Educational benefits of Live Polling

Live polling in the classroom offers several benefits that can enhance student learning and engagement. Here are some reasons why live polling is can be educationally valuable:

1. Increases Engagement

Polling actively involves students in the learning process, making lessons more interactive and enjoyable.
It keeps students focused and attentive since they participate regularly instead of passively listening.
Polls can be a refreshing change of pace from traditional teaching methods, keeping the class atmosphere dynamic.
They help prevent cognitive fatigue by introducing different types of interaction throughout a lesson.

2. Encourages Participation and active learning

Students who are shy or reluctant to speak up in class can contribute anonymously through polls.
Polling ensures broader participation, giving everyone a voice, not just the most vocal students.
Can shift the classroom dynamic from lecture-based to more student-centered.
It promotes active participation and accountability for one's learning

3. Checks for Understanding

Teachers can use polls to quickly assess students' comprehension during lessons.
Poll results help instructors identify areas where more explanation or review is needed.

4. Facilitates Peer Learning & Promotes critical thinking

Discussing poll results encourages students to reflect on their answers and compare them with their peers.
It can promote collaborative learning, as students discuss different perspectives and rationales behind their choices.
Polling often involves problem-solving or reasoning questions, which encourages students to think critically.
Students are required to analyze information before answering, fostering deeper cognitive engagement.

5. Immediate Feedback and insights into teaching

Students receive real-time feedback on their understanding of the material.
Instructors can address misconceptions on the spot, ensuring that students grasp key concepts before moving forward.
Teachers can collect data on student performance and understanding, allowing for more targeted instruction and interventions.
Polling provides measurable insights into class trends and individual progress.

6. Gamification and/or formative assessment

Polling can introduce an element of gamification, which often increases motivation and interest in the material.
Competition or scoring systems related to polling can make learning more fun and goal-oriented.
Live polls are an effective tool for formative assessment, helping educators gauge student learning throughout the course rather than waiting for exams.
Teachers can adjust their instruction in real-time based on poll results, making it a flexible teaching tool.

7. Very LSE: collecting data on the fly

You can use polling to gather demographic data on your cohort, which displayed back to them also informs them of it
You can teach about survey methodology by example, i.e. by creating good and bad survey designs and asking questions why they consider one better than the other
You can use polling to collect actual data you may use in your own research
You can analyze your polling data filtering by cohorts, demographics.