Student Self-Expression Through the Use of Polls in a Classroom

I recently created my first on-line poll at Polldaddy.com.  It was very simple and easy to create the poll. Plus, there were many options for how to design the poll and what to include in it.

So how could the use of an on-line poll create authentic experiences that enrich students' lives and learning? Polls can be used as a means for self-expression. Teachers can use the polls to encourage students to reflect on certain aspects of a lesson or unit and share their ideas.  Not only does a poll enable students to reflect and express themselves but it allows them to learn about other students and their ideas. For example, in my future classroom I may use this on-line poll to ask students to reflect on characters in a book we read and to identify which characters they related to the most.  Students can look at the aggregated class data and share their ideas with other classmates.  This will enable them to learn not only from their experience taking the poll but also through the rich discussions that could result from discussing it.

One question I am left pondering is: What are some high-quality authentic applications for polls inside classrooms?