In this article:
Introduction
Instructors can import their course rosters from their school's Blackboard Learn LMS into Poll Everywhere. This automatically registers each student as a Poll Everywhere participant. Registering students with Poll Everywhere allows educators to easily identify how students responded to their activities and export Poll Everywhere gradebook reports as grade columns within Blackboard.
Pre-requisites
- Ensure your Blackboard administrator has registered Poll Everywhere 2.0 as an LTI tool and created the necessary placements. See: Poll Everywhere 2.0 Blackboard Setup Guide for Administrators
- Ensure you are logged in to Blackboard as an instructor with course access
Which Blackboard experience does your course use?
Blackboard Learn courses use one of two views, and the steps differ between them:
- Ultra Course View — the modern interface with a "Details & Actions" sidebar and a "Course Content" outline. Follow the Ultra Course View section.
- Original Course View — the classic interface with a left-hand course menu (Home Page, Content, Discussions, Tools…). Follow the Original Course View section. Blackboard displays a banner in Original courses noting they are supported only through December 31, 2026.
Blackboard Ultra Course View
Option A: Launch from Books & Course Tools
Use this option to open your Poll Everywhere course dashboard — create and present activities, review responses, take attendance, and manage your roster.
Step 1: As an instructor, open the course you wish to use Poll Everywhere 2.0 in.
Step 2: Under Details & Actions, click Books & Tools → View course & institution tools.
Step 3: Locate Poll Everywhere 2.0 in the list of available tools and click it to launch.
Step 4: If this is your first time launching, you will be prompted to log in to your Poll Everywhere account and link the course. Poll Everywhere then opens inside Blackboard:
Option B: Add activities to course content via Content Market
Use this option to embed a specific poll or survey in your course content so students can respond to it directly — optionally graded.
Step 1: As an instructor, open the course and navigate to Course Content.
Step 2: Click the + button where you want the activity, then select Content Market.
Step 3: Under Institution Tools, select the Poll Everywhere 2.0 Deep Linking tile.
Step 4: Select the poll or survey you want to add.
Step 5: Configure the assignment title and (optionally) grading, then click Create Assignment. The activity appears in your course content, where students can launch it.
Blackboard Original Course View
In the Original Course View, Poll Everywhere is added through a content area. The tool does not appear on the course Tools page — that placement type is Ultra-only, so don't go looking for it there.
Step 1: As an instructor, open the course and click a content area in the course menu (for example, Content). Make sure Edit Mode is ON.
Step 2: Open the Build Content menu and select Poll Everywhere 2.0 Deep Linking.
Step 3: If this is your first time launching, you will be prompted to log in to your Poll Everywhere account and link the course. Then select the poll or survey you want to add.
Step 4: Configure the assignment title and (optionally) grading, then click Create Assignment.
Step 5: The activity appears as a content item in the content area. You and your students launch Poll Everywhere from this link.
Using Poll Everywhere 2.0 in Your Course
After launching Poll Everywhere 2.0 from Blackboard:
Step 1: On your first launch, you will be asked to log in to your Poll Everywhere account. Use your existing Poll Everywhere credentials or create a new account.
Step 2: Your Blackboard course roster will automatically sync with Poll Everywhere. Students enrolled in the Blackboard course will appear as participants.
Step 3: You can now:
- Create and present interactive activities (multiple choice, word clouds, Q&A, etc.)
- View individual student responses
- Take attendance
- Export grades back to Blackboard's gradebook
Pro tip: Students can also access Poll Everywhere 2.0 directly through the same course link. They will be automatically registered as participants based on their Blackboard enrollment.
Gradebook Integration
Poll Everywhere can sync grades back to your Blackboard gradebook:
Step 1: Create a graded activity in Poll Everywhere — when adding an activity via deep linking, choose a grading configuration on the Create Assignment screen.
Step 2: After students respond, Poll Everywhere pushes scores to Blackboard as a grade column.
Step 3: Review grades in Blackboard:
- Ultra Course View: Gradebook → Grade Columns
- Original Course View: Control Panel → Grade Center → Full Grade Center
Troubleshooting
- "Poll Everywhere 2.0 not found in Books & Tools or Content Market" (Ultra): Contact your Blackboard administrator to ensure the tool has been registered and placements have been created. See the Administrator Setup Guide for details.
- "Poll Everywhere 2.0 not listed under Tools" (Original): This is expected — in the Original Course View, Poll Everywhere is added through a content area's Build Content menu, not the Tools page.
- "Unable to link course": Ensure you are logged in as an instructor (not a student) and that you have the correct permissions in Blackboard.
- "Roster not syncing": Verify that the administrator enabled Membership Service Access (roster sync) when registering the tool. Contact your admin if needed.
If you have any questions or run into issues, please contact the Technical Support team.