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Polls every student can answer in the Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet chat.

Ask a question and every student answers by typing in the Zoom, Teams or Meet chat, even the ones who would never raise a hand. Polls, quizzes and word clouds fill your shared screen as they type.

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Works where you do: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, YouTube Live, LinkedIn Live, Substack Live and Restream. Also on your PowerPoint slides.

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In one word, what happens when prices rise? In one word, what happens when prices rise? Type a word in the chat

0 responses
  1. Sarah Chen Inflation
  2. James Okoro Costs
  3. Aisha Rahman Expensive
  4. Tomás García Inflation
  5. Priya Nair Money
  6. Daniel Kim Rising
  7. Mei Lin Inflation
  8. Olu Adeyemi Wages
  9. Hannah Weber Demand
  10. Marco Bianchi Inflation
  11. Fatima Zahra Taxes
  12. Lukas Novak Inflation
  13. Grace Park Savings
  14. Arjun Mehta Costs
  15. Chloe Martin Inflation
  16. Yusuf Ali Rent
  17. Ben Carter Inflation
  18. Elena Popescu Spending
  19. Noah Schmidt Costs
  20. Inês Duarte Inflation

Type in the chat to add your own answer.

A meeting in Microsoft Teams or Zoom. People type answers in the meeting chat and StreamAlive turns them into a word cloud on the shared screen. You can type your own answer in the chat.

Used by teachers and lecturers at

Universities and schools
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On Zoom
#1 in Apps for EducationFeatured in the Zoom Workplace app

Type in the chat.

How do you answer in this poll? Type 1, 2 or 3 in the chat

  1. Raise your hand 8%
  2. Unmute and speak 8%
  3. Type in the chat 85%
0 responses
  1. You Type in the chat.
  2. Sarah Chen 3
  3. James Okoro 3
  4. Aisha Rahman type in the chat
  5. Tomás García 3
  6. Priya Nair 3
  7. Daniel Kim 2
  8. Mei Lin 3
  9. Olu Adeyemi 3
  10. Hannah Weber Type in the chat
  11. Marco Bianchi 3
  12. Fatima Zahra 1
  13. Lukas Novak 3

The usual way: ask a question, wait for a hand, hear from the same few students and miss everyone else. With StreamAlive, every student types their answer in the chat.

In a Teams or Zoom meeting, “Type in the chat.” is sent in the chat and appears in the poll on the shared screen, which asks “How do you answer in this poll?” Everyone else’s answers follow.

Students already have the chat open, so answering takes seconds, and nobody has to speak up in front of the class. The shy student and the confident one appear on the screen side by side.

StreamAlive helps me to acknowledge all my students with its creative visualizations that are shared with the class from my screen. Whether it’s word clouds or thought bubbles or the magical falling tiles, it’s wonderful to see students open up and become an active part of the class.

Tatiana Rodriguez Adjunct Professor, Rutgers University

How to run a class poll in Zoom, Teams or Meet.

  1. You let StreamAlive into your class and share your screen.
  2. Your students type their answers in the class chat. That’s all they do.
  3. StreamAlive puts the whole class’s answers on your screen as they arrive.

  1. Paste your Zoom, Teams or Meet link into StreamAlive and press Connect. It waits in the lobby like a note-taking app. Admit it once and it starts reading the chat.

  2. Share your screen and pick the StreamAlive window, the same way you share slides. Or present the question from your PowerPoint deck.

    This is the step people miss. Your audience can only answer a question they can see.

  3. Everyone sees your question the moment you share. It’s a slide in your StreamAlive presentation, set up beforehand.

  4. They type their answer in the class chat. No app, no code, and no leaving the lesson.

  5. Every answer lands on your shared screen as it’s sent, so the whole class sees itself.

  6. After class, the report shows how many people took part, how much more they typed during your interactions, and who was most active.

Which topic should we review first? Type 1, 2, 3 or 4 in the chat

  1. Supply and demand 38%
  2. Inflation 25%
  3. Elasticity 25%
  4. Taxes 13%
0 responses
  1. Sarah Chen 1
  2. James Okoro 1
  3. Aisha Rahman 3
  4. Tomás García 1
  5. Priya Nair 2
  6. Daniel Kim 1
  7. Mei Lin 3
  8. Olu Adeyemi 4
  9. Hannah Weber 2
  10. Marco Bianchi 1
  11. Fatima Zahra 2
  12. Lukas Novak 4
  13. Grace Park 2
  14. Arjun Mehta 3
  15. Chloe Martin 3
  16. Yusuf Ali 1
Illustration of the six steps. The presenter pastes the meeting link into StreamAlive and presses Connect. StreamAlive waits in the meeting lobby and is admitted, then posts in the chat that it is reading the chat. The presenter presses Share and picks the StreamAlive window, a poll appears on the shared screen, and answers typed in the chat fill the poll bars as they arrive. After the session, the report shows who took part and how each question landed, and an AI assistant can answer questions about it.

Four ways to get a whole class involved.

Each one is a question on your shared screen that students answer in the chat, whether they’re online, in the room or both.

  1. Exit ticket

    Longer answers drop onto the screen as tiles, so every student’s words stay readable. A good way to end a lesson.

    What is one thing you learned today? Type your answer in the chat

    0 responses
    1. Sarah Chen Prices rise when demand beats supply
    2. James Okoro Inflation isn’t the same as a price rise
    3. Aisha Rahman Wages matter as much as prices
    4. Tomás García Elasticity is about how much people react
    5. Priya Nair Why interest rates move
    6. Daniel Kim Real vs nominal values
    7. Mei Lin Savings lose value in inflation
    8. Olu Adeyemi How the basket of goods is chosen

    Type in the chat to add your own answer.

  2. Practice question

    A timed question with up to four options. Faster right answers score more, and a leaderboard shows who’s ahead.

    Demand rises and supply stays put. What happens to prices? Type 1, 2, 3 or 4 in the chat

    Time left: 15s

    1. They rise
    2. They fall
    3. They stay the same
    4. They disappear
    0 responses
    1. Sarah Chen 3
    2. James Okoro 2
    3. Aisha Rahman 1
    4. Tomás García 1
    5. Priya Nair 1
    6. Daniel Kim 2
    7. Mei Lin 1
    8. Olu Adeyemi 1
    9. Hannah Weber 1
    10. Marco Bianchi 1
    11. Fatima Zahra 1
    12. Lukas Novak 3
    13. Grace Park 4
    14. Arjun Mehta 1
    15. Chloe Martin 2
    16. Yusuf Ali 1
    17. Ben Carter 1

    Type in the chat to add your own answer.

  3. Where in the world?

    Ask a geography question or an icebreaker. Students type a city or country and pins drop on the map as they answer.

    Which city has the best public transport? Type a city in the chat

    0 responses
    1. Sarah Chen Tokyo
    2. James Okoro London
    3. Aisha Rahman Singapore
    4. Tomás García Paris
    5. Priya Nair Berlin
    6. Daniel Kim Tokyo
    7. Mei Lin Amsterdam
    8. Olu Adeyemi Madrid
    9. Hannah Weber Seoul
    10. Marco Bianchi Tokyo
    11. Fatima Zahra Zurich
    12. Lukas Novak Hong Kong
    13. Grace Park Vienna
    14. Arjun Mehta Moscow

    Type in the chat to add your own answer.

  4. Pick a student

    Spin the wheel to choose who answers next, so it’s never the same few. Everyone who types in the chat is on it.

    Who would like to answer next? Type anything in the chat to join

    0 responses
    1. Sarah Chen me
    2. James Okoro I can
    3. Aisha Rahman ready
    4. Tomás García sure!
    5. Priya Nair Me please
    6. Daniel Kim I’ll try
    7. Mei Lin ok
    8. Olu Adeyemi yes
    9. Hannah Weber hi
    10. Marco Bianchi me!
    11. Fatima Zahra I will
    12. Lukas Novak go on then

    Type in the chat to add your own answer.

Also: live polls, rating polls, multiple choice questions and Q&A.

Lecturers who hear from everyone.

  • It allows students to participate without leaving the current platform, making it convenient for those using laptops with limited screen space.

    Tatiana Rodriguez Adjunct Professor, Rutgers University
    Read Tatiana’s story

  • When I first tried StreamAlive’s browser chat I wasn’t sure if it would help engage students any differently, but it turned my class from a handful of participants to everyone participating, whether it was the shy students or the ones who thought they were too cool to give their opinions.

    Manish Agarwal Lecturer, Indian Institute of Management
    Read Manish’s story
Read every customer story

Questions about StreamAlive for teaching

How do I run a poll in my Zoom class?

Create the poll in StreamAlive, connect StreamAlive to your Zoom class with the StreamAlive app for Zoom or the meeting link, then share your screen and pick the StreamAlive window. Students type their answer in the Zoom chat and the poll fills in as they send it.

Do students need an account or an app?

No. Online, they type in the chat they’re already using. In a lecture hall, they open StreamAlive’s browser chat on a phone or laptop with a QR code or a short link and a code. Still no app to install.

Can students ask questions without speaking up?

Yes. Students type questions in the chat at any time, and StreamAlive’s AI collects them into a list, even when there’s no question mark. StreamAlive’s browser chat can also take anonymous questions.

Does it work in a lecture hall or a hybrid class?

Yes. Students in the room answer in StreamAlive’s browser chat and students online answer in the meeting chat. Both feed the same question, and the results go up on your projector or shared screen.

How big does a class need to be?

There’s no minimum. Lecturer Manish Agarwal, who teaches in person, uses StreamAlive for any class above about 25 students, where only a few hands go up. Below that, raised hands work for him.

How much time does it take to get teachers started?

Students need nothing new: they type in the chat they already use. Each teacher learns to add questions to a presentation, connect StreamAlive to the meeting and share the StreamAlive window, and the help center has a step-by-step guide for each platform. Expect some teachers to need more time. At Svitlo School a few retired teachers found it hard at first, so the school gave them one-to-one time and wrote its own short guides.

Read the Svitlo School story
What help is there for rolling it out to a teaching team?

Any teacher can book a free 15-minute call with the StreamAlive team on running more engaging live sessions, and gets a Human Engagement Specialist certificate to add to their LinkedIn profile. StreamAlive also runs onboarding calls and live training for whole teaching teams, and Enterprise plans include a named customer success manager. Teachers who’d rather learn alone have help-center guides, video tutorials, webinars and ready-made presentations to copy.

Book a free 15-minute call
Can I use it with PowerPoint or Google Slides?

Yes for PowerPoint: add the StreamAlive add-in, put a question on a slide and present in Slide Show. Google Slides can’t show live content inside a slide, so paste StreamAlive’s quick link on your slide. It opens the interaction in a browser tab, where you connect StreamAlive to your meeting and share that tab.

What about student privacy?

StreamAlive reads the chat only. It doesn’t record or access your video, audio or shared screen. The Trust Center has the details.

Open the Trust Center
Is there a free plan?

Yes. Sessions with up to five participants are free, with every interaction included and no card needed. Paid plans start at $100 for a pack of 4 sessions, and Pro is $75 a month, billed annually.

See the plans

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