Poll Everywhere's Blog http://blog.polleverywhere.com Evolving Live Events and Presenter-Audience Interaction posterous.com Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:13:33 -0800 What Threat Do For-profit Universities Pose? http://blog.polleverywhere.com/what-threat-do-for-profit-universities-pose http://blog.polleverywhere.com/what-threat-do-for-profit-universities-pose
With the growth of for-profit colleges and universities has come growing criticism regarding their recruitment practices, their quality of education, as well as their graduation rates, to name a few.  Many traditional universities have come to see for-profits as a threat to their enrollments, and they have come under heavy scrutiny by higher education regulators and the federal government.  Critics have gathered additional ammunition with the release of a 2011 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, which casts for-profit universities in a negative light.  Recent comments by Senator Tom Harkin have indicated that for-profits face a contentious battle and closer examination.
This topic has created a lot of heated discussions from those on both sides of the issue.  Are for-profit colleges and universities truly a threat to traditional universities or do they, as they vehemently argue, provide opportunity to a portion of the population that is largely ignored by traditional universities?
There is no denying the growth that for-profit universities have enjoyed.  According to the Almanac for Higher Education 2011, the numbers are remarkable as seen in this chart.
The University of Phoenix and Kaplan Higher Education Schools are two of the for-profit universities with the highest enrollment.  Despite the criticism levied from traditional brick-and-mortar schools, for-profits argue that they serve a segment of the population that is largely ignored by non-profits.  These groups include, older students, stay-at-home parents, veterans, and those employed full time that just are not looking for the college experience that campus life may offer younger enrollees.  For-profit universities appeal to the student that would normally be denied admittance to a traditional university since for-profit admission's policy is less restrictive.
The debate rages, but the reality that for-profits face, includes greater inquiry from legislators that can't be denied.  For-profit universities have a long history in our country, and have filled a training need for much of a population seeking higher education since the 1600's.  Their future status, however, is under attack and their sustainability may require changes in their methods.  The question remains: Are for-profit universities truly a threat to higher education?

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:30:00 -0800 SOPA PIPA and the Classroom Use of Digital Media http://blog.polleverywhere.com/classroom-use-of-digital-media http://blog.polleverywhere.com/classroom-use-of-digital-media
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Wednesday's blackouts by companies like Wikipedia and Reddit have raised much needed awareness about the Stop Online Privacy Act and the Protect IP Act. If you would like to do your part to support freedom of speech and prevent internet censorship, please visit americancensorship.org. As the debate continues, let's take some time to review the current state of digital media in the classroom.

The Internet provides access to a vast source of information, some of which ends up in classrooms. Multimedia projects have become a popular addition to classroom assignments. Their use, however, raises questions about the legal and ethical use of images, video, and audio obtained from the Internet. What are the limitations and restrictions to the use of media in the classroom? What are teachers allowed to use for instruction and what are students allowed to use for classroom projects? These questions and their answers need to be considered by teachers to avoid messy copyright violations.

Teachers can visit the site of the United States Copyright Office to read about the law that should be followed in the use of digital media. Although the site is full of legalese, there are a number of other sites that provide a quick reference chart for classroom use. Teachers should make students aware that not everything on the web is free to copy, download, and use at their discretion. Although education has been given a somewhat greater leniency with regard to the use of copyrighted material through fair use, it is vital that teachers know what those limitations are.

Teachers should encourage students to search and utilize media that is within the public domain or with creative commons licenses that provide freedom of use explicitly stated by the author. The exploration, ideas, and creativity of students does not need to be stifled by copyright laws, instead they can be redirected and schooled in the ethical use of material originated by others.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:00:00 -0800 Striking a Chord http://blog.polleverywhere.com/striking-a-chord http://blog.polleverywhere.com/striking-a-chord
Educational budget cutbacks have had a startling and detrimental effect on school districts around the country.  The arts have been especially aware of these reductions bearing the brunt of them.  The focus on music education, however, has grown as a means of enhancing critical thinking skills.  
 
In the National Association for Music Education, January 2012 edition of "Teaching Music" the argument is made that critical thinking can be enhanced through the teaching of music.   The premise is based on a study by Daniel C. Johnson, "The Effect of Critical Thinking On Verbal Descriptions of Music." His results conclude that lessons that are only activity-based are less effective than lessons that incorporate opportunities for creativity and collaboration.
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Music teachers can look forward to Johnson's future publication of the lesson plans that his study found as effective methods, such as the use of open-ended questions and student interaction.  Although Johnson's study focused on music education, it reminds teachers in all subject areas of the importance of collaboration and creativity.   Collaboration and creativity are also two of the four C's need for 21st Century Learning, which also include communication and critical thinking.

Teachers can use a number of Internet tools to support their promotion of the 4 C's.   Collaboration can be facilitated through the use of Wikispaces, blogs, or Google Docs.  Whether the lesson being taught is in music or science, students learn to consider the ideas of others and work and communicate effectively to accomplish a common goal through collaboration.  Flexibility and learning to value and respect the input of team members is a skill that future employers will be seeking from today's students.  Glogster can be used to combine creativity and collaboration through the collection of media on an interactive format.  Students must think critically in the completion of Glogs in order to respond to a lesson's objectives and communicate their own ideas.

The arts have a vital place in our schools and the precarious position they have been placed in because of budget cuts highlights the importance of Johnson's study.  The arts not only provide an outlet for students to display their talents but also exercises and performances requiring math, reading, and analytical skills.  The inclusion of the arts in education, however, goes beyond literacy skills, but also builds confidence and self-esteem in students that can be very powerful in helping them succeed.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:00:00 -0800 Some Practical Applications from Educators http://blog.polleverywhere.com/practical-applications-for-live-audience-resp http://blog.polleverywhere.com/practical-applications-for-live-audience-resp
The end of the year gives us a chance to recap a year of innovation, as well as recharge for a strong, six-month push to the end of school year. Whether a teacher, parent, or student, check out some tech education issues, catch up on educators in the classroom, or add to your digital backpack with some tech tools!

Sample Poll from Article
The blog post, Musing Mathematically gives a great example of content-area-specific uses for Poll Everywhere : "What is the slope of a line passing through (-6,6) and (-4,0)?"  When the focus of a professional development meeting switched to SMS text message polling, this math teacher explored the Poll Everywhere site and quickly found the ease with which polls are created. Best of all, this post outlines "Five Benefits" derived from using Poll Everywhere in the math class that can easily be translated to any subject area.

Economics textbook
The ideas continue with Musings about Teaching Economic.  An Economics teacher suggests Poll Everywhere as a backchannel using the sites open-ended format.  An instructor prompts students to submit questions or comments during a lecture, which can be included in the lesson either in real time or when the instructor chooses.   A backchannel also provides an opportunity for student-to-student discussions, all occurring before their eyes.  It provides the ability to interact with all students texting in or provide a collective experience for distance learning.  This is a great suggestion that can help a teacher get a sense of how well students are understanding a lesson.


Interested?  Watch this demo on creating a poll and receiving results.  This video goes beyond the free version that many teachers currently use; so if you've ever wondered what a paid plan would include, then check this out.  From registering participants for assessment purposes to creating spreadsheets for data comparison over a period of time, this video can give you that info.

Fairfax Times
 A teacher in Virginia made the news in the Fairfax Times! Frank Franz of Madison High School posed a question of the day to begin his class and had his students respond by texting responses via their cell phones.   Using Poll Everywhere, Mr. Franz displayed his question and the entire class watched as responses were displayed on the screen in front of them.  His motivation is about "Attracting students’ attention and getting them to focus early in the class," and students have responded positively through engagement and connection with his lessons.

Mr. Franz wasn't the only tech savvy teacher featured in the Fairfax Times, two Hayfield Secondary School teachers, Ken Halla and Deirdre Forgione, are using blogs to connect with students.  Mr. Halla has increased his students' engagement by incorporating blogs on history and government in his lessons.  Ms. Forgione uses blogs and Twitter to display and promote her students' artwork to others.

Technology is a tool that teachers can use to capture the interests of students. Once interested, technology can be used to transform passive students to active students that are taking responsibility for their learning through the analysis, manipulation, and presentation of their skills.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:00:00 -0800 Ho Ho Holiday Polls http://blog.polleverywhere.com/ho-ho-holiday-polls-62728 http://blog.polleverywhere.com/ho-ho-holiday-polls-62728
There were tens of thousands of holiday themed in the system this year! None of the polls or responses were edited with the exception of removing names. Enjoy.

Xmas Down Under

Twas the week before Christmas, when all through our servers,
Festive holiday polls were conducted with much fervor!

There was "What is your favorite Christmas movie of all?"
The majority agree on some you're sure to recall -
Although "Elf" and "Christmas Vacation" were destined for glory.

Or if you prefer some musical cheer,
"What's your favorite Christmas carol?" this year,
To that a result of some remorse,
"Grandma Got Ran Over by A Reindeer" of course!

Perhaps "What brings you joy this Christmas season?"
The "Family" response most common for a reason!
But not to forget "Audio visual teams", and (according to our research):
"The fact that my parents are now telling me to text during church!"

"For Christmas we: 1) Save up to pay cash
for gifts and not incur debt; or 2) Mostly use credit cards over cash
hoping to pay them off during the next year"
Seventy eight percent for number one gave us cheer!

---

Now, to break from prose....

Let's get to the gifts, as that's why we're all here
"What would you like to receive for the holidays this year?"
"A baby", "money", "... family home, and NO fighting!"
"something", "cute shoes ...", and a "duck camo shotgun"
"a plane ticket home" and a "New diamond tiara ..."
"clothes", a "new phone", and "No Justin Beieber"
"To pass Pre-Ap physics and ap us history..." 
"A new president", "a lot of sleep" and "my two front teeth"
Or "I wanna go to a place where the beer flows like BEER!"

Happy Holidays from the team at Poll Everywhere!

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:41:00 -0800 Help! Polls don't display in PowerPoint! http://blog.polleverywhere.com/help-polls-dont-display-in-powerpoint-0 http://blog.polleverywhere.com/help-polls-dont-display-in-powerpoint-0

A quick note: Please don't add a comment to this post if you have a technical support question about this topic. Instead, ask us at http://www.polleverywhere.com/community-support

Here are some tips for troubleshooting the way our polls load in PowerPoint.

First, some basics:

  • Be sure that you're in PowerPoint's fullscreen presentation mode (shortcut key: F5). Polls do not display in PowerPoint's slide editing view.
  • The topics below only relate to PowerPoint for Windows. Mac users, learn about live polls in Keynote and PowerPoint Mac.

 

Adobe Flash General & Versioning Issues

Symptom: Polls appear as blank boxes when in Presentation Mode

For polls in Poll Everywhere to display correctly, we require a recent version of the Adobe Flash player to be installed. Additionally, what is frustrating about this is that versions of the player can be installed independently for Firefox and Internet Explorer (and PowerPoint uses the Internet Explorer version). This is because Firefox has its own plug-in formats and Internet Explorer uses ActiveX-based plug-ins. Therefore, if you have the latest version reported in Firefox and are still scratching your head as to why the polls don't work in PowerPoint, it's because the ActiveX control is likely not up-to-date in Internet Explorer. Since PowerPoint relies on the ActiveX version of the Adobe Flash Player, it too must be updated. If you want to see what version of the Adobe Flash plug-in you are currently using, go here:

http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/flash/player/version/show.html * Note that the version shown is the version installed for the plug-in of the current web browser you are using. Switch over to Internet Explorer to see the version installed for ActiveX.

If you want to update to the latest player from Adobe, go here:

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash 

 

Symptom: Consistently getting a message such as "Some controls on this presentation cannot be activated. They may not be registered on this machine."

Using Internet Expolorer, be sure to uninstall and then re-install Flash as per the above instructions. If after that approach you still get the error message, you may want to follow the instructions mentioned here: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/officeprog/thread/6e987806-e6ad-46e4-a0ce-0cc3e1415e0f

In that article, they discuss the lack of the Office component, Visual Basic for Applications, being installed. Normally, this component is installed by default with PowerPoint but in some cases, it may not have been installed. Updating your Office installation to include it may solve the problem.

Symptom: Polls go from "Loading poll..." to "Fetching poll data..." and then to "Disconnected. Retrying..." and never loads the poll. Poll does load perfectly when opened from the website in the browser.

This may be the result of the ActiveX property for the Flash object in PowerPoint called, "Playing". To check on this, right-click the poll object on the slide and select "Properties" from the pop-up menu. When the menu appears, check to make sure the "Playing" property is set to True. Change it to True if necessary.

Windows_xp

Save and then close the PowerPoint file. Re-open it, enter slideshow mode, and see if the poll will now load.

 

Symptom: Polls get stuck on "Loading..." in any web browser or Flash version.

Check the Local Storage setting in the Flash Player settings. Here's how:

1. When the Loading... indicator comes up, right-click the area around it.

2. In the pop-up menu that appears, choose Settings...

3. In the Adobe Flash Player Settings window that should appear, select the middle-tab, which is a folder icon. When you select it, the window should be labeled "Local Storage" and mention www.polleverywhere.com.

4. Be sure that at least 100KB or higher is selected on the slider or that Local Storage is enabled at all.

If this doesn't work, try the above steps again but select "Global Settings..." from the right-click menu. Be sure that "Allow sites to save information on this computer" is selected from the available radio buttons.

 

64-bit Versions of Windows (and Office)

If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows (and the 64-bit version of Office 2010), you will need to install the latest 64-bit version of the Flash player from Adobe. Here is a link to that from Adobe: http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html

 

PowerPoint Versions: PPT vs PPTX files

Symptom: Polls do not display and you see Security Warnings in PowerPoint when loading presentations or going into presentation mode.  

If you are running Office 2007 or 2010, regardless of which flavor of Windows, we highly recommend downloading that .PPTX version of the PowerPoint file that we offer rather than the PowerPoint 97-2003 version (.PPT).

 

PowerPoint 2010 issues

Symptom: Polls load in earlier versions of PowerPoint, but not in PowerPoint 2010

Symptom: You enable the developer toolbar, then go to insert the Shockwave Flash Object, and receive an immediate error: "This ActiveX control cannot be inserted"

If polls don't load in PowerPoint 2010, make sure ActiveX is enabled. In PowerPoint 2010, click through these menus:

File | Options | Trust Center | Trust Center Settings | ActiveX Settings | Enable all controls

 

 

Conflicts with PowerPoint Add-Ins 

It's very rare, but some users have reported that the following PowerPoint Add-ins conflict with the Adobe Flash PowerPoint ActiveX control that we use:

PDF Maker
Camtasia
PRS Com
Send to Bluetooth
SnagIt
Presentation Notes

So if you've tried everything else above, try temporarily disabling any add-ins. For a quick check to see if this will work, there’s a blanket “disable add-ins (may limit functionality)” checkbox in the PowerPoint Options / Trust Center of PPT.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:00:00 -0800 Mac Presenter Application grows up | Demo Video http://blog.polleverywhere.com/mac-presenter-application-grows-up http://blog.polleverywhere.com/mac-presenter-application-grows-up

We introduced the Mac Presenter Application back in June 2011. Prior to that we had the Mac Deskbar and later, Keynote Slides, and prior to that ... well mac users didn't have any integration options (sad).

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The irony is Poll Everywhere is built using Macs! We've always wanted to provide an easy-to-use and seamless solution for Apple Keynote and Mac PowerPoint users. We were close with the Mac Presenter Application, but since June, we've made some improvements. Now we're happy to introduce the latest and greatest version (1.7) of the app: Download it here. Happy holidays and enjoy!

Now:

  • Hands-free! Automatic hiding and showing of polls according to slide notes.
  • Simple insertion and removal of a poll in the slide notes while editing your slideshows.
  • Ability to create basic, ad-hoc polls without ever leaving the Mac Presenter or visiting the Poll Everywhere website.
  • Floats on top of Keynote or PowerPoint slideshows automatically.

You can get all the details and a step-by-step guide here. Download the Mac Presenter App here.

And last but not least here is a quick demo video!

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:10:00 -0800 Performance and Reliability http://blog.polleverywhere.com/performance-and-reliability-88402 http://blog.polleverywhere.com/performance-and-reliability-88402

(tl;dr) No other company in our market is treating its growing pains as professionally as we are. Check out the new graph on http://status.polleverywhere.com/

Growing big suddenly is painful. I hope to convince you it's also an advantage to us in the future.

Voting_pages-1 Growth2-2
See the full gallery on Posterous

We really struggled through September and October. We saw a 700% increase in usage in just 6 weeks. It was like doing 50MPH on the freeway while hanging out the window so you can bolt in a new engine that can go 400MPH.

Engineers have a decision to make when building systems for sudden "spiky" workloads:

  • Bend: Prevent the site from going down. Work on things as fast as you can, but people will experience slowness. Consider though: If poll responses are running on a 90 second delay, we just screwed you on stage. You put up your poll, the audience responded, and now you're stupefied, staring at a dead empty chart in front of 300 of your would-be fans who are now tweeting about your epic fail.
  • Break: When stuff gets really heavy, just ignore and drop what can't be handled within 5 seconds. Get back to some people quickly by sending errors to others. Nobody is left staring at an unresponsive slide, but now the service is utterly unusable for attendance, grading, or accurate counts.

We chose bend, and some presenters paid the price. For those that contacted us, we stammered out our most sincere apology. Instead of being the $140 hero, you catch your boss's gaze in the audience and wish that you had recommended the $11,000 ARS clicker rental. You know what's sad? A full refund will never even come close to making up for the embarrassment, and it's not like you're in the mood to appreciate complimentary service from us in the future!

Can't you just buy more servers?

Oh, how badly we wish. Wherever pouring money on the problem was possible, we did. It turns out that "elastic scalability" is still a hard problem in computing. It's a little like telling a packed room full of people to exit faster and trying to buy them all scooters. It's not getting better until you take weeks to add more doors.

So what are you doing about it?

A lot of things.

  1. The site is faster than ever. We now have all of October's workload operating at twice the speed-per-user of our fastest month in the past.
  2. We communicate publicly and transparently during problems. Our status site and Twitter stream show this.
  3. Boring geek things including much bigger, faster servers. We also have two of everything so if a component in our stack fails, the stand-by component will seamlessly take-over.
  4. We built complex tools to see our problems clearly. We're sharing them with you in order to raise our accountability. The new real-time graph on the status page shows you exactly what you care about: When the system is bending, is it still fast?

Poll_everywhere_status

I'm proud that during our toughest growth pains, we performed much better than Several Other Companies Racing Against The Influx of Various Educators. It's uncomfortable to own your downtime and communicate openly, but it's part of being professional and earning people's trust.

Here's a final example: On Friday from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM, we needed a three hour maintenance window to move to our new servers. We communicated this scheduled down-time days in advance. We emailed customers. We tweeted. We put up live site-announcements on all pages.

On Saturday, a competitor had over 4 hours of downtime without a visible peep.

We're obsessed with speed, reliability, and simplicity because we know its something that all of our customers absolutely demand. It hints at a bigger discussion: our strategy of serving stadiums, corporate meetings, nonprofits, marketers, and educators all at the same time will make critical aspects of our service better than anyone who tries to specialize on one. Think about it: is Gmail for educators much different than Gmail for anyone else? No, you just want an email application that works. But that's a topic for a future post.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/630622/Jeff_Vyduna_casfriday.jpg http://posterous.com/users/3FwQPaUA Jeff Vyduna Jeff Jeff Vyduna Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:00:00 -0800 State of the 'Art' Audience Response System http://blog.polleverywhere.com/state-of-the-art-audience-response-system http://blog.polleverywhere.com/state-of-the-art-audience-response-system

Starting the week with a bang! Check out our new office sculpture.

Office_statue

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:00:00 -0800 Happy Birthday to Texting - 19 Years and counting http://blog.polleverywhere.com/happy-birthday-to-texting-19-years-and-counti http://blog.polleverywhere.com/happy-birthday-to-texting-19-years-and-counti

How appropriate for the season! "Merry Christmas" was the first text message from Neil Papworth on his computer to Richard Jarvis on his mobile phone. 

Hard to image a time without it, but texting messaging is just 19 years old. Take a look at this timeline and see the transformation of text messaging.   Really? In '00 only "35 text messages per month"! It's been estimated that teens and those in business today send approximately 3000 texts per month.  This is proof that when a great idea inspires, it becomes ingrained in our culture.  Happy Birthday, text messaging!

 

 

History of Text Messaging Timeline
Source: Tatango SMS Marketing

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0800 Sites to See http://blog.polleverywhere.com/sites-to-see http://blog.polleverywhere.com/sites-to-see

Quick and straightforward, this post suggests five sites that are a great way to introduce and use cell phones in the classroom.  Familiarity with cell phones makes their integration seamless and students become excited at the prospect of their use.   As school budgets tighten, cell phones can serve as an alternative to expensive technology.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami Wed, 23 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0800 Battling Bans http://blog.polleverywhere.com/78502597 http://blog.polleverywhere.com/78502597

Texting
Two teachers, Lisa Nielsen and Willyn Webb, have united to coauthor a book, Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning. Fighting the ongoing battle of cell phone classroom bans, Webb has integrated cell phone use to enhance her instruction.  She silently pushed the restrictions by adding cell phone activities in her lessons, and quickly found them to be engaging tools for her students.  Her successful implementation eventually won over her principal.

Nielsen's obstacles are greater in a citywide, school cell phone ban imposed by local government.  Nielsen argues that schools are missing out on the resources available on the web, many of which can bridge the digital divide between the haves and the have-not schools.  She identifies Poll Everywhere as one of those resources that schools can be substituting for expensive clicker response systems.  She also has found administrative uses for cell phones.

This article reminds us that teachers are looking for innovative and creative ways to provide instruction daily.  Cell phones are a practical means to achieve that goal.  Allowing teachers to incorporate them in lessons provides another way to increase student achievement and empower teachers.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0800 Parent Organization Goes Virtual http://blog.polleverywhere.com/parent-organization-goes-virtual http://blog.polleverywhere.com/parent-organization-goes-virtual

In a past post I wrote about how New Milford High School Principal, Eric Sheninger, had embraced technology and promoted its use through Web 2.0 tools and social media sites.  Mr. Sheninger endorsed Poll Everywhere in his blog and this endorsement captured the eye of Joe Mazza, Principal of Knapp Elementary School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. 

Looking into raising attendance rates amongst its parents, Mr. Mazza moved its school's parent meetings to the web to reach out to its home-based stakeholders. This provided a new line of communication for parents to participate and teachers, as well.  Poll Everywhere was featured at a recent meeting to render feedback from parents, live and virtual, on a number of issues.  Organizers and participants appreciated the ease and quickness with which polls were created and responses delivered.   Reaching out to parents is an ongoing challenge for districts, and Mr. Mazza has found an excellent means to keep parents involved.  Research has shown that engaged parents often leads to academically successful children, and with the help of technology, Knapp elementary school is paving that course.

 

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0800 Poll Everywhere - the Real Deal http://blog.polleverywhere.com/poll-everywhere-the-real-deal http://blog.polleverywhere.com/poll-everywhere-the-real-deal

Exit

In a personal challenge to prove that Poll Everywhere was more than a tech gimmick, Rabbi Tzvi Pittinsky has discovered a significant, daily use for the tool in his lessons.

The effectiveness of a lesson and instruction can quickly be measured through the use of Poll Everywhere. Read how Rabbi Tzvi Pittinsky incorporates Poll Everywhere with Exit Tickets into the conclusion of his lessons to gauge his students' depth of understanding. By targeting an Exit Ticket question on the "big idea" of a lesson, teachers can monitor responses and modify lessons to create clarification if needed. Rabbi Pittinsky importantly notes that responses to Exit Tickets immediately are displayed using Poll Everywhere allowing a teacher to provide immediate feedback to students, as well as providing an excellent way to begin class with a previous day's Exit Ticket responses.

Replace the pen and paper with cell phones and students get the timely feedback they need to reflect on their understanding.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami Fri, 18 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0800 University Use of Mobile Technology http://blog.polleverywhere.com/university-use-of-mobile-technology http://blog.polleverywhere.com/university-use-of-mobile-technology

Conference

During a recent joint conference in Atlanta Georgia of the Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Poll Everywhere was the tool of choice to create a more engaging atmosphere.  POD Network President, Phyllis Dawkins of Dillard University, sought out ways to interact with the audience during her presidential address.  The results of Poll Everywhere were exported to a Wordle cloud and a brief analysis was done as part of her address.  It provided an excellent means to engage over 600 people in the room.

Henry Findlay, President of the HBCU Faculty Development Network followed up with a speech on the use of cell phones in the teaching of statistics.  The use of mobile technology is growing in all levels of education as more and more educators acknowledge it effectiveness to reach students.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami Wed, 16 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0800 Attitude Switch http://blog.polleverywhere.com/attitude-switch http://blog.polleverywhere.com/attitude-switch

Tracks

This is an insightful article by Eric Sheninger.  Mr. Sheninger is the principal at New Milford High School in New Jersey and writes about how his attitude on the value of Web 2.0 tools in schools has dramatically shifted from one of wariness to one of promotion. He candidly admits once enforcing restrictions to technology that many districts implement today and explains how he came to move from that position.

Although school districts, within the past few years, have made great financial investments in technology, these purchases have come with restrictions that have made it very difficult for teachers and students to properly utilize the devices to their potential.  In fact, many districts proudly point to their purchases as evidence of their commitment to 21st century learning.  The question remains, is a purchase evidence of a commitment or is it merely an interest? 

Mr. Sheninger has moved beyond interest and truly committed his district to developing 21st century learning with his students.  He has also reached out to the district's stakeholders with this same commitment and has engaged them through Twitter and Facebook.  His philosophy on the use of social media in schools is refreshing and perhaps can help other districts develop a greater level of comfort with their own technology uses.  Additionally, he has promoted the use of Poll Everywhere as a tool to engage and create enthusiasm in students.  As part of this article, Mr. Sheninger provides a link to an event where he speaks to this issue.  Not only is this article a must-read, this video is a must-see!

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0800 Calling All Educators! http://blog.polleverywhere.com/calling-all-educators http://blog.polleverywhere.com/calling-all-educators

Calling_all_ed_2

 

What is your opinion about the use of cell phones in the classroom?

Whether in a K-12 or university setting, this is ongoing debate. There are many educators that find them to be a distraction for students while others who find them an invaluable technology that enhances lessons.

"Power Up" or "Dead Zone" - Weigh in with your experience!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0800 Tool for the Faithful http://blog.polleverywhere.com/tool-for-the-faithful http://blog.polleverywhere.com/tool-for-the-faithful

Stainedglass

Technology touches all parts of our lives; the point being that technology is not only in our schools and businesses, but in our places of worship as well.  More specifically, during a Catechetical Ministry Day, web tools were part of a discussion revolving around the integration of technology into ministries to promote learning amongst a church's youth and adults.  Poll Everywhere was promoted in Cyberpilgrim's Blog post as a quiz tool for students to identify prayers within a Wordle cloud.  The spread of technology is wide and vast.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:00:00 -0800 Transforming Elementary Education: an evening with Sir Ken Robinson (and Poll Everywhere) http://blog.polleverywhere.com/transforming-elementary-education-an-evening http://blog.polleverywhere.com/transforming-elementary-education-an-evening

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Educators throughout the Los Angeles area were treated to an evening with internationally renowned author, speaker, and leader in the field of education, Sir Ken Robinson. In 2006, Sir Ken Robinson spoke at a TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) conference that is considered one of the most-watched videos on TED with over 8 million views, and his thought-provoking discourse on the way we educate children has been described as visionary. On November 4, 2001, over 700 educators from more than 100 schools were inspired by his ideas on the betterment of education.

The event held by the Center for the Future of Elementary Education (CFEE) at Curtis School was dubbed a resounding success as noted by the flourish of compliments received by their Poll Everywhere Response Wall.  This Response Wall was featured prominently at the event on a 17' projection screen both before formal remarks and during the Town Hall session.  Still collecting responses, the Response Wall has been embedded on the cfee site.  Poll Everywhere worked closely with organizer Christopher Thinnes, Head of Upper Elementary School & Academic Dean, Curtis School, to develop a plan that fit their needs.

Event_wordcloud About_sirken
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Congratulations to the organizers of this event and for continuing to promote and advance the future of education.

Event Program

Sir Ken Robinson

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/166439/login_logo.png http://posterous.com/users/4avuWYuHjTot Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Poll Everywhere Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0800 Are College Students Plugged In? http://blog.polleverywhere.com/are-college-students-plugged-in http://blog.polleverywhere.com/are-college-students-plugged-in

Mobile_devices

The topic of emerging technology has spawned numerous university courses examining its reach and possibilities.  The M-Project is a pilot mobile learning course that connects students in universities in Germany and Spain, initiated and taught by Professors Camacho and Buchem. Professor Buchem used Poll Everywhere to help gather information on her students' mobile web use.  She noted that the ability to poll students via computers and smartphones was easy, as well as engaging for her students.  Her plan is to compare the live Poll Everywhere results with larger studies to gain insight on the use of mobile web and monitor changes over the course of the semester. 

Reaching out to students by conducting formative assessments is easily done with Poll Everywhere.  Check out the results and see how students in Germany use technology and how their use compares to your own.

"43% never uses Facebook, Twitter or Social Networks via their mobile devices"

Are they as plugged in as U.S. students?

 

Photo by Niels Heidenreich

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1535848/CMurakami.JPG http://posterous.com/users/hcl4f5eXb3vT4 Christina Murakami cmurakami Christina Murakami