fun. You can do this by adding images or videos or by making the question more personal. Humor is another great tool for making polls more engaging.

Be prepared: Before conducting a poll, make sure you are prepared. This means having all the necessary materials and technology set up and ready to go. It also means having a clear plan for how the poll will be conducted.

Follow up: After the poll is over, take some time to discuss the results with your students. This is a great way to get them thinking critically about the material and to share their own insights. It's also a good practice to conduct polls before and after a lesson, as this will help you gauge how impactful your lectures are.

If you’re confused about how to get started, check out our recent post on how to do a live poll in class.