Getting Started with Poll Everywhere

Before connecting Poll Everywhere to Canvas for the first time, you must have a Poll Everywhere account. If you do not yet have a Cornell University Poll Everywhere account, please request one by filling out this form.

In order for your students to be identified in poll/survey results or for those results to feed into the Canvas Gradebook, you will need to import your course roster into Poll Everywhere from Canvas.

1. Be sure your course is Published. (See Publishing a Canvas Course.)
2. In Course Navigation, click Modules.
3. Click the +Module button at the top right.
4. Name the module In-Class Polling in the popup window and click the Add Module button.
5. Do not publish this module — it is just for your view.
6. At the far right of the module, click the + button.
7. From the dropdown menu at the top of the pop-up window, select External Tool and then select Poll Everywhere. The URL and Page Name fields (at the bottom of the pop-up window) will auto-populate. Check the box next to Load in a new tab and click the Add Item button on the bottom right.
8. Do not publish this link — it is just for your view.
9. Click on the Poll Everywhere link within the module.
10. Click the Load Poll Everywhere in a new window button to launch the Poll Everywhere connection.
11. Click Continue to canvas.cornell.edu.
12. Click the Import roster button. (A page will inform you that the participant import is proceeding.)
13. Click the Go to Participants page button. (Once on the Participants page, you will be able to verify the roster import, as there will be a new group named after your course.)
14. Optional: Enable Auto Roster Sync for each course to automatically update your roster every day.

Once you have set up your Poll Everywhere activities and have prepared to present them via a slideshow, there are several ways for students to gain access to Poll Everywhere polls and surveys. One way is to try a beta feature that allows you to display a QR code for students to scan with their smartphones. Another method is adding your Poll Everywhere response url (e.g., PollEv.com/CUPoll) to a module in your Canvas course. This same link can be used for any poll or survey that is active when a student clicks it.

1. In Course Navigation, click Modules.
2. Go to In-Class Polling and click the + button to the far right.
3. From the dropdown menu at the top of the pop-up window, select External URL. Enter your custom Poll Everywhere response URL (e.g., PollEv.com/CUPoll) and name the link something that clearly identifies to students this link will be used for polls and/or surveys, such as Lecture Polling Link. Click the Add Item button on the bottom right.
   • To edit your custom Poll Everywhere response URL, please go to your Poll Everywhere Profile page, edit the Username, click Change and then click Save at the bottom of this page.  Your slides and activities will be automatically updated with this new URL, so no editing or re-inserting of your activities is necessary.
4. Publish the link by clicking the Unpublished icon at the far right.
5. Also, now publish the In-Class Polling module so students can see this link.

Accessibility Tips

After a synchronous learning session involving multiple polls, you may want to turn the group of polls into a Survey to be activated in the polls’ place. This will provide asynchronous learners and others an opportunity to take part in these activities. (Learn how to make a Poll Everywhere Survey.)

After asking your Poll Everywhere questions in your lectures, you can post student points into your Canvas Gradebook. Each export will create a new assignment in the Gradebook (whether you select to export the results of a single question or multiple questions). Each export/assignment will be worth 100 points (which cannot be altered).

First, you should synchronize your roster in Poll Everywhere to include all students in your Canvas course as explained above.

1. Log in to your Poll Everywhere account.
2. Click the Participants icon
3. Click LMS Courses
4. Click Sync roster next to your Canvas course
5. Click Go to Participants page
6. Unselect any other courses that are chosen to show only this course’s student roster

To create a Report that will be placed in your Canvas course as an Assignment:

1. Log in to your Poll Everywhere account.
2. Click LMS Courses
3. Click the name of your Canvas course
4. Click Add new gradebook
5. Gradebook will be automatically selected – click Continue
6. For Instructors: Click My Activities and check the activities you want included in this report and click Create report
   For TAs accessing instructor activities: Click Shared with me, check the activities you want included in this report,  and click Create report
     Also for TAs: Click Select Presenter and choose the person who presented these activities in class
7. Rename the title of the report to represent this activity, such as “Lecture 3, Sept 16th” or “Sociology Intro Topic” and click Done to save this title change
8. Click Export
9. Be sure the correct Canvas course is displayed.
10. Choose either Grade or Participation, depending on whether you want to award correct responses to activities where you have already set a correct answer (Grade) or any responses to each activity (Participation)
11. Click Next and a new assignment will be created in your Canvas course
12. Verify the assignment by going to your Canvas course, clicking Grades in the Course Navigation menu, and reviewing the newly created assignment column in the Gradebook. (You may need to refresh this page if the results are not immediately there.)
13. This assignment will be created in an Assignment group.  You may choose to move this assignment to another group.