My latest poll results

With my Literature Circles wiki project entering it's second week, I'm still not sure if all my students have fully embraced it like I have. Besides an occasional lull in homework rates, I now have some hard data to reinforce these impressions, courtesy of a customizable Polldaddy widget I just discovered.

Polldaddy let me create a simple multiple choice poll. I then embedded it on the front of the wiki page and asked: What are your thoughts about this wiki project?

First of all, only 27 votes were cast, although it's only been up for about two days. It's set to expire Feb. 16. Of those 27 votes, 14 registered a favorable impression of the wiki; 11 registered unfavorable. The rest were in some way undecided. Full and complete results can be seen here. What's a little more telling is that there are about 60 students taking part in this project. I guess it's still higher than most presidential elections.

As I reflect on this venture, I can't say I'm discouraged. I still think it is a valuable tool. Maybe I'm just not using it as effectively as I can. Like I tell the students, there is a learning curve to this. First we get used to posting information on it, then we experiment with the different levels of collaboration possible, and then we can use it as a steppingstone for furthering our own creativity and thinking. One step at a time. My job is to provide students the right tools, opportunity, and encouragement. Keep doing that and the rest should come, right?