e.g. voting, presenting
Electronic Voting Systems
TurningPoint
TurningPoint is available for both PC and Mac - although they do behave slightly differently. The officially supported versions of the software that are tested to ensure they work with UCL infrastructure are available here:
If you choose to install an unsupported version of TurningPoint, please be aware you do so at your own risk and it is highly recommended that you test it before using it with students. The TurningPoint software downloads page is here:
- http://www.turningtechnologies.com/responsesystemsupport/downloads/ (contains unsupported versions)
One quick warning with using TurningPoint on the Mac. In order for the polling to open automatically when you arrive at a question slide (rather than you having to click the 'Open Polling' button) you need to make sure you click the TurningPoint 'Slide Show Start' button, rather than launching the PowerPoint presentation from the PowerPoint tools or clicking F5.
This is different from the PC version, where polling opens automatically when you arrive at a question slide, regardless of the way you launch the presentation.
TurningPoint Mac version caveats
- Avoid using the countdown timer - it starts as soon as you land on the question page
- The placement of the USB ports on a Mac laptop do not have space to fit the TurningPoint receiver alongside the VGA output cable - it is too wide. You will need a USB extension lead if you are using your own Mac laptop for presenting your TurningPoint slides. UCL Lecture Theatres with the voting handsets installed have a TurningPoint dongle attached to an extension lead for you to use in these theatres.
See: UCL's electronic voting system - installed in lecture theatres and available as sets that can be borrowed
Other voting systems:
- mQlicker (unlimited free use) - https://www.mqlicker.com/product.html Read more about it here: http://resources.mqlicker.com/doc/manual.pdf
- Nearpod (free for up to 30 students) - http://www.nearpod.com/how-it-works/
- Socrative (beta product currently free) - http://socrative.com - an online voting tool that allows up to 50 users to enter multiple choice, true/false and short answer responses to questions via their smartphones, tablets or laptops.
