Zoom’s Built-in Polling

Zoom includes a built-in polling option that you can use to create and run simple polls during your Zoom meeting. This page explains how to set up Zoom polls in your meetings and compares Zoom polls to Poll Everywhere. For general tips on best pedagogical practices when teaching with polls, check out the resources listed under “Supporting Material.”

Creating and Using a Poll

Polls in Zoom can be created ahead of time before a meeting or during a meeting on the fly. Zoom offers robust documentation outlining these steps. If you want to create or edit a poll before a meeting, you need to log into the web interface of your WashU Zoom account using your WashU credentials.

Downloading Poll Results

Poll results can be downloaded during a meeting as described in the Zoom polling documentation or from your Zoom account as described in the Zoom survey page documentation.

Zoom polls vs Poll Everywhere

At WashU the two main polling options are the Zoom built-in polls and Poll Everywhere. Both methods have advantages and challenges.

Zoom polling:

• Strengths: Integrated into Zoom; Basic polling functionality that works well within a Zoom meeting. Can create breakout rooms based on poll answers.
• Weaknesses: Fewer question types.

Poll Everywhere:

• Strengths: Many question types and integrated images; Allows in-person & remote students to participate together in a live poll; Very flexible.
• Weaknesses: Need to learn another software; Slightly more complicated to use within a Zoom meeting; Students must answer the poll outside of Zoom.

Summary:

Zoom is good for occasional polling within Zoom meetings if you don’t need many advanced polling features. Poll Everywhere may work better for frequent polling with more complicated question types and if you have a hybrid teaching situation with some students in person and others joining via Zoom.