How Carleton University Successfully Transitioned from Poll Everywhere to Wooclap

A Supported Transition from Poll Everywhere to Wooclap

When Carleton University launched its Winter 2024 pilot of Wooclap, one key priority emerged immediately: ensuring a supported migration of content from Poll Everywhere, so instructors could continue their engaging active learning strategies in their teaching without disruption.

Together, Carleton’s Educational Technology team and Wooclap’s support engineers developed a collaborative, solution-oriented approach, one that enabled a smooth transition for hundreds of faculty members and empowered them to begin using Wooclap with confidence.

This article walks through the 4 key steps of that migration process, highlighting the technical solutions, communication strategy, and collaborative approach that made it a success.

Step 1: Understanding the Pain Points

When Lindsay Richardson, Educational Technology Supervisor at Carleton, reached out to discuss migration needs, the challenges were clear:

• Flat CSV export: No folder or event structure, everything arrived as a single file.
• Question type mismatch: Polls and multiple-choice questions weren’t clearly differentiated.
• Missing images: Poll Everywhere’s export did not include visuals, making it impossible to recover image-based questions.
• LaTeX formatting: Syntax from Poll Everywhere had to be adapted to Wooclap’s standards.

Some limitations were related to the export options available in Poll Everywhere. That said, we worked closely with Carleton to find the best possible solutions. For example, if image export becomes available in the future, we’re fully open to enhancing our import process to include visual content.

“We were hoping it would all migrate automatically into instructors’ accounts, with folder structures intact. That wasn’t possible — but together we found a workaround that worked well", said Lindsay Richardson, Educational Technology Manager, Carleton University

Step 2: Building a Custom Migration Workflow

Wooclap proposed and implemented a script-based migration process tailored to Carleton’s needs:

• Automatic LaTeX reformatting
• Organized exports by user email
• Excel templates compatible with Wooclap’s import system

To simplify the process, Wooclap created a master account. All instructors’ content was imported there and shared back to each teacher via collaborator access. This eliminated the need for individual setup and allowed instructors to explore their content directly within Wooclap.

Step 3: Transparency Around Limitations

Some compromises were necessary, but being upfront helped manage expectations:

• Correct answers were missing in some cases. Wooclap defaulted to marking the first answer as correct, a solution that matched most instructors’ habits.
• While image content wasn’t available in the export, Wooclap was transparent about this from the start and remains open to developing an import process if future formats allow. 

Instructors were proactively informed by Carleton’s teaching and learning support teams, who provided clear documentation and guidance to help navigate the transition. However, this process did require additional resources on Carleton’s part. Some instructors received one-on-one consultations or chose to hire student partners to assist with the transition. Others took this opportunity to redesign their activities to better align with Wooclap’s interface and features, rather than attempting a direct one-to-one conversion.

“Our instructors appreciated knowing exactly what to expect. Because we could prepare them, they were very receptive and excited to explore Wooclap." stated Lindsay Richardson, Educational Technology Manager, Carleton University

Step 4: Communicating with Instructors

Carleton didn’t just rely on the tech solution, they ensured the migration was well-communicated:

• Blurb in Carleton’s Teaching and Learning Services monthly newsletter
• Personalized outreach to the top 100 Poll Everywhere users
• One-on-one support when needed
  

About 20–30 instructors engaged directly with the migration process. Once Wooclap completed the import, instructors were notified and given access to their event folders in the new platform.

“It was a mixed bag. For those with limited content, it went smoothly. For heavier users, there was some reconstruction — but at least they had a solid starting point.", said Lindsay Richardson, Educational Technology Manager, Carleton University

What Made the Difference

Beyond technical fixes, Carleton appreciated the human side of the collaboration.

The feedback from instructors post-rollout was positive. Many found Wooclap more intuitive, and the ability to reuse imported questions helped ease the transition.

The Result: A Successful Campus-Wide Rollout

Today, Wooclap is fully deployed at Carleton. Hundreds of instructors are using it to deliver more interactive learning experiences,  with their existing content as a foundation.

Looking Ahead

Carleton’s experience proves that even complex migrations can be done smoothly, with the right support and mindset.

For institutions considering a switch from Poll Everywhere to Wooclap, this case is a clear example: transparent communication, technical adaptability, and close collaboration lead to success.