InstaPoll is an open, online tool for professors to easily create in-class student polls on the fly. Think of it as a virtual clicker that can be used with laptops, tablets, smart phones...anything with a web browser! Instapoll is completely free for everyone and there is no special equipment needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
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To create an InstaPoll:
- Go to https://instapoll.cali.org
- Click on the ‘Create a Poll’ button
- If you do not want students to be able to change their answers, uncheck the box next to “Students may change their answer.”
- Announce the Poll number to the students or audience. (The Poll# appears both in the upper right hand corner of the screen and below the virtual clicker.)
- Verbally provide the question and answer choices to the students and ask the students to answer by selecting the choice on the Poll Page.
- Results will appear on the faculty member’s screen in the form of a bar graph.
- To clear the results in order to ask another question, click ‘Reset.’
No. You can use the same Instapoll for consecutive questions. This can be done in two ways:
- If you leave the “Students may change their answer” box checked, the students can change their answers for the new question and the poll results will automatically update.
- If you unchecked the “Students may change their answer” button, click the ‘Reset’ button in order to clear the answers to the previous question. This will start the poll with a blank slate.
No. Neither the question asker nor the answerers need to be logged into the CALI website. This means you can use InstaPoll with guest speakers who aren't CALI members or in situations, such as conference presentations, that have non-CALI members in attendance. It also means that if a student has forgotten their CALI login information, this won't delay the polling process. Basically, you can use InstaPoll anywhere there is a web connection!
No. The answers on Instapoll are anonymous. It is impossible to tell if a student has answered a question or which answer they provided.
No. An InstaPoll cannot be reopened after its webpage has been closed. You will need to create a new poll and provide that new number to the audience/class.
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CALIcon is the only conference where law faculty, law librarians and IT professionals gather to discuss latest innovations in legal education and technology. Attendees from CALI member schools and conference speakers get discounted registration.
CALI Awards1 (1)
The “CALI award” is given to the student with the highest grade in a class, as determined by the professor or registrar. Awardees receive a printed certificate and a permanent URL VirtualAward that they can link to from their online resumés or biographies. Over 100 law schools participate in the CALI Excellence for the Future Award program. It is a free service available to any CALI member law school that wishes to participate.
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The Software
A2J Author® is a software tool developed by CALI and the Center for Access to Justice & Technology at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law to deliver greater access to justice for self-represented litigants by enabling lawyers and law students to rapidly build user-friendly web-based document assembly tools called A2J Guided Interviews®. These A2J Guided Interviews allow users to complete court documents by presenting a series of easy-to-understand questions while graphics virtually lead users along the path to the courthouse, where these documents can be filed. A2J Author ® is currently used in more than 42 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, Australia, and Canada. More than 1,000 A2J Guided Interviews are actively used on the national server, Law Help Interactive, and CALI's own a2j.org. These A2J Guided Interviews have been used by self-represented litigants more than 7,000,000 times since 2005. These A2J Guided Interviews help self-represented litigants in a wide variety of legal matters including filing for divorce, getting protection orders, answering debt collection suits, and modifying child support orders. The latest version of A2J Author version is mobile responsive, accessible, and user friendly for end users and those automating the forms. An internal document assembly tool, called the A2J Document Assembly Tool (A2J DAT), allows for complete PDF document assembly packages entirely within A2J Author.
A2J Author in the Classroom
In partnership with IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, CALI® developed a model program for CALI® member schools that integrates A2J Author® into law school courses. Piloted in the Spring of 2013 as the A2J Course Project, A2J Author has now been taught in over 25 law school courses and clinics. Sample syllabi, course materials, software training exercises, and technical support are available to CALI member schools free of charge. For more information, visit https://www.a2jauthor.org/content/law-school-courses.
To Learn More About A2J Author
A2J.org (CALI's hosting site for A2J Guided Interviews)
A2J Author Authoring Guide (Software Manual)
A2J Author Sample Exercises (practice exercises to help you learn to automate forms using A2J Author)