Abstract:

Have you wondered what everyone in your class or meeting was thinking about a topic but been unable to reach a conclusion because only a few would answer questions? Are you losing valuable class time to “taking roll” to meet institutional or professional attendance goals? Do you want to use a classroom response system or “clicker” but do not have the funding for a system? Do you want to make your next course or presentation more audience engaging without a large investment in additional technology?

This article will describe one faculty member and several hundred students’ experiences over an academic year using a free or very low cost classroom response service known as PollEverywhere. This system is accessible to both faculty and students. Participants may respond using a text message, via the Poll Everywhere website via a question specific URL, or through services such as Twitter or various smartphones. It also allows for questions to be integrated into a Powerpoint or Keynote presentation with responses pulled live from PollEverywhere’s website.

Keywords:

Classroom response system, PollEverywhere, automated roll taking, classroom technology, audience response system.