Jeff Vyduna

Jeff Vyduna is the CEO and Cofounder of Poll Everywhere, the world’s first Classroom Response System to use student cell phones. Jeff cofounded Poll Everywhere in June of 2008 as a response to the astronomical cost of clicker hardware. Poll Everywhere was seed funded by Y Combinator.

Previously Jeff vas the CIO of a school district in Guatemala City. He also taught two sections of high school Multimedia, and saw first hand how cell phones were primarily a nuisance in the classroom. Jeff was also a technology consultant for Deloitte Consulting, where he put several audiences to sleep with non-engaging presentations and crowded slides.

Jeff has since presented to the Red Cross and FEMA, the Presentation Summit, the University of Illinois ECE graduation, and been a panelist at the O’Reilly Webs 2.0 Summit. Jeff holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Business.

Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere replaces Classroom Response Systems (“clickers”) using the device your students already own – their mobile phones. It’s the easiest way to take attendance, conduct formative assessments and quizzes, and boost student engagement. Students can send their questions or ideas right to a smartboard or PowerPoint slides, or participate in audience choice voting like on American Idol.

Texting also opens the door to new classroom activities and teaching techniques. It encourages risk-taking by allowing for anonymous participation (that a teacher can still track down if needed).

A set of clickers for a school will cost around $1200, but Poll Everywhere is available to K-12 educators for $50 per year.