In-class polling

In-class polling allows you to gather ideas, check understanding and collect opinions in real time. Polls can make sessions more interactive while giving you quick insight into student learning.

Poll Everywhere

At Sussex, we use web-based tool Poll Everywhere. Students can respond via the mobile app, website or text message.

Benefits for teaching

Poll Everywhere offers a variety of question types, including:

• multiple choice
• open-ended responses
• word clouds (diagrams showing the most frequent words in larger text)
• clickable images.

Other features include:

• LaTeX support for mathematical notation
• Team-based quizzes for gamified learning
• Live results display for in-class discussion
• PowerPoint add-in (available on all teaching computers and for download via the Software Centre).

Benefits for learning

Using polls in your teaching can:

• provide students with anonymity, encouraging participation and reducing self-consciousness
• prompt peer discussion and collaborative problem-solving
• create dialogue between students and staff, enabling real-time feedback
• highlight gaps in knowledge and allow you to address them immediately.

Accessibility considerations

Poll Everywhere is designed to be screen-reader compatible and supports keyboard navigation. Students will need to access the poll via a QR code or the link, which may involve navigating between different applications.

To support accessibility, we recommend that you:

• use clear, simple question wording to support all learners
• provide alternative ways to participate if a student cannot access the platform (e.g. verbal contribution, paper response)
• avoid colour-only cues in word clouds or charts: add text labels to ensure clarity
• be mindful that real-time responses may disadvantage learners who need additional processing time.

Limitations

There are some potential drawbacks to Poll Everywhere which you should be aware of:

• students need a device to respond (though sharing devices can itself encourage dialogue and peer learning)
• creating good poll questions takes preparation time
• there is limited customisation of font size and style, and low-contrast colour schemes in some themes
• certain poll types e.g. clickable images and more dynamic free text responses such as word clouds offer insufficient support for screen readers
• There is no zoom-in functionality on certain question formats (e.g. word clouds)
• students responding via SMS on pay-as-you-go contracts will incur standard network charges.

Creating an account

Due to licence limits, Poll Everywhere accounts are reserved for teaching use only.

To request access, email ee@sussex.ac.uk.

Poll Everywhere 2.0 was launched in 2025 and will be rolled out during the 2025/26 academic year. This promises to be an improvement on the current version.

Guidance and support

Explore our step-by-step guidance to using Poll Everywhere in a teaching room. You can also contact your School Learning Technologist by emailing ee@sussex.ac.uk.

• Installing Poll Everywhere on your computer

  Open your desktop version of PowerPoint - embedded polls will not work in the online version. Check whether you can see the Poll Everywhere tab. If not, you'll need to install it:

  1. Select the File menu
  2. Select Options at the bottom of the left pane
  3. Select Add-ins from the pane on the left
  4. Check that Poll Everywhere is in the Active Applications section
  5. From the Manage drop down menu, select COM Add-ins
  6. Click Go
  7. Tick the Poll Everywhere box and click OK.

  You may need to close and re-open Powerpoint in order to see the Poll Everywhere menu tab.

• Launching a pre-prepared Poll Everywhere activity using the online platform
  1. Open the Poll Everywhere website
  2. Log in with your email address and the password you set up
  3. Select the Activities icon on the side bar, or Go to activities at the top of the screen
  4. Find the activity you want to present, and click the Activate icon to the right
  5. Click the name of your activity to open it
  6. Select the Instructions tab at the bottom of the screen. This will present a QR code and a weblink - students can use either to access your poll
  7. Click the Present button to display your poll full screen
  8. As you move through your questions, your students will be able to respond to them on their devices. When you want to show the responses to the poll switch to the Responses tab at the bottom of the screen
  9. Click Escape to close down Presenter view.
• Embedding Poll Everywhere activities into your PowerPoint slide deck
  1. Open your desktop version of PowerPoint - embedded polls will not work in the online version. Make sure you have the Poll Everywhere tab
  2. Position your cursor in the left-hand pane, where you want the slide containing your activity to be inserted
  3. Select Activities from the Poll Everywhere menu. You may be prompted to login to Poll Everywhere at this point
  4. Select the activities you want to embed in your PowerPoint, and click the Insert Slides button: new slides will be added for each activity
  5. If everything is set up correctly, your poll should start when you move onto the slide.

Troubleshooting common issues with Poll Everywhere polls

To make sure Poll Everywhere works:

• you must be signed in to Sussex's Office 365 account
• you must be signed in to OneDrive with your Sussex login
• you must have at least version 3.0.9 of Poll Everywhere
• you must allow pop-ups
• you must disable Protected View.

• Signing in to Office 365 through PowerPoint

  The Poll Everywhere add-in won't work in the online version of PowerPoint, so open the desktop PowerPoint app.

  1. Click the user icon in the top right corner
  2. Make sure you can see University of Sussex and View account. If you don’t see either of these options, click the Sign Out button
  3. Sign in again, using your full Sussex email address (ABC123@sussex.ac.uk)
  4. Close your PowerPoint and open it again: it should now display the Poll Everywhere tab.
• Updating Poll Everywhere

  To check which version of Poll Everywhere you have installed, click the Poll Everywhere tab, select Settings and select About. Your version should be at least 3.0.9 to work with PowerPoint. 

  If you don't have at least version 3.0.9, and you don’t have time to update, use the online version of Poll Everywhere. After your session, raise an ITS Service Desk ticket, stating your room number, and ask for Poll Everywhere to be updated to the latest version.  

  To update your version:

  1. Shut down PowerPoint
  2. Open the Windows start menu and search for the Company Portal
  3. Select Apps
  4. Search for Poll Everywhere, and select Install. If you don’t see Poll Everywhere, please raise a ticket with ITS, requesting that it is updated to that version on the computer in that room
  5. You will need to close and re-open Powerpoint in order to see the Poll Everywhere menu tab.
• Allowing pop-ups
  1. Launch the Microsoft Edge browser
  2. Click the three dots in the top-right corner (Settings and more), then select Settings
  3. In the left-hand sidebar, click Cookies and site permissions
  4. Click Pop-ups and redirects and select Allowed
  5. Close and reopen Edge
  6. Close and reopen PowerPoint entirely. The login pop-up should now appear.
• Disabling Protected View
  1. Open the desktop version of PowerPoint - just the program, not a specific presentation
  2. Select File Menu
  3. Select Options from the pane on the left
  4. Select Trust Centre from the pane on the left
  5. Select Trust Centre Settings
  6. Select Protected View from the pane on the left
  7. Untick Enable Protected View for files originating from the Internet
  8. After you've unticked this box, download and open your PowerPoint file. If you already downloaded it, you will need to download it again for it to work.

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