Audience participation for education and organizations
Bring live quizzes, numeric estimates, answer confidence, audience questions, word clouds, and Pulse Checks into one session. Create every question type and host from your phone, whether you’re running a class, workshop, training session, or meeting. arsnova.eu is open source, self-hostable, and designed with GDPR requirements in mind.
Conforms to WCAG 2.2 Level AA —keyboard support, screen readers, and adjustable response time.
For teaching, training, and workshops
Prepare your content, invite participants, and host the session. The workflow takes you from creating questions to reviewing the results.
Create questions or import existing content, entirely on your phone and in every format. Use Markdown, KaTeX, short answers, numeric estimates, matching, ordering, and categorization.
Your quiz library stays on your device, helping protect your data. Use a sync link to open it on a borrowed computer instead of bringing a USB drive. Share the same link with colleagues to use and edit the library together. Create the link in your quiz library and paste received links on the home page.
Start without an account: open a session, choose a style, and share the session code or QR code. You can also connect a phone or tablet and open the presenter view on a projector.
Control the session from your phone as you move around the room. Participants answer, ask questions, and help set priorities. The moderation compass suggests a next step. The host and presenter views support quizzes, Q&A, Pulse Check, word clouds, reading phases, countdowns, second votes, and results.
After the session, open the PDF debriefing report with understanding, answer confidence, and full question text. The latest session’s debrief and PDF remain available from the quiz library. CSV export for spreadsheets is under “More”.
What sets arsnova.eu apart
Start without an account and use tools to prepare, host, and review live sessions. Open source code lets you examine how the platform works.
Create every question type on your phone and control quizzes, Q&A, Pulse Check, and results from the same host view. Run the session without a computer, or connect a device to a projected presentation.
Connect a phone or tablet to control questions, results, Q&A, Pulse Check, and the end of the session. Scan the QR code and confirm on the computer. The quiz library stays there, so you can hand the connected device to an assistant without sharing passwords.
Hosts start without an account. Participants join directly with a 6-character code or QR code.
Participants rate their confidence after answering. Identify incorrect answers given with high confidence, prioritize your debrief, and review the findings in the PDF report.
Export a print-ready PDF after the session with charts, question text, and answer confidence. CSV export for spreadsheets remains under “More”.
Years, orders of magnitude and measurements can be estimated with a reference value, tolerance band, statistics and an optional second round.
MC/SC, short answers, ratings, matching, ordering, categorization, reading phase, Peer Instruction and presenter mode support learning, training and live facilitation.
Review, publish, pin, and archive questions. Participants can upvote or downvote them. Sort by net votes, strong support, or controversy.
Group free-text responses and Q&A questions into words and phrases. In Q&A, term size follows the selected sort: net votes, strong support, or controversy.
Review pace feedback, controversial questions, or quiz results that need discussion. Open “Compass” to see a suggested next step and decide how to continue.
Presets, team mode, anonymous mode, nicknames and style options support a range of settings, from classes and seminars to workshops, events and meetings.
Keyboard use, screen-reader status updates, individually adjustable response time and PDF/UA-1-validated results reports — so more learners can join live sessions independently.
Quiz content stays on your device. Optional data removal and operation on your own infrastructure give you more control over content and live data.
Docker, Postgres, Redis and an admin activity log make the platform reliable for deployment, operations and auditability.
Gamification preset
Animal nicknames, scores, and correct answers: a leaderboard without real names. The Gamification preset gives live results a dark, clear presentation.
Winner
Coral cat
| Rank | Nickname | Points | Correct |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coral cat | 236.64 | 7/7 |
| 2 | Colorful parrot | 203.91 | 7/7 |
| 3 | Brown bear | 122.25 | 5/7 |
| 4 | Olive green mouse | 101.74 | 5/7 |
| 5 | Light blue swan | 98.77 | 5/7 |
| 6 | Red dragon | 78.43 | 4/7 |
| 7 | Pink butterfly | 58.44 | 4/7 |
| 8 | Brown bear 2 | 53.65 | 2/7 |
| 9 | Red dragon 8 | 51.96 | 2/7 |
| 10 | Sky blue giraffe | 26.80 | 2/7 |
What sets us apart
Connect a phone or tablet to control the session while moving around the room. Scan the QR code and confirm the connection on the computer. The connected device gets controls for the current session without needing a separate account.
Laptop and projector
The computer and projector show the presentation. Confirm the connection here. The quiz library stays on this computer.
Phone or tablet
Control the current session as you move around the room, without another account.
Structured question types
Explore relationships, sequences, and categories through interactive questions you can create entirely on your phone. Answer keys stay hidden during voting. After results are shown, review the correct answers and common mistakes.
Match terms, definitions or examples one to one. The results reveal common mix-ups.
Put steps, events or stages of a process in the correct order. The results show which positions caused uncertainty.
Assign terms or examples to the appropriate categories. The results reveal clear distinctions and common misclassifications.
All three formats are scored. An answer currently receives full credit or no credit; partial credit is not available.
During voting, correct pairs, the correct order, and target categories stay hidden. The answer key and detailed response distributions appear only after results are shown.
New in the live quiz
Use numeric estimates for dates, orders of magnitude, measurements, and probabilities. Set a reference value, allowed input range, and tolerance. Participants simply enter a number.
Host view after results are shown
Tolerance band
1700 to 1900
Allowed input range
1500 to 2000
The histogram, reference line, and tolerance range appear only after results are shown. Until then, only participation progress is visible.
n
20
Median
1788
within tolerance
95 %
Round 2
14 answers closer to the reference
Host view after results are shown
Correct · low confidence
3
Correct · medium confidence
8
Correct · high confidence
11
Incorrect · low confidence
2
Incorrect · medium confidence
4
Incorrect · high confidence
2
2 incorrect answers with high confidence
Option B was selected twice with high confidence. This may indicate a misconception to revisit during the debrief.
Solid
11
Possible misconception
2
Fragile
3
After the session ends
A print-ready report with understanding, answer confidence, a heatmap, and full question text. Open it from the host view or quiz card. CSV export for spreadsheets remains under “More”.
Pedagogical analysis
After answering a scored question, participants can rate their confidence from 1 to 5. This helps you spot incorrect answers given with high confidence, which may indicate a misconception. Use these signals to plan your debrief and review them in the PDF report after the session.
A dedicated space for audience questions
Use Q&A to publish audience questions, identify priorities, and address disagreements. A weighted word cloud helps bring recurring topics into the discussion.
Host Q&A view
15 up · 3 down · strong support
9 up · 5 down · controversial
11 up · 0 down · most supported
Q&A word cloud
Term size reflects the weighting of the questions.
Next step in the compass: discuss the controversial question with the group. Open the question with a tap.
Now in the live session
During a session, the compass suggests a next step based on unanswered questions, word clouds, quiz results, and pace feedback. Review the signals, open the source, and decide what to do next.
Host view
Next step
Discuss the controversial question with the group
The question about hiding results has divided the group. Clarify it before moving on.
The room is split — many votes for and against.
Several people say the pace is too fast. Consider a short pause.
A strongly supported question is still waiting for your answer.
Go directly to
The compass uses only information already available to the host. It does not evaluate individual participants.
Accessibility
For schools, universities and continuing education, accessibility is often a decisive criterion. arsnova.eu meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA — with keyboard use, screen-reader support, individually adjustable response time and accessibly structured PDF results reports.
You and your participants can use the core workflows without a mouse. Visible focus indicators and a skip link help you navigate.
Screen readers announce important changes when you join a session, submit an answer, or move to a new phase.
For timed questions, choose standard response time, “10× time”, or “No deadline”. These options help accommodate individual response-time needs during the session.
The print-ready report is validated against PDF/UA-1 and includes a document title, language, and structure tags for accessible sharing and follow-up.
Trust
arsnova.eu is part of the ARSnova ecosystem, drawing on years of research, teaching practice, and education technology development.
Since 2012
ARSnova tradition in education and edtech
WCAG 2.2 AA
Verified accessibility for teaching and institutions
5 UI languages
German, English, French, Spanish, Italian
Open source
Transparent code instead of opaque systems
“A privacy-friendly path: no personal data stored permanently on the server.”— DeLFI 2017
“UX evaluation in direct comparison with Kahoot! as an empirical design checkpoint.”— fnm-austria
“Privacy from the ground up and technical openness are a real differentiator for European edtech contexts.”— Publication analysis
“Practically proven in real education settings, not only described as a concept.”— Use in teaching and training contexts
Full references and the underlying publication collection are in ARSnova-Recherche.pdf on GitHub.
Differentiation
The focus is not only voting, but the full live flow: prepare on your phone, facilitate from anywhere in the room, make results visible and keep control of content and operations.
Create every question type and control quizzes, Q&A, Pulse Check, and results from your phone. You can also use a computer and projector. All host controls remain available on your phone.
Some tools offer a remote that needs a separate login or only advances slides. Here, scan a QR code and confirm on the computer. The phone can control questions, results, Q&A, Pulse Check, and the end of the session without its own account. The quiz library stays on the computer.
Both hosts and participants can start without an account. Open a session and invite participants to join with a code or QR code.
Alongside quizzes: matching, ordering, categorization, numeric estimation questions, reading phase, Peer Instruction, Pulse Check, Q&A wall, weighted word cloud and moderation compass in one platform — not only slide polls.
Open source, ready to run on your own infrastructure and with quiz content kept locally — plus conformance to WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Relevant for schools, universities and organizations with privacy and inclusion requirements.
You can still find the full feature comparison in the docs: Open the comparison on GitHub
FAQ
No. Hosts can start a session without an account. Participants join with a session code or QR code.
Yes. Create every question type on your phone, including single choice, multiple choice, short answer, numeric estimate, matching, ordering, and categorization. Control quizzes, Q&A, Pulse Check, and results from the same host view. You can also connect a second device: the presentation stays on the computer while the phone controls the session, without another account.
Yes. Scan the QR code shown on the computer when starting the presentation, then confirm the connection there. Without another account, the phone can control questions, results, Q&A, Pulse Check, and the end of the session. Your quiz library stays on the computer. You can hand the phone to a trusted assistant without sharing a password.
Quiz content stays on your device. For live sessions only the technically necessary session data is processed; when you run it yourself, operations stay within your own infrastructure.
Yes. Your library stays on your device, helping protect your data. Open it on another computer with a sync link rather than a USB drive. Share the same link with colleagues to use and edit the library together. Create the link in your quiz library and paste received links on the home page.
Yes. The platform is open source and designed to run with Docker, PostgreSQL and Redis.
For scored questions, participants can rate their confidence in their answer from 1 to 5. This does not affect points. Comparing correctness and confidence helps identify possible misconceptions, especially when incorrect answers are given with high confidence. These findings appear in the debrief and PDF report after the session.
Yes. After the session, export the PDF debriefing report with answer confidence, priorities for discussion, and full question text. The latest session’s debrief and report are available from the quiz library. CSV export for spreadsheets is under “More”.
It separates the allowed input range from the range considered correct. Results stay hidden during voting. A second round after discussion lets you compare estimates with statistics.
Participants submit questions and upvote or downvote them. Hosts can review, publish, pin, archive, or delete questions and sort by net votes, strong support, or controversy.
It groups visible questions into words and phrases, weighted by the active sort. This highlights topics from questions with high net votes, strong support, or split opinions.
During the session, it suggests a next step based on unanswered questions, word clouds, quiz results, and pace feedback. The suggested action appears under “Next step”, followed by its supporting signals. Open the source and decide what to do. The compass never starts an action automatically.
Anyone running live audience participation in a class, seminar, training session, workshop, event, or meeting.
arsnova.eu conforms to WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Core flows are keyboard-operable, screen readers announce status changes, response time on timed questions is individually adjustable (standard time, tenfold response time or no time limit), and the accessibly structured results report is PDF/UA-1-validated.
Try the live formats and moderation compass in the app. You can also explore the source code and read how Q&A, word clouds, deployment, and operations work.
Try it live now