Interactive Polling

Interactive Polling is the practice of engaging your audience by asking questions at key points of inflection that stimulate active thinking.  Science shows us that brains that are engaged in activities light up in PET scans because they are thinking.  Wake up your lectures with polls that help you gauge your students comprehension in real time. 

Active Learning in Large Classrooms:

Students learn to think differently when they are given a chance to question and respond through polling in lecture halls.  Want to go beyond just transmitting facts and concepts to students?  Want to teach them how to question, evaluate, and prioritize their thoughts?  Change the “passive” nature of the large class in your lectures by “opting” for interactive polling with UCLA’s own Online Polling Tool OPT!

Real time feedback on what’s working:

Assess student comprehension in real time, in classrooms across campus or across the state….

Give students a Voice:

Give your shy students a voice by using an active poll to collect questions throughout the lecture.

Take Attendance:

 Have your students check in to class by answering a poll about their assignments. 

Group Work:

Assign small groups to discuss material and have them share the group’s conclusions.

Try a Session Closure Poll:

Use a poll as a wrap-up activity for your lecture to evaluate session takeaways before they walk out the door.  Answer their questions in an email to the class and reduce the late night email queries on the night before a test.  Use their responses to customize future lessons to their needs and interests. 

When you are engaging a multi-location class:

Use one poll to assess students in multiple classrooms at the same time. Students can respond on phones, tablets or their laptops. Tailor instruction as the need arises.

Want to try a FREE, Mobile Friendly, Cross Platform Polling Tool that’s FREE for students as well?  Login and try out OPT UCLA’s Online Polling Tool