Surveys and Polls

A student looking at his computer screen.

Tools for Creating Surveys or Polls

There are various ways to create polls or surveys to engage people with the content of a course or a presentation. Deciding on which tool to use will depend on factors such as synchronicity, variety in question type, and type of access.

I want to...	I should use...	Pros	Cons
Engage participants and share results in real time.	Poll Everywhere	Polls distributed and updated in real-time Varied response types include rank-ordered Q and A, clickable images, and more Integrated with PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides Accessible over app, web, through mobile text messaging Option for asynchronous survey use	Premium access must be requested (Depaul staff/faculty only) Integration with PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides requires plugin or browser extension
Create (and collaborate) on simple surveys.	Google Forms	Housed in Google drive for accessibility Various templates and themes available Results available in real-time Option to invite collaborators for editing surveys or viewing results	Requires Google account to create (DePaul faculty/staff have access to Google G Suite) Sharing real-time results is more difficult than in other tools
Engage participants during a Zoom meeting.	Polling in Zoom	Create polls in advance or during meeting Share results with Zoom Meeting attendees	Polls are not visible to browser users Host must use desktop client Only original host can edit or add polls during a meeting Response types are limited to single or multiple choice
Use a sophisticated research suite with advanced features for creating, distributing, and analyzing surveys.	Qualtrics	Available DePaul branding Vast number of survey templates, including options for customer, product, and brand research Varied response types Comprehensive data analysis and report building	Advanced platform may be too complex for simple surveys Sharing real-time results is more difficult than in other tools
Incorporate an asynchronous survey for students within D2L content.	Surveys in D2L	Option for anonymous responses Settings for question navigation like branching and preventing backward movement Questions can be imported from question library Varied response types	User interface for setting up quizzes and viewing reports is not intuitive Cannot be accessed outside of D2L Anonymous setting cannot be undone Individual responses cannot be viewed when set to anonymous
Integrate a quiz within a video recording.	Panopto Quizzes	Quiz can be inserted at any point within the recording Option to block advancement in the video until quiz is completed Multiple quizzes can be added Can be attached to a gradebook item when inserted in content as an existing activity	Limited response types Quiz must be added prior to publishing the video

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