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What to Look for in a Mentimeter Alternative

If you lead a team of software engineers or are trying to engage easily distracted elementary school students in social studies, you might have heard of Mentimeter. Mentimeter is an interactive presentation platform that drives audience engagement through live polling. The software also supports the creation of matrices to analyze poll responses, measure audience progress, and a few other features such as the ability to create word clouds. It can be a good way of soliciting feedback from shyer audience members while ensuring that learners are engaged in presentations.

The biggest downside of Mentimeter is that it can’t do anything else. If your organization is looking to take hybrid learning to the next level, EchoPoll is a far more complete solution. EchoPoll is a learning engagement platform that offers polling features comparable to Mentimeter plus a variety of features inspired by our e³ philosophy of equity, evidence, and engagement. The result is a fantastic Mentimeter alternative that’s prepared for anything your learners or instructors might throw at it.

What Makes a Great Alternative to Mentimeter?

Mentimeter allows instructors to create polls and look at group results. It’s fine at what it does, but organizations looking to create a full-scale hybrid learning program will find its functionality lacking and search for a Mentimeter alternative. Here are some of the specific features you might find wanting:

  1. Asynchronous Support

    Today’s learners lead busy lives and it isn’t always feasible to bring everybody together for a live presentation. If you want to give your learners on-demand access to content, Mentimeter cannot help you. Our platform is one of the best alternatives to Mentimeter because live sessions are automatically recorded for asynchronous playback and review. Instructors can also assign self-paced lessons to complement group instruction, giving learners the ability to choose when and where they want to learn.
  2. Course Creation

    Mentimeter instructors can create polls and PowerPoint-like presentations that include polls using content that already exists on the software’s database. They cannot upload new content built around the needs of their learners, and browsing the available options for something relevant can be very time-consuming. In contrast, EchoPoll empowers instructors with multimedia authoring tools to foster engagement. Instructors can also access the complete Dojo library of images, videos, and other graphical assets to help courses pop.
  3. Individualized Reporting

    Mentimeter allows instructors to measure group performance, but there’s no way to track the progress of an individual learner since audience members don’t even have personal accounts. Our platform provides the same group analytics Mentimeter can, with individual performance delivered in a sortable dashboard that ensures instructors have the evidence they need to take action if a learner falls behind. Learners are also notified immediately if they answer something incorrectly, allowing them to review the material again.
  4. Accessibility

    Mentimeter requires students to answer questions on a personal device such as a smartphone or laptop, meaning that students must own such a device and access it during the presentation to participate. EchoPoll allows learners to concentrate on presentations without encouraging them to take out extraneous devices or denying access to learners who don’t have devices, creating more equity.
  5. Integrations

    Mentimeter offers built-in support for Microsoft Excel exclusively, though users have figured out how to integrate with a few other programs such as Google Forms. Our platform allows instructors to import entire PowerPoint presentations to recycle existing educational content. It also integrates with LMS and LXP solutions to ensure that instructors always have access to the organizational materials they trust. You should look for similar capabilities in any Mentimeter alternative.
  6. Lack of Video Chat

    Mentimeter supports remote polls, but learners cannot see their instructor or their peers without resorting to something like Zoom in a separate tab. That can get confusing, especially for learners who aren’t tech-savvy or lack strong Wi-Fi. EchoPoll includes multiple communication tools such as a virtual whiteboard, live chat, and virtual meeting spaces to facilitate meaningful face-to-face exchanges that promote learner engagement. We think it makes our platform one of the best alternatives to Mentimeter.

Is There Anything Else I Should Consider When Choosing a Mentimeter Alternative?

Hybrid learning works best if all learners have the same access to the content. EchoPoll meets or even exceeds all WCAG 2.0 guidelines, ensuring that learners with visual or aural impairments enjoy equity in access to training materials. We’ve also incorporated tons of gamification elements such as live leaderboards and badges to drive learner engagement and foster friendly competition among learners.

If you want to ask a few questions in the middle of a presentation, Mentimeter might be good enough for you. If you’re looking for engaged learning made easy, EchoPoll offers a plethora of great features as the learning engagement platform built for everyone, everywhere.