Action Tags Lab > Polls – Engageli Help Center

Introduction

This article focuses on the "Polls" sub-tab within the "Action Tags Lab" tab. While other Action Tags provide automation for tasks that can also be completed manually during a live classroom session, Polls are unique in that they can only be executed through Action Tags. It's important to note that this discussion pertains to traditional Polls, not Quick Polls--a feature added later that does not require Action Tags for use. Below is a screenshot of the "Polls" sub-tab:

Polls Sub-Tab Overview

In this section, we'll review all the items that appear on the Polls sub-tab:

Select Poll Type - From this section, you would select the radio button corresponding to the type of poll you'd like to work with. Each option is explained below:
- Single Choice - This type of poll presents several choices, allowing only one option to be selected as the answer. Below is an example image of a single choice poll, illustrating how the Action Tags appear in a before-and-after activation format:
- Multiple Choice - This type of poll presents several choices, allowing multiple options to be selected as the answer. Below is an example image of a multiple choice poll, illustrating how the Action Tags appear in a before-and-after activation format:
- Text Input - This a poll that requires users to input their answers by typing them in. Below is an example image of a text poll, demonstrating how the Action Tag appears before and after activation:
Show Tag Name - Check this box to include an optional label that will appear at the bottom of the Action Tag image.
Name Your Tag - If you decide to add an optional label to the Action Tag image, this text box is where you can enter the label text.
Use Old QR Code - Toggle this box to alternate between the old, black-and-white style QR code and the newer, blue-colored code.
Copy - Click this button to copy the Action Tag image to your clipboard, which you can then paste into your presentation.
Download - Click this button to download the Action Tag image as a file.

What are Polls?

Within the context of Engageli, a Poll is something that is conducted within a live classroom that allows users to interact with elements on the screen to submit their answer. Polls need to be prepared ahead of time.

How do Polls Work?

We'll explain how polls work with a very simple walkthrough:

Determine where in your presentation you want to run the poll. For example, this could be slide 6 of a Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow you'll present during class.
Access the Action Tags Lab and locate the Action Tag image corresponding to the type of poll you'd like to run. Copy the images and paste them into your slide.
During the live class, use the File Share feature to present your slideshow.
When you reach the slide containing the poll, click the "Activate" button in the bottom-center menu to trigger the poll.

In the proceeding section, we'll go into more details about how to set up and run a poll, from start to finish.

Detailed Guide to Creating and Running a Poll

In this section, we'll provide a detailed step-by-step guide on how to create and run a poll.

The below screenshot is an example of a Microsoft PowerPoint slide that has been set up to include polls.

Take note of a few things from the above image:

There are five Action Tags that appear on the slide. All of the Action Tags are the same--they are all the "Multiple Choice" tag.
The Action Tags do not contain the poll question. That is something that needs to be added to the slide. In our example slide, we can see the question is at the top of the page: "Choose a few of your favorite foods."
The Action Tags do not contain the poll answer. The answer that corresponds to each tag needs to be manually inserted into the slide, next to the tag. We can see in the above image, we've added text below each tag, indicating the selection's value: "Pizza", "Pasta", "Ramen", "Fried Rice", "Burrito".

Below is an example of how the slide will appear when presented via the File Share tool from within the live classroom. Notice there is no change in how the slide looks, yet:

Below is an example of how the slide appears after the Instructor clicks the "Activate" button located in the bottom-center menu, initiating the poll:

Once the poll is activated, the following changes become noticeable:

The Action Tags, which previously resembled QR codes, are now transformed into interactive elements that users can engage with. In the case of a multiple-choice question, each QR code is replaced by a square with a distinct colored border that users can click to submit their answer.
Each interactive element contains a letter automatically assigned by Engageli. When a user selects an answer, the system records the assigned letter for the selected option, not the actual answer shown in the slideshow. For instance, in the provided example, the answer "Pizza" is assigned the letter "A". Users selecting "Pizza" will have their response recorded as "A" in the system, rather than the text "Pizza".

Below is how the activated poll appears from a Learner's perspective. Notice it looks essentially the same:

The only difference is that Learners will not see the answer tally unless the "Share results" option is enabled.

As Learners submit their answers, you will see the tally counts update, as well as reflected via a pie chart, as shown below:

As the Instructor, you may also submit your own answer to the poll, which the system will record as being the correct answer. This can be used later to review all the poll answers and see how which users selected the correct answer.

To end the poll, simply click the "Stop" button.

Important Notes

Key points about Action Tags for Polls:

For Single Choice and Multiple Choice polls, you cannot assign the letter associated with each Action Tag. These are automatically assigned by Engageli from left-to-right, top-to-bottom sequence (i.e. English reading order). Below is a screenshot example of the sequence used:
When the Instructor selects one or more answers during the poll, that answer is recorded as being the correct answer and allows Instructors to later review data to determine which Learners selected the correct answer. This only applies to Single Choice and Multiple Choice polls.