Category: Polling Software

Vevox’s Pedagogy Autumn 2023 Online Webinars

James Woolley [jbw] Events and Networks, Polling Software, Resources and Webinars, Vevox Leave a comment

Vevox is the University’s polling software which can be used to make teaching more interactive, engage large groups, check knowledge and understanding, and receive feedback.

In addition to their training sessions, Vevox run a series of online webinars showcasing innovative ways in which polling is used at other institutions.

The next online webinar is from the University of South Wales, where Dean Whitcombe is running a session The Use of Vevox in Simulation-based Education and research. This session is at 2pm on 4 October.

On 11 October, at 2pm, University of Chichester’s James Wilson will be leading a session, Once upon a Time: Using Vevox for Interactive Storytelling.

You can sign up to attend these sessions on this webpage.

Aberystwyth University has run a series of webinars in the past for Vevox which are available on YouTube:

If Vevox is new to you, then take a look at our polling software webpage. Vevox run 15 minute Zero to Hero training sessions on Tuesday afternoons. You can sign up to them on the Vevox webpage.

Please contact the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit (elearning@aber.ac.uk) if you have got any questions.

AI Generated Questions now available in Vevox Polls

James Woolley [jbw] Generative AI, Polling Software, Vevox Leave a comment

In the latest update to Vevox, our polling software, an AI Question Generator has been added. Colleagues can now create questions using the AI Question Generator.

Further information (including how to use it) is available on Vevox’s webpage.

As with all AI generated material, checking for accuracy and editing content is key before releasing it to students. See LTEU’s Generative AI support materials for further information.

There are also a number of blogposts focused on AI that you can take a look at.

There is another change coming to Vevox. The PowerPoint add in has been updated. We will be contacting all colleagues who make use of the PowerPoint add in via email before the start of September.

If Vevox is new to you, we’ve got a whole host of support materials on our Vevox webpage.

Vevox Webinar: 16 November 2022, 2pm

James Woolley [jbw] Polling Software, Resources and Webinars, Vevox Leave a comment

The next Vevox pedagogy series webinar is taking place on 16 November at 2pm. In this webinar, Guy Aitchison, Lecturer in Politics and International Studies at Loughborough University will be looking at using Vevox successfully in different classroom settings.

Further information on the session is on Vevox’s webpage and you can book your place online.

Our AU guidance webpage provides guidance on how to use the software and you can sign up for Vevox 15-minute introductory training sessions every Tuesday afternoon.

Vevox Update: September 2022

James Woolley [jbw] Polling Software, Vevox Leave a comment

The University has a site license for Vevox, a polling software, which means that we benefit from regular updates. You can view the March updates on this blogpost.

The summary of the updates for September are below:

Vevox interface available in Welsh

The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce that Vevox,  the University’s polling software, now has an interface available in Welsh.

Since we procured Vevox we have been working closely with their Customer Services Manager to develop the system to meet the needs of our learning and teaching and we are really pleased to see this development.

Users can choose their language in the interface when they log into Vevox.

Click on the language icon highlighted below and select Cymraeg and Save.

Language button highlighted in the Vevox login page

New question type available

There’s a new ranking style question available – ask your students to rank things based on importance or put things in the correct order.

This question can either be marked as correct or used to generate user preference. From the poll, select the Ranking style question.

Want to learn more about Vevox?

If you’re new to using Vevox, book yourself onto our E-learning Essentials: Introduction to Vevox training session which is taking place on Thursday 22 September, 11:00-12:00. You can also check out our guidance materials to get started.

If you have any feedback on this update, or other Vevox functionality, feel free to email us (elearning@aber.ac.uk) and we will be happy to raise on your behalf.

Vevox Update: March 2022

James Woolley [jbw] Polling Software, Technical Updates, Vevox Leave a comment
Screen shot of Vevox poll using LaTex formatting to ask the question: Determine the nature of the given matrix 2 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 With the following options available: Indefinite Positive definite Negative definite Positive semi-definite

On 21 March Vevox, the University’s polling software, will be having an update with some additional functionality.

We’re really pleased to be able to see some of the developments as they are requests that we have placed to Vevox on behalf of you.

Firstly, for distance learning practitioners and those who want students to undertake self-paced polling, there’s the introduction of self-paced quizzes to the survey tool.

You’ll just need to create a survey and then add a correct answer. Students can do this anonymously or you can choose to identify them.

The Q and A boards are still underused a little here at AU, but there will be the option to tag questions and comments. Will be useful for those of you who are co-delivering a presentation and want to allocate specific questions to a presenter.

Further information on new Vevox functionality can be found on their update blogpost.

We have regular contact with our Vevox account managers. They’ve already assisted in creating bilingual aspects and have reached out to us for further discussion on how this could be developed further. Also, some enhancement requests that we’ve asked for include:

  • Scatter graph of the X Y question
  • An order or sequence based question

A reminder to the mathematicians amongst us that LaTex is available in your question types.

Vevox is not limited to learning and teaching activities. All members of the University can log in and use Vevox. If you’re running a meeting and want to poll attendees, then Vevox could be for you. Check out their recent case studies on how to make meetings interactive with Vevox.

If Vevox is new to you, then we’ve got guidance on our webpages. Vevox runs 15 minute training sessions – sign up online.  We’re always up to hear about anything innovative you’re doing with Vevox so drop us a line if you’re doing something exciting.

Mini Conference Materials Available

James Woolley [jbw] Conference, Mini Conference 2021 Polling Software, Polling Software, Vevox 1 Comment

Before the vacation, the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit ran their final mini conference of the year.

The theme for the mini conference was using polling software to enhance learning and teaching. If you were unable to make the event then check out the recordings on our Mini Conference webpage.

Since the University procured a licence for Vevox polling software earlier this year, we’ve seen a whole host of colleagues making use of it. In semester 1 1873 polls have been run by 136 staff members with 6485 student responses.

If you want to know more about polling software then we’ve got a Vevox webpage which has all our guidance. Kate and Jim led a webinar for Vevox on our implementation and how colleagues have made use of it in their teaching. Check out the recording on YouTube or Vevox’s own website for other case studies. You can read about Vevox’s latest updates on our recent blogpost.

The conference kicked off with a session run by Dr Christina Stanley from Chester University. Christina gave us an overview of how she’s been using polling software to boost student confidence and promote inclusivity.

Next, our client managers from Vevox, Joe Probert and Izzy Whitley gave us an update on future developments with Vevox polling software and some product enhancements that will be coming down the line.

Then we moved onto colleagues from Aberystwyth University who shared with us how they are using polling in their teaching. Dr Maire Gorman who teaches in the Graduate School and the Physics Department gave us an overview as to how polling software can be used in statistics teaching to facilitate peer learning and inter and intra-cohort bonding.

Next, Bruce Fraser Wight, from the Business School demonstrated how he has been using polling software for ice breaking activity. We were grateful to hear from two of Bruce’s students to find out how they found using polling software.

Finally, Dr Jennifer Wood from the Department of Modern Languages outlined how polling software can be used for language learning and encourage engagement.

If you’re doing something interesting with polling software, we’d love to hear from you for a potential blogpost – drop us an email on lteu@aber.ac.uk.   

Vevox updates December 2021

James Woolley [jbw] Conference, Mini Conference 2021 Polling Software, Polling Software, Technical Updates, Vevox 1 Comment

One of the advantages to having an institution subscription is that we can benefit from enhancements and updates.

One of the recent enhancements was to the word cloud style question. Previously only one word was able to be submitted to the word cloud style question, but now participants can provide multi-word submissions as well as single words. Word clouds also accept non-English characters and emojis. Vevox has also been working on the accessibility of the word cloud question and the colour scheme has been enhanced to improve its display.

We’re really pleased at how colleagues are making use of Vevox. If you’re after some ideas on how you can use it in your teaching, then Kate and myself recently presented a webinar on Vevox’s behalf. As well as giving an overview of our rollout of Vevox since we procured it in March, we also outlined some exemplary practices taking place by colleagues:

  • Module Evaluation (Dr Emmanual Isibor and Dr Chris Loftus, Computer Science)
  • Stats generation (Dr Maire Gorman, Physics and Graduate School)
  • Anonymous Q and A (Dr Megan Talbot, Law and Criminology)
  • Peer assessment and word associations (Dr Michael Toomey, International Politics)
  • Asynchronous Q and A (Dr Victoria Wright, Psychology)
  • Pin on image and session impact (Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit)

Thank you for the colleagues above for sharing their practices and experiences with us. A recording of the webinar is available on YouTube.

We’ve also got our Mini Conference on Thursday looking at how polling software can be used to enhance learning and teaching activities. There’s still time to book onto that. We’re grateful to be joined by Joe and Izzy from Vevox, as well as our external speaker, Dr Christina Stanley from the University of Chester.

Vevox guidance is available on our webpages. If you’ve not used Vevox before then sign up for the Zero to Hero sessions which are run every Tuesday at 3pm. We’re also re-running our training session Designing Teaching Activities using Vevox on 16 March 2022 at 10am. You can sign up via our Course Booking page.

Mini Conference: External Speaker

James Woolley [jbw] Conference, Polling Software, Vevox Leave a comment
Mini Conference Logo

We are pleased to announce that our first external speaker joining us at this year’s Mini Conference, Using Polling Software for Learning and Teaching Activities, is Dr Christina Stanley.

Dr Stanley’s session will be entitled Polling to Boost Student Confidence and Promote Inclusivity.

Dr Stanley is a Senior Lecturer in Animal Behaviour and Welfare and is MSc Programme Lead and the University of Chester.

Booking for the event on Thursday 16th December is open alongside our Call for Proposals.

Keep an eye on our blog as we release further information on the event.  

Missed our Vevox Essentials training?

James Woolley [jbw] Polling Software, Vevox Leave a comment

Not to worry. Vevox run regular online webinars, so if you’ve not used our new polling software before and want a great beginner’s guide, sign up to their online webinar Zero to Hero (in 15 minutes!). Running on Tuesday afternoons through to the end of November.

We’ve also got our guides and FAQs available on our Vevox webpages.

Don’t forget to come along to our mini conference on Thursday 16th December.  

Mini Conference: Using Polling Software to Enhance Learning and Teaching Activities

James Woolley [jbw] Conference, Polling Software 1 Comment
Mini Conference Logo

The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce that it’s next Mini Conference will be taking place on Thursday 16th December, online via Teams.

We’ll be taking a look at polling software – a tool that can be used to engage students in their learning and drive-up understanding of complex topics. This year, the University procured Vevox, an online polling tool, that is fully integrated in Teams and can make your face to face activities interactive.

Call for Proposals:

We’re looking for colleagues that make use of polling software in their learning and teaching to present at the Mini Conference. Potential topics might include:

  • Using polling for induction and ice-breaker activities
  • Polling for gamification
  • Polling for driving up learning
  • Making in-person teaching sessions interactive
  • Polling for asynchronous activities

Submit your proposal online before Friday 19th November.

Booking for the one-day event is already open – book online.

We’ll be joined by some external presenters at the event so keep an eye on our blog as we announce our programme.

If you’ve got any questions, let us know: lteu@aber.ac.uk.