Abstract
PurposeThis research investigates the use of real-time online polling to enhance university teaching and learning.Design/methodology/approachUsing a case study and employing action research, this work shows how polling can improve professional practice, learner engagement and teaching performance.FindingsIncorporating the right type of online real-time polling into lessons is a professional challenge and can be hard work for teachers but has overriding benefits.Research limitations/implicationsThis research reports one lecturer's experiences within two UK universities, limited to location, variety of students and lecturer technical capability. The research implications are that online polling, especially in different learning environments, is needed. Previous research is outdated or limited to real-time polling for teaching and learning during physical classes. There are research opportunities therefore in the use of polling before, during and after class.Practical implicationsThis research finds that the field of online polling needs to be seen as a modern teaching tool that now uses students' personal technology for easier use by students and teachers: it is more than the use of archaic “clickers” which were extra classroom items to be bought and maintained. Also, online polling, before, during and after classes, can be employed usefully and have validity within teachers' toolboxes. This paper shows how such polls can be successfully deployed.Originality/valueWhilst there are previous reports of polling undertaken within teaching and learning events, this paper builds upon those experiences and boosts collective understanding about the use of polling as a way to improve professional practice and increase learning.
Highlights
As we entered into the 21st century, technology-enhanced learning became mainstream in many university-level courses (Price, 2010)
Rather it aims to provide a case study, based upon real-life action research resulting in a set of achievable actions that enable other tutors to and quickly reap the benefits of online polling
What is different here is that different forms of polling, polling at the right time, polls deployed at the right frequency and of the right length within timetabled learning activities have been found to be important factors for success
Summary
As we entered into the 21st century, technology-enhanced learning became mainstream in many university-level courses (Price, 2010). Developments in teaching- and learning-related hardware and software have provided both university staff and students many opportunities to develop new and improved learning, teaching and assessment techniques. Even though there has been bad press about online polling used outside education, the challenge for teaching staff remains the same: now is not the time to question whether or not to use such technologies (Guardian, 2020). The question for teaching professionals is how best to use the software and hardware that are readily available to university staff. Published in Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ legalcode
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