The poll function has lots of great uses for the classroom. It's super easy to use and is a great way to gather quick data.
All you have to do is click the tweet button to compose a tweet (see photo), then
click the poll icon on the bottom right, write your question, and put two answers in. Then tweet it out to the world.
Once folks start answering questions, the poll is live for 24 hours, and the data gathers directly on the tweet. (See photo below). You'll know how many people answered and what percentage answered which answers, but not tied to specific users.
Here are some ways I can see this tool being useful in the classroom:
It can easily be used as an exit ticket posted to a class hashtag to quickly gather data and save paper.
To poll the room during class anonymously to gather consensus
To ask quick questions to determine learning in and out of class
Have students pose questions to the class as a way to gain interaction during their presentations to gage learning
To gather data for stats when doing research for an article for the school paper
Use it during professional learning to get teachers more engaged in the lesson or lecture and use the data immediately to shift the course of action if necessary.
There's a simplicity and directness to using a quick question poll with 1-4 answers.
In addition to gathering data from the poll, Twitter also offers users
information about how many people saw the tweet and how many interactions it had in this easy-to-read function. (See below)
Why not give it a try in your classroom?
How have you used Twitter's poll function in your class or personal learning? Please share
*this post originally ran on my Education Week Teacher blog in September of 2016