Center for Teaching and Learning Blog

Tag: iclicker

CTL Services

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CTL Services
Ever wonder how the Center for Teaching and Learning can support your instructional needs? We are here with support for any questions you may have about Canvas, Huskycast, Gradescope, Turnitin, Zoom, or iClicker. Already familiar with these but would like to take a deeper dive into some of these technologies or maybe you have never used these and would like to give them a try in your classroom, we would be happy to provide some one-to-one training! Feel free to drop by during our walk-in hours from 10-noon and 1-4pm Monday through Friday. We can also provide in-person consultations in classrooms for classroom teaching technologies. No time to stop by the CTL? Be sure to check out our online resources that can be found on our site in our Teaching and Learning Knowledge Base, Canvas Instructor Guides, and the Getting Started With Canvas sections.

Are you interested in taking a deeper dive into a specific instructional topic? We also have a periodical library available for checkout covering a wide range of topics! Feel free to stop in anytime and review the collection.


Points of interest!
iClicker Cloud – Reminding you that iClicker Classic was retired at the end of 2023 and iClicker Cloud will be the only supported polling software. The student experience will not change and students can still use either physical iClicker remotes or the mobile/web app, though iClicker bases are not in all classrooms. iClicker hardware – student remotes, instructor remotes, and bases – as well as the student mobile app will continue to be supported in iClicker Cloud. Visit the Center for Teaching and Learning’s iClicker resource page to get started using iClicker and for more information on transitioning to iClicker Cloud visit iClicker’s online resource page.

iClicker Groups (Beta) – iClicker Groups is in Beta, a new method of engaging your students with polling: promote discussion, open new lines of communication, and encourage collaboration. Utilizing this part of the iClicker suite divides your participants in groups to work on building a consensus for your polling. You can find the instructor guide at iClicker Groups (Beta).

New to iClicker Cloud – With version 7 Tools was introduced to the iClicker Cloud application. The poll taker is able to have a separated clock from the polling menu as well as at a future point be able to enable emoji reactions for poll takers.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, visit the iClicker Groups Instructor FAQ or contact us at the Center for Teaching and Learning for more information.

Feel free to contact us at 7-3000 or email us at elearning@mtu.edu.

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iClicker Cloud Polling Question Types

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Over the course of the past year, many instructors have incorporated iClicker Cloud into their online or remote learning environments as a way to engage students in the course content. Students are able to respond to questions via their mobile device, tablet or laptop using the mobile/website application known as iClicker Student App

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The ability for students to answer questions via a mobile device, tablet or laptop, opens up the opportunity for instructors to ask varied question types during the polling session. An instructor is no longer limited to just asking multiple choice type questions! iClicker Cloud offers the options of multiple answer, short answer, numeric and target type questions.

iClicker question types

Question Types

  • Multiple Answer – A multiple answer question type engages the student in evaluating each response for correctness or incorrectness instead of simply finding the single ‘best’ answer in a multiple choice type question. Multiple Answer questions allow for a maximum span of six responses (A-F) to choice from. The Results Chart will show number of responses that are correct, partially correct and incorrect.
  • Short Answer – A short answer question type allows the instructor to ask an open-ended question. Students have the ability to enter up to a 140 character response. The Results Chart will group identical answers together. The instructor has the option to ‘star’ the best response. If the responses are one or two word phrases, the instructor also has the option to display this as a Word Cloud.
  • Numeric – The numeric question type allows students to respond with up to an eight digit (plus decimal point) answer. Just like the short answer, identical answers will be grouped together in the Results chart and the instructor can ‘star’ the best answer.
  • Target – A target question type allows the instructor to provide an image to the student. The student would touch or click (based on device capability) on the appropriate portion of the image to answer the question. Students using any type of iClicker remote will not be able to respond to this question type.

Anonymous Polling

iClicker Cloud also allows an instructor to ask any of the question types listed above in Anonymous mode. To switch to anonymous mode, select the menu icon and turn Anonymous to ‘on’. The toolbar background will turn black to indicate Anonymous mode. *Performance points can NOT be given during Anonymous mode.

Anonymous mode in iClicker Cloud

Additional support for iClicker Cloud

If you have further questions or would like additional support in using iClicker Cloud, feel free to reach out to the elearning team at elearning@mtu.edu or contact the CTL at 487-3000.

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Assignment Feature in iClicker Cloud

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Do you currently use iClicker Cloud to poll students during class?…do you wish you could poll students outside of class….say after a chapter reading to gauge their level of understanding of the content?

With iClicker Cloud’s new asynchronous Assignment feature you can create low-stakes assessments that can be completed outside of class and at a student’s own pace.

Examples of when to use iClicker Cloud Assignment

  • Before class – gauge students’ understanding or preparedness for upcoming lectures, chapter readings or homework understanding.
  • During class – for small group activities.
  • After class – to support homework activities.

Setting up iClicker Cloud Assignments

Within the iClicker Cloud Instructor Website, you can create questions for the iClicker Cloud Assignment.

  1. Create your lecture slides as you normally do. Include a slide for each iClicker question. iClicker Cloud Assignment supports Multiple Choice, Short Answer and Target question types.
  2. Extract your iClicker question slides from the main presentation. A separate file that contains only question slides can be used in an iClicker Cloud Assignment.
  3. Export the question slides file as a PDF.
  4. Go to the iClicker Cloud Instructor Website and create the assignment.
  5. Add the assignment details and upload the PDF that contains the question slides.
  6. Format the Assignment. The assignment has now been added to your “Assignments” page where you are able to manage, edit, view grades and export grades to your LMS.
  7. Based on the release date that you set for the assignment, students will now be able to see the assignment(s).
  8. Scores from completed assignments can be manually uploaded into Canvas.

Student access to Assignments

Be sure to let your students know that you are now using Assignments in iClicker. A student can complete the assignment by finding the instructor’s course in their list of courses and selecting Assignments from the menu. Here is a helpful guide to provide your students on Accessing an Assignment in iClicker Reef.

If you have questions about using iClicker Cloud Assignments, Canvas, Zoom or Huskycast, feel free to contact us at elearning@mtu.edu

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In-Class Polling

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Interested in polling your classes? Have you heard the terms iClicker Classic, iClicker Cloud and REEF? You may be wondering what the differences are between these terms and where to start with in-class polling. Let’s begin by defining these terms…

Photo courtesy of Pexels

iClicker Cloud, REEF and iClicker Classic

iClicker Cloud is a platform that allows an instructor to run synchronous polling, quizzing and attendance activities in class. iClicker Cloud can be downloaded to a Windows or Mac system. REEF is the mobile/website application students use to participate in the polling, quizzes and attendance. To connect with the course, students run the REEF app from a mobile device, tablet or laptop. REEF is available to students for a small one-time subscription fee.  iClicker Classic is classroom-based polling software designed for use with physical clicker remotes, but can also support student responses from the REEF app if configured properly. 

Getting Started with iClicker Cloud for Remote Instruction

Instructors who want to use iClicker Cloud for Remote Instruction, can establish a free account at iClicker.com. Setting up your account will include setting up the names and details of your courses so that students can easily find them on REEF app. Once your account and courses are established, you can download the iClicker Cloud desktop software and you are ready to start polling. Want to run some practice polling sessions before you go live in your classes? Your iClicker account allows you access to a (free, limited term)student REEF account, so you can practice answering your own polling questions as a student…so let’s get started! Here is a great QuickStart Guide: Using iClicker for Remote Instruction that outlines the details.

Incorporating REEF into an iClicker Classic class session.

Are you currently using iClicker Classic polling software (designed for use with physical clicker remotes) in your face-to-face classes but want to allow students to be able to respond to your polling using their smartphone, tablets or laptops? You can do this by simply enabling iClicker REEF in your iClicker Classic software.

Additional Resources

For additional resources on student polling, be sure to visit the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning Instructional Resources webpage

Need Help?

Contact the elearning support team (elearning@mtu.edu) in the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning if you have questions about Canvas, Huskycast, Zoom or other educational technology tools.

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