Surveys and Polls

Creating a poll or survey for use in the online learning environment is a simple and practical enhancement for the virtual classroom. If used properly, a survey or poll can prove to be a valuable online option for both students and instructors. Polls and surveys encourage candid and honest communications between students and instructors, and the data collected can prove quite useful once compiled and translated into information.

Colleges and universities have long recognized the value of surveying their students. The feedback obtained from these surveys is used to gauge student impressions of instructors, courses, campus facilities, and academic support functions. Institutions are increasingly using the online format to conduct these types of assessments for both traditional classroom courses and distance learning courses. Once compiled, the data collected from these surveys helps an institution to better meet the needs of its students.

However the value of such surveys and polls should not be overlooked when considering the coursework performed during a class. Surveys and polls can support any number of functions when taken as a measure of opinion for a specific class function. Instructors can use surveys and polls to collect demographic information from students, gauge quality and relevance of tests and assignments, and assess the positions of students when a group decision needs to be made. Students may wish to utilize polls and surveys to collect data for a class research project by using fellow students as their research group.

I chose to use Freepolls to conduct my poll. The process of registering, developing my poll question, and posting it to my blog took a mere five minutes to complete. This assignment has particular relevance for me at the present time because my union is considering the implementation of online voting for elections and other union issues. I plan to conduct further research on all of the survey and poll providers listed on this week's assignment and present my findings to my local union.