Vevox PowerPoint add-in

Vevox has a fully-featured add-in for PowerPoint (Windows only – not for Mac) that enables you to seamlessly integrate polling slides into new or existing presentations. You start and end polling and display the results within PowerPoint by simply pressing the Enter key.

• It is available to install from the Software Centre on your own Aston PC or laptop.
• You can download and install the free add-in directly from Vevox on your own PC or laptop.
• If you log in to a bench PC in a teaching room, Vevox will appear as an icon on the desktop. Double-click this to launch PowerPoint with the Vevox add-in, and then open your PowerPoint file. If you start by opening (double-clicking) your PowerPoint file, you will launch PowerPoint without the add-in, so your polls won’t work.

If you want to use messaging or surveys you will still need to use the Vevox dashboard and Present view in a web browser. Some tutors use a second device, such as an iPad, to display the dashboard and keep an eye on questions and comments.

Vevox does include a really good web-based Present view which works on Windows, Macs and other devices, and can be used with other lecture resources, such as PDFs, videos, Prezi or Keynote. That said, the use of the PowerPoint add-in allows a much smoother experience and avoids the need to switch between your slides and the polling.

Connecting your slides to your Vevox account

Once you have opened your PowerPoint slides, you will need to use the Connect icon on the Vevox tab to log in to your Vevox account:

1. It asks you to enter your email (e.g. Surname@aston.ac.uk) and click Continue
2. You will then see the Aston University login page. Enter your email in the format username@aston.ac.uk (e.g. surnamea@aston.ac.uk) and then your normal Aston password.
3. There is a tick box to remember your login details and save time if using your own PC or laptop.
4. After logging in, select the session ID that will be used to save the polling data. You therefore need to create the session in advance using your Vevox dashboard.

Important points to consider

• You cannot create polling questions in advance using your Vevox dashboard and then import them into your slides. You must instead create the polling slides directly in PowerPoint using the Vevox add-in.
• When you deliver those polls in PowerPoint, the polling questions and your students’ responses are copied to your Vevox dashboard and stored online.
• Not all question types are available using the add-in. The PowerPoint add-in supports the multichoice, word cloud, star rating, numericand open text polling types. For XY Plot, LaTeX notation, Pin on image & Multichoice on image use Present View.

Extra features

The add-in provides a few features not available in the web-based view:

A countdown timer. It does not close the poll automatically, so its main use is to indicate how long participants have before they must make a choice.

Analysis slides that compare the results of two identical polls (e.g. before and after). You can compare the results of up to 6 polls on one slide.

Recall slides that re-present the results of an earlier slide. A common use of this feature is if you have decided to hide the results of a poll with the intention of revealing them to the audience later.

Total slides that sum the results of up to six identical polls. A common use for this type of analysis slide is if you are asking the same question to different audiences, multiple times and want to sum together all the instances you have polled the question.

Learning to use the Vevox add-in for PowerPoint

The Vevox support site provides all the details you need.

We strongly recommend that you have a test run in a teaching room before trying to use this with students.