polling request

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(4)

Instant polls are great conversation starters in class. Instead of using outside tool it would be great to have a quick question thrown into a module as a poll or even on the discussion board. This would be ungraded and students would be allowed to see results but the results would be anonymous. 

 

🔎 This idea has been archived. While this idea isn't open for comments, it is an important part of Instructure’s idea conversations and development process. Contributions like this are valuable as Instructure prioritizes work on new or existing features.

94 Comments
jbrady2
Community Champion

stephanie.johnson​ This is what I was able to do on a page in Canvas to test Google Forms to host a survey and share results.

simple_survey.png

Unfortunately, it did require me to tinker with the HTML editor and even learn aspects of Google Forms and Sheets that I had never used up to that point.  This creates its own issue, in that, our institution actively uses Office365, and many faculty that I work with may know how to use the basic features of those products but either do not have a Google account or have only used it for e-mail and not for Forms and Sheets, so they would have new software to learn just to accomplish what I did.  I understand that not all faculty have the knowledge to accomplish some of the things that I attempt, nor do they often have the time to learn "workarounds".  It is one of the more frustrating aspects of my job when I encounter a faculty member that has a great idea that they would like to implement in their courses and I have to tell them that, even though it sounds like a great idea that will really benefit students, the LMS in not capable of doing that or, at least, not capable of doing it easily, so they will have to find a way to implement it outside of the LMS (which kind of defeats the purpose of having one place for students to access courses and materials) or leave it out of their courses altogether. Smiley Sad

I usually never recommend "workarounds" to faculty for the simple fact that many of them would have a difficult time understanding how to troubleshoot issues if they occurred when I am not available.  In addition, as I have probably delved further into tricks, tweaks, and workarounds in Canvas than anyone else in my own department, my colleagues would probably also have a difficult time assisting faculty with workarounds, so if something is not native or easy to implement, I usually help faculty find third-party resources (not always a student friendly solution) or ask if there is a way to implement the material outside of digital means (obviously not possible for an online course).

Concerning accessibility, since I have been toying with many of the workarounds purely for my own curiosity and have not passed any along to faculty, I actually have not been checking them for accessibility.

Sorry if I wasn't much help.

jbrady2
Community Champion

 @Beth_Young ​ When I saw your post, I logged in to the course in which I had added the example I shared with stephanie.johnson​ to check if the results were still showing and working.  I found that the form is still working and the results do update after submitting the form and refreshing the page, so, unfortunately, I cannot assist with any issue concerning Google blocking the results pie chart as I am not experiencing this issue.

lori
Community Novice

Stephanie, do you absolutely have to use the Google form?  Someone earlier in the thread suggested using a software called "Wedgies".  I have been using it successfully in one of my courses.  If interested, check it out at wedgies.com.  Hope this helps!

stephanie_johns
Community Novice

Hi Lori -- I do not use the Google apps because I do basic design that all faculty can use, so I have to avoid any external apps, iframe and embed codes, and custom HTML coding that they will not understand or know how to modify. Wedgies is a fun and easy app, but I can't use it until I know that it is accessible and can provide a VPAT, which we are starting to link to in our syllabi for any software that students are required to use. I emailed the wedgie.com customer support and will report on its response if and when I receive one.

Beth_Young
Community Contributor

Ah I see on rereading all the posts here that I would need to make new pie charts (rather than relying on the automatic summary of responses), as  @johnmartin  describes in his video. I'll need a bit more time to tackle that than I have right now, but at least now I get what is wrong!

stephanie_johns
Community Novice

Just as a follow-up, I contacted wedgies.com twice about its design for accessibility and for a copy of or link to its VPAT, most recently on May 22. I have not heard back from wedgies.com and am assuming that the app therefore does not meet Section 508 standards.

Renee_Carney
Community Team
Community Team

This idea is one of the lucky ones that was selected to get a little more time for voting as part of our evolution of the feature idea process.   It was selected because of it's vote count and/or comment thread.  

 

*Selection criteria: Most (not all) ideas that received 70+ votes in their initial voting round.

abromile
Community Novice

https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/3888-poll-option-for-voting‌ would be great. As of now we've just been using the quizzes to take polls.

insall
Community Explorer

What is the benefit of embedding the content?  Can we not just link to google forms and have the students fill out surveys there?

johnmartin
Community Champion

Hi  @insall , one advantage is that embeds keep students in the course. One less chance to lose them in a myriad of tabs they.may have open.

Beth_Young
Community Contributor

Another advantage would be that tech support is available for Canvas, but not for Google Forms. I use Google Forms within assignments and like them, but the tech support burden falls on me.

don_bryn
Community Champion

It would be great to have polls available in Canva in general.   Isn't there a Canvas Polls app?   We just want the capability to use the polls in announcements, pages, assignments, etc. . .   I find polls very engaging to students when used in-class.  Just having them use their devices in class to answer questions or compete in teams seems to keep their attention much more than using the board.

bogardde
Community Participant

A polling tool in Canvas as you describe it would be very useful and welcome in the K-12 world, where we like being able to keep our students' interactions within the "walled garden" of our LMS when we so choose.

As an example of this need, just this past week I tried to help a teacher identify who had posted homophobic and racist comments in a PollsEverywhere poll that the teacher was projecting in real time for the whole class. Ugh. It was basically impossible to track down, because the free accounts are set up only for anonymous responses. It's possible that it wasn't even someone in that class! 

As a financially challenged public school district, there's no budget for additional 'premium' polling features such as email registration. So it comes down to either a kind of Russian roulette with free accounts, or abandoning an effective engagement tool. Many teachers end up shying away. A few will use the survey feature in Quizzes with their students, but it's a very basic tool and not nearly as nimble, versatile or visually interesting as the poll sites.

A well-executed Canvas Poll tool would open up a whole new avenue of student engagement for us.

Boekenoogen
Community Contributor

I know other LMSs have this feature built in. Is there an LTI that can be plugged into Canvas?

scottdennis
Instructure
Instructure

Hi John,

I don't have any personal experience to share but polleverywhere appears to be popular.

RobDitto
Community Champion

Currently (2018) PollEverywhere offers a specialized user import process based on developer key, rather than an LTI tool.

mlake
Community Explorer

I will just add my voice to the chorus--this REALLY feels like a feature that Canvas ought to have without requiring some kind of external workaround, and it's something that similar products have. It would be very, very useful to have the ability to poll training participants/students, have them see a graph of the results, and hopefully be able to track who has completed while keeping which responses were theirs obscured/obscured from other students anyhow. I'm fairly surprised and disappointed that this doesn't exist. 

mlake
Community Explorer

Agreed. I work with adults, but same thing--there are a variety of reasons we prefer to keep our international participants within our LMS....

christiand
Community Explorer

Technology needs to be in the background...permitting seamless discussions. As is, if a professor is up at the lectern tapping into Canvas to launch a PowerPoint, an Excel spreadsheet, or some other file/application...as it stands now, that professor who wants to introduce a quick poll then needs to bring out their mobile device to launch a poll (that they needed to create prior to class). This takes time and should be able to be done right from within Canvas on the PC/MAC up at the lectern. Could you all integrate the Polls for Canvas app with a web-based version of Canvas? That would help us greatly!

odd_torleiv_fur
Community Novice

Seriously? Not reached the 100-vote threshold within 3 months? Is this the only criterion?.. The integration of graphic poll-responses to students is an obvious one. If you ever want to be a platform that stimulates motivation and encourages interactivity and instant "up-to-date"(i.e. graphic) feedback. This is something that is well integrated in our previous LMS....