Tag: Polling

iClicker Cloud Polling Question Types

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.

In-Class Polling

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…

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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.