PowerPoint polling for Mac

Creating polling slides in PowerPoint

Launch the PointSolutions desktop app. The first time using PowerPoint Polling on your Mac, you will need to install the PowerPoint Library. Click on the Install PowerPoint Library button and enter the password to your computer.

Click Start Now under PowerPoint Polling on the Dashboard. You will be directed to open a new Microsoft PowerPoint file or browse for an existing file, and PointSolutions will appear as a floating toolbar. There are six sections on the toolbar: Content, Course, Polling, Sessions, Software and Slide Show. Content is where you will create polling slides. You can switch between the PowerPoint New Slide button and the PointSolutions New button to create regular slides and polling slides.

Adding a and editing a new polling slide

If you have opened an existing presentation, navigate to the slide where you want to insert a new Polling Slide. On the PointSolutions toolbar, click New and choose the type of question you want to insert. For this example, we will choose Multiple Choice. This will insert the polling slide after the slide you have navigated to. Click on Enter question text... to edit the question, and then Enter answer text... to enter the answer choices.

After entering the question text and answer choices, click the Refresh button on the PointSolutions toolbar so that the chart matches the answer choices. You may enter up to 10 answer choices for multiple question slides. You can now adjust the settings of the polling slide on the Slide Preferences panel. For example, you can adjust Question Options, Polling Options and Scoring Options such as correct/incorrect answers, point value, etc. Note that the options in Slide Preferences will vary depending on the type of question selected.

Using a different chart

The default type of chart is vertical. If you want to change the chart type on one polling slide, such as to a pie chart, click Objects on the PointSolutions toolbar, click Chart, then choose a different type of chart. You can change the default by going to Preferences on PointSolutions toolbar.

Correct Answer Indicator

A Correct Answer Indicator can be added to the slide if applicable. Click Object, mouse over or click on Correct Answer Indicator, and choose one from the menu. Custom allows you to use previously saved image from your device.

Note: You must have a correct answer selected in the Slide Preferences for the indicator to appear.

Countdown Timer

The Countdown Timer will give your students a limited time to answer your prompt before displaying the results automatically. To add a Countdown Timer to your polling slide, click on Object, mouse over or click on Countdown and choose a timer style from the menu. A dialogue box appears, asking you to adjust the time or add a sound to the timer. Make your adjustments and click Insert. The timer appears at the right-hand bottom corner of the slide. You can adjust the duration by double-clicking on the number and typing in the new time, and you can adjust the position by dragging the timer and dropping it at your desired location.

Saving the presentation

Your presentation file is only available on the device in which you have it saved, not in the PointSolutions web app. It is important that you save your file either to cloud or network storage (such as Box), a laptop that you plan on using in class or to an external storage device (such as a thumb drive).

Presenting the polling slides in the classroom

Launch the PointSolutions desktop app from your device and click Start now on the PowerPoint Polling tab. Once Microsoft PowerPoint launches, browse to and open your file. Before beginning the presentation, click the Reset button on the toolbar and select Session to clear out the previous session.

Click Mobile Responses on the toolbar, then Start Session in the window that opens. This will generate a session ID, which is required for students to join the session on their mobile devices. Share the session ID with your students, then click Start on the toolbar to begin the presentation.

Begin the presentation as usual and navigate using the keyboard, mouse or remote. When you advance to the polling slide, polling automatically opens (there may be a few seconds’ delay) and you will see a bar floating on top of the screen showing the number of responses.

Advancing again will close polling and display the results. Before polling is closed, students can change their answers, and the last answer they entered will be recorded. If you have added a Countdown Timer, the timer will start automatically when the slide opens, and polling will automatically close when the timer reaches zero. The results will be displayed, along with the Correct Answer Indicator if you chose to use one.

Saving the data

It is important to always save the session to maintain a record of student participation and responses, even if you are able to export the results and upload to WebCampus right away. To do so, click Save and choose Save Session on the PointSolutions Toolbar.

Name the file and save it to your device or cloud location, then close PowerPoint. You may be asked if you want to save the change to the PowerPoint file; choose No if you plan to re-use the presentation for another class.

On the PointSolutions toolbar, you can then end the session by clicking on Mobile Responses and End Session.