Overview
This article will discuss the Present menu's "Poll" option, available to class Instructors from the Live Classroom. Below is a screenshot that highlights the location of this option within the Present menu:
The "Poll" tool lets Instructors conduct polls or surveys during the session. When you select this button, you'll be presented with the Poll Creator pop-up screen. Below is an example of this screen:
On the very left of the screen are 2 tabs from which you can select: "Create Your Own"--selected by default--lets you build a new Poll question set from the ground up; "Content" allows you to pick from existing Polls saved to the classroom's content area. We'll describe the details of both tabs.
Create Your Own
From the Create Your Own tab, you can create a new question set from scratch.
When this tab is active, the remainder of the window is broken into 2 parts: a left-hand panel and a right-hand panel.
The left-hand panel consists of the below fields:
- Poll Name - Enter a name for the poll question set if you plan to save it. This field is optional. If you leave it blank and choose to save the set, the system will automatically name it using the text of the first question.
- Questions - This list contains all the questions associated with the set. Click each item seen here to load its details within the right-hand panel. As you hover your cursor over each item in this list, you'll notice a trashcan icon, which you can click to delete the question, as well as a drag-and-drop ability to re-arrange the order of the questions.
- + Add Question - At the bottom of the panel is this button, which you can click to add a new question to the set.
The right-hand panel will display the content of the question that is currently selected from the left-hand panel. We'll describe all the fields seen within this panel:
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Type - This dropdown allows you to set the question type. The options are:
- Single Choice - This type of question presents several choices, allowing only one item to be selected.
- Multiple Choice - This type of question presents several choices, allowing multiple items to be selected.
- Word Cloud - This type of question prompts participants to type in a response.
- Description - This optional field lets you provide a short scenario or additional context that supports the question. It's especially helpful when the question depends on specific circumstances that aren't obvious from the title alone. Adding a description gives participants the background they need before answering.
- Question - Type in the question here. This field supports LaTeX syntax.
- Add Image - If you'd like for an image to appear alongside the question as participants answer it, you can click this to open a file explorer where you can select an image for upload. Alternatively, you drag-and-drop an image file into this area.
- Long Text - In lieu of adding an image, you can include a long block of text. This would be ideal for long paragraphs of text that don't fit in the Question or Description fields. This field supports LaTeX syntax.
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Answer Options - This area allows you to provide the answer options from which users would select and appears for Single Choice and Multiple Choice questions. Answer options will display here as a list, with each entry containing the following properties:
- Answer Option - Provide the answer value here. For example, if the question is what means of transportation the user prefers, a valid option might be "Walking". This is a text field--key in whatever you'd like. This field supports LaTeX syntax.
- Add Explanation - If you'd like to add additional details or context to the answer option, add it here. This is only visible when the "Share Results" toggle is enabled, so it's ideal for post-poll discussion.
- Delete Answer - Click this button to delete the answer option.
- + Add Answer - Below the list of answer options is this link, which can be clicked to add an additional answer option. Click it as many times as needed.
At the very bottom of the Create Your Own poll screen are 2 buttons:
- Save to Content - This button can be clicked if you wish to save the poll to the classroom's Content area. Clicking this will instantly save it.
- Start Poll - Select this button to start the poll activity. Doing so will create a "Poll" view tab for all class participants.
Content
The Content tab lets you select from Polls that have already been saved to this classroom. When you open this tab, you'll see a list of those saved Polls, as shown in the example below:
From here, select a poll from the list or select its corresponding "Open as a Copy" button. Upon doing so, you'll be taken to a page that closely mirrors the Create Your Own view, but with the chosen Poll and its contents already loaded. Most of the fields on this screen were explained earlier in the article, but the points below are specific to the Content tab:
- To return to the list of saved Polls, click "Back to Content" at the top of the left-hand panel.
- You can fully modify the question set--adding new questions or removing existing ones--and those changes will appear when you run the activity. However, these edits won't alter the original Poll unless you intentionally save them. To update the original version, click "Save to Content" at the bottom of the screen before starting the activity. If you opened the poll using "Open as a Copy", then "Save to Content" will create a brand‑new poll item rather than replacing the original.