Pollster

Pollster runs live polls with results that build in real time as students vote from their phones.

This is the only format where students use their own devices. Every other format is verbal participation.

What Makes It Work

Pollster is the only format that captures a response from everyone. In the other seven, you hear from whoever speaks first — which systematically over-represents the confident.

Use it when the honest answer differs from the public one, when you need to know where the room actually is before you teach, or when you want the distribution rather than the loudest opinion.

Votes are anonymous, which is precisely why students answer honestly.

Setting Up

Open the Pollster hub and click New Game. Title, class, then the editor.

Questions and Options

Each question carries up to six options. There’s no “correct” answer — Pollster measures opinion and understanding, not right and wrong.

Write options that are genuinely distinct. If two options overlap, the split between them tells you nothing.

Importing a CSV

Format: Question, Option1 … Option6

Download the sample from the editor for the exact layout. Import replaces existing content; save afterward.

Running a Session

Open Run for your control screen, then Open display for the projector.

During play:

• Activate a question — the display shows it along with a QR code
• Students scan the code and vote from their phones
• Results build live on the display as votes arrive
• Move to the next question when you’re ready

The control screen shows the results and the controls. The display shows the question, the QR code, and the tally.

How Students Vote

Students scan the QR code with their phone camera. It opens a voting page in their browser — no app, no account, no login. They pick an option and submit.

Their vote appears in the tally within a moment. The display also shows how many people have participated.

On the Display

Students see the question, the QR code, and the results building. Because results are live, the room watches opinion form — which is often more interesting than the final number.

If you’d rather students not be influenced by early votes, move through the question quickly or discuss before revealing the pattern.

Practical Notes

Students without a phone can pair up. Or vote by hand and you enter it.

The voting page is public. Anyone with the link can vote. Fine for a classroom; don’t use it for anything needing authentication.

Scan distance matters. The QR code needs to be large and bright enough to read from the back row. If it isn’t, read the URL aloud instead.

Use it to diagnose, then teach. The strongest pattern is opening with Pollster to find the gap, teaching to it, then reinforcing with another format.

Next Steps

• QR Code Access — how student device access works
• QR Code Not Working — troubleshooting
• Student Participation — how the other formats differ