The temperatures are rising across the country. As you and your students sweat through the term (if you’re lucky enough to be teaching this summer!), consider treating everyone to some fun iClicker questions about ice cream. Check Out the July Trivia Deck ... View more

On-Demand Are you looking for ways to make your class sessions more interactive but unsure where to find the time? Join Natalie Dougall as she shares ways you can easily incorporate iClicker polling activities into your classroom without sacrificing a lot of valuable class time or wildly altering lesson plans you’ve spent years perfecting. Natalie will also outline Macmillan resources instructors can use to easily turn their students from passive observers into active learners. Access the Webinar Here! Access Webinar On-Demand ... View more

We can't believe it’s been one year since we released Assignments! Our newest iClicker activity has taken student engagement to the next level in fully remote, asynchronous courses—but we’re also hearing from instructors who enjoy using Assignments for in-person and hybrid/flex classes. We've been continuously working to improve Assignments over the past year. Here’s what we’ve added recently for instructors using Assignments: Alt Text Support: We added the ability for instructors to enter and edit alt text for assignment question images. Alt text makes Assignments easier for students to use with screen readers. Learn more about best practices for writing alt text. Copy Assignments: We added an option for instructors to copy an already-built assignment. This will be useful for instructors who wish to assess what students have learned via the same set of pre- and post-class questions, and for instructors who wish to use the same assignment in multiple iClicker Cloud courses. Learn more about copying assignments. Gradebook Integration: Assignment scores appear alongside Polling and Quizzing scores in the iClicker Cloud Gradebook. Instructors are able to modify individual student Assignment scores and export or sync Assignment grades to their LMS. Due Times: Instructors can specify both dates and times for when an assignment becomes available and is due. The following Assignments improvements are now available to students: In-Progress Credit: Students automatically receive credit for all work in progress when an assignment closes. They do not need to click the submit button to receive credit for responses already entered before the due date. Mobile Support: Students can complete assignments via the iOS or Android student apps, in addition to the web app. Wondering how to get started with Assignments? Our Learning Science & Insights team developed a set of pre-built prompts that can help students reflect on their learning before, during, and after class, in any academic discipline. Check out our Assignments page to learn more and download sample slide decks to try out with your own students! ... View more

While we try to keep instructor software releases to a minimum (especially in the middle of a term!), we regularly release updates to our iClicker student iOS and Android apps. We recommend that students turn on automatic updates in their device settings to ensure they are using the latest version of the iClicker student app and can take advantage of any new features and performance improvements. Auto-update is a system setting on mobile devices, rather than one found within the iClicker mobile apps. Students can modify the auto-update setting by following the directions for their device below. iOS Open up your Settings app. Select App Store. Under Automatic Downloads, make sure App Updates is switched on.   Android Open up your Google Play app. Select your account icon. Select Settings, then General. Select Auto-Update apps.     ... View more

On-Demand Macmillan’s Achieve learning platform engages students inside and outside of class, whether they are high achievers or need extra support. Did you know that iClicker integrates directly with Achieve (at no cost to students!) to instantly make your class interactive? In this webinar for Achieve users (and the Achieve curious!), you’ll learn how iClicker can boost student participation and give real-time feedback in any class, no matter what the fall term looks like, and without a huge investment of time or energy. We’ll tour the Achieve learning environment and its built-in engagement content (such as In-Class Activity Guides) and then show just how easy it is to activate iClicker in Achieve and run iClicker activities in in-person, hybrid, and online courses. Access the Recording Here! Access the Recording! ... View more

Did you realize midway through the term that you wish to modify how students earn participation points for iClicker activities? Have you forgotten to grade your polling questions in class? No problem! You can perform these tasks at any time via the Class History section of the iClicker Cloud instructor website. Start off by logging in to the iClicker Cloud instructor website and selecting your course. You’ll be dropped into Class History, and you can select which past poll you’d like to adjust. Poll Settings When you create a new iClicker course you start off with default settings. You can modify point values and other settings at any time, but changes you make through your main course settings will only apply to future class sessions. Here’s how to update settings for past activities: Select the three dots in the upper-right corner of the page next to the activity timestamp. Then, select Poll Settings. In your Poll Settings, you can: Update the Poll Name. Change the question screenshot and results Sharing settings. Some instructors choose to hide polling question images and class results until after classes have met, especially when teaching multiple sections of a course. Selecting the sharing options here in Poll Settings will then push those question images and/or results out to students' iClicker accounts. Modify the points you wish to award and the threshold for Session Participation.  Modify the scoring setting and points you wish to award for Session Performance. If you select the option to Score total polling session for Performance points, you set a limit on the poll's Performance points, which are then split equally among all graded questions. Please note that when you apply this session-based scoring setting, you cannot adjust points for individual questions when grading polling questions. Save your settings when you are done. Grading polling questions Although you can grade polls in class by selecting the correct answer(s) from the results chart, you can also grade questions at any point after class. Here’s how: Click on a question number or image. The poll results load in a panel on the right side of the screen. Select an answer choice on the results panel to indicate that it is correct. Select it again to toggle it to incorrect or ungraded. You can choose multiple correct responses. When graded, the results change color to green (correct) and red (incorrect), a check mark appears next to the correct response(s), and a GRADED badge displays next to the question number at the top of the panel. Note that you cannot grade questions you asked in anonymous mode, students can still earn participation points for responding. Learn more about grading each of the iClicker question types. If you are using the default question-based Performance scoring setting, you can update the points possible for each question or award partial credit by typing new values into the Points box next to a response. This option is not available if you have applied the session-based scoring setting, which splits Performance points equally among all graded questions in the poll. ... View more

Spring is here and our minds are turning to whimsy. Share these not-so-tricky questions with your students and learn more about April Fools’ traditions and history. You and your classes will be feeling footloose and fancy-free in no time! Download our April Fools' Day Trivia Questions ... View more

Friday, April 2, 2021 @ 2:00 PM Ah, 2021. While not exactly 2020, you’ve still brought quiet online sessions, videoless black boxes and a looming fear of seeing those first test scores. And even for those not teaching online, fostering close engagement in person - 6 feet apart - is still a struggle. Enter iClicker and a heavy dose of instructor-approved active learning techniques. Join Kathy Roberts, iClicker Engagement Consultant, former institutional admin and all-around technology & active learning enthusiast, as she walks you through course activities that are easy to implement & will help you meet your 2021 course goals, whether your course is online, in-person or hybrid. Come ready to turn your video on, share with your colleagues in breakout rooms, and leave those memories of 2020 behind. Register Here! Register Here! ... View more

Thursday, March 11, 2021 @ 2:00 PM Exams are on their way and your students are spending lots of time and energy studying using methods that may or may not actually help them. With iClicker Cloud, your in-class polling questions can instantly become study materials that your students can access outside of class. In this webinar, we demonstrated how to create effective study materials in iClicker Cloud that students can bookmark and turn into flashcards or practice tests with the Study Tools feature in the iClicker student app. We also discussed best practices around iClicker Cloud question construction and session maintenance. View the Recording! View the Recording! ... View more

Tuesday, February 23, 2021 @ 1:00 PM Strategies for improving student success don’t have to be a mystery, even during COVID-19. You just need the right tools and intentional strategies. Join us as we introduce short, research-based surveys that are ideal tools for easy and frequent check-ins with students. The conversation will include a discussion from a student success professional of best practices for pairing surveys with interventions. These surveys and strategies work for both in-person and virtual environments, so they’ll apply during and after COVID-19. View the Recording! View the recording! ... View more

By default, every Polling activity starts with the question type set to Multiple Choice, but you can change the question type before starting each poll. This article covers all of our question types: Multiple Choice Multiple Answer Short Answer Numeric Target Anonymous Use the drop-down menu on the iClicker toolbar to choose your desired question type from the list. Learn more about running polls and viewing and grading results in class. Multiple Choice Students can respond with: iClicker student app, iClicker 2 remote, iClicker+ remote Students are able to select a single letter response A through E. While students can only select one response, you can select multiple responses as correct when grading.               Student View                                                   Instructor View     Multiple Answer Students can respond with: iClicker student app, iClicker 2 remote Multiple Answer polls require students to evaluate the correctness or incorrectness of each possible response instead of simply hunting for one ‘best’ answer. Students are able to select multiple letter responses A through E. Once you grade a Multiple Answer question, you can select the Responses view on the Results chart to see how many responses were Correct, Partially Correct, or Incorrect. You can expand each category to view the individual responses and counts.             Student View                                                    Instructor View      Short Answer Students can respond with: iClicker student app, iClicker 2 remote Short Answer allows you to pose open-ended questions. Students using the iClicker student app can respond with up to 140 characters, including punctuation and most symbols. Students responding with iClicker 2 remotes are limited to the device maximum of 16 characters. Students with iClicker+ remotes cannot respond to short answer questions. In the Results chart, identical responses are grouped together (grouping is not case-sensitive). If you want to quickly mark all answers correct, click on the three dots next to the question number and select Mark All Correct. If you select multiple correct answers, you can select the star icon next to the "best" response, which is also displayed as the correct answer in students' iClicker student app accounts. If none of your students submitted the answer you were looking for, you can enter your desired response into the Other field at the bottom of the grading panel.              Student View                                                    Instructor View    You can also choose to display submitted answers as a Word Cloud.   Numeric Students can respond with: iClicker student app, iClicker 2 remote Numeric questions allow students to respond with open-ended numeric values and support scientific notation and exponents. Students using the iClicker student app or an iClicker 2 remote can respond with up to eight digits plus a decimal point. Students with iClicker+ remotes cannot respond to numeric questions. Entries are grouped by value–for example, 5000, 5000.00, and 5E3 would group together. If you want to quickly mark all answers correct, click on the three dots next to the question number and select Mark All Correct. If you select multiple correct answers, you can select the star icon next to the "best" response, which is also displayed as the correct answer in students' iClicker student app accounts. If none of your students submitted the answer you were looking for, you can enter your desired response into the Other field at the bottom of the grading panel.              Student View                                                      Instructor View   Target Students can respond with: iClicker student app This question type allows instructors to ask questions by sending an image to students (e.g., an image on a lecture slide, an image in your web browser, or even a video you've paused). Students answer the target question by clicking or tapping on the image using their laptops or smart devices. Target questions are ideal in disciplines where visual understanding is required. Students must use the iClicker student app on a mobile device or laptop to participate, as this question type is not available for use with iClicker remotes. Learn more about target questions.             Student View                                                      Instructor View   Anonymous You can ask any of the question types above in Anonymous mode. This allows you to ask sensitive questions that students might not feel comfortable answering if their responses could be traced to their identity. To switch your poll to Anonymous mode, select the menu icon on the iClicker toolbar and turn Anonymous on.  This will change the iClicker tollbar to a dark gray color to indicate you are in Anonymous mode. Your polls will remain anonymous until you turn off Anonymous mode.  You cannot select correct answers for Anonymous questions, so the student response on the Results chart will be grayed out and not clickable. Although students cannot receive Performance points for their responses, they can still receive Participation points for Anonymous responses. Learn more about scoring settings for Polling.             Student view                                              Instructor View           ... View more

It’s a new term, which means a whole new crop of students to get to know. With the sudden rise in virtual and hybrid classes, it’s more important than ever to foster a sense of community among your students and encourage peer interaction. Luckily, iClicker’s Polling and Assignments features can help you and your students get acquainted with one another, even if you’re teaching remotely via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. We’ve put together some examples of fun, low-stakes iClicker questions you can use as icebreakers, whether your term is just beginning or you’re looking to take the pulse of your class at any time. ... View more

Thursday, January 14, 2021 @ 1:00 PM In a typical year, students who struggle academically may find themselves on academic probation. In spring 2021, with complications brought about by COVID-19, it is likely that you will have a much larger and more diverse population of students who did not cope well as course delivery shifted to online, hybrid, or socially-distanced formats. Effectively identifying and supporting these students will take extra planning and effort. Join us as we talk about a new short survey that can be used in the spring to identify students' specific academic needs and as we examine practical adjustments that must be made to your academic probation practices and policies. View the Recording! View the Recording! ... View more

1. Keep Polling Low-Stakes, High-Interest Polling should give a jolt of energy to your classes. Keeping polling a low-stakes part of students’ grades keeps polling a fun, game-like part of your class while reducing the incentive to cheat. When students find your polling questions compelling, they are more likely to attend class regularly and they are more likely to use iClicker as a study tool outside of class.*   *Jeff Bergin and Lisa Ferrara, (2019, April 1).How Student Attendance Can Improve Institutional Outcomes. EDUCAUSE Review,. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/blogs/sponsored/2019/4/how-student-attendance-can-improve-institutional-outcomes   2. Challenging Questions Should Follow Challenging Concepts Following tough concepts with easy polling questions seems like a harmless way to encourage students, but research shows the opposite to be true.* When an easy polling question follows a challenging concept, students assume they have mastered the concept when they get an easy question right. Besides, how do you like playing a game that’s too easy? Challenging questions keep students engaged and increase the “game” quality of your class, making for stickier, more impactful learning. *Amy M. Shapiro, Judith Sims-Knight, Grant V. O'Rielly, Paul Capaldo, Teal Pedlow, Leamarie Gordon, Kristina Monteiro, (2017). Clickers can promote fact retention but impede conceptual understanding: The effect of the interaction between clicker use and pedagogy on learning. Computers & Education, 111, 44–59. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131517300726   3. Include Tempting Wrong Answers What kind of misconceptions trip your students up again and again? Include common errors in your multiple choice response options so you can address those misconceptions head on.* When students pick the incorrect question en masse, you will have a highly engaged audience when you challenge directly what they thought they knew. *The Teaching Center at Washington University in St. Louis. Asking Questions to Improve Learning. Retrieved from https://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/resources/teaching-methods/participation/asking-questions-to-improve-learning   4. Incorporate Open-Ended Questions Multiple choice questions are the most popular type of polling question, but open-ended questions can have a place in your lesson plan as well. Consider having a short answer poll open during lecture, videos, student presentations, or any class time where students need to let you know their questions or concerns in a discreet way.* *Dan Levy, Josh Yardley, and Richard Zeckhauser. Working Paper. Getting an Honest Answer: Clickers in the Classroom HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, RWP15-071. Retrieved from https://scholar.harvard.edu/danlevy/publications/getting-honest-answer-clickers-classroom   5. Anticipate Polling Surprises Your iClicker polling sessions have the power to revolutionize your learning sessions. Low-stakes feedback is as much for you the instructor as it is for your students.* Remember that iClicker Cloud allows you to ask questions on the fly, ask questions more than once, and compare polling results windows. You can ask one polling question multiple times in the same class, revealing to you how students’ understanding grows and changes. *Schwartz, K. (2014, January 6). The Importance of Low-Stakes Student Feedback. Retrieved from https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/33230/the-importance-of-low-stakes-student-feedback ... View more

iClicker’s flexibility empowers instructors to start engaging students with polling questions right away—and there’s no limit to the tools you use to author your polling questions. You can create questions in your preferred presentation software, such as PowerPoint or Google Slides, or in a word-processing document. You can also verbally ask questions on the fly, use publisher-provided clicker questions, or reuse polling questions you’ve previously asked via other response systems. Just make sure you remove any items from your slides that you don’t want students to see, such as correct answers. This blog post will walk you through the process of creating a basic multiple choice iClicker question, our most popular question type and the default each time you start a new polling activity, with PowerPoint, one of the authoring tools our instructors are most likely to use. You’ll also see how polling questions will appear to students in the iClicker student app. Once you master the multiple choice question, read our pedagogical best practices and check out our more advanced polling question types. Need help creating questions for Assignments? The process is very similar—check out our support article on building Assignments! Step 1: Type Your Question on a PowerPoint Slide Launch PowerPoint, navigate to your existing lecture presentation or a new presentation, and add a new blank slide. Add a text box and type your question using your preferred formatting and style.   Step 2: Enter the Answer Choices Next, you’ll enter up to five answer choices, A through E. Note: You can provide fewer than five answer choices, as shown in the image below. You can also enter only A and B answer choices for true/false or yes/no questions. Just keep in mind that students always see the A through E answer choices on their devices for multiple choice questions, as shown in the final image of our blog post below.   Step 3: Add an iClicker Callout (Optional) The next step is completely optional, but many veteran iClicker instructors find it helpful to add an iClicker image or text callout to each of their question slides. When you get to a question slide in lecture, it will help remind students to open up their iClicker student apps and get ready to participate. We added an “in-class question” callout with the iClicker student app logo at the top of our sample question slide below.   Step 4: Start Your Poll in iClicker Cloud The image below shows our finished multiple choice sample question with A through D answer choices in PowerPoint. Aside from including a question and answer choices, there is nothing else you have to add to a slide to make it an iClicker question. Feel free to add images (we included art from the textbook) or change the slide design as you wish. Just remember not to include the correct answer or anything else you don’t want students to see, as they will receive a screenshot of your entire computer’s screen. Once you start a class session in iClicker Cloud, the iClicker toolbar will float on top of your lecture content throughout class, as shown in the image below. Each time you click the green play button, the toolbar takes a snapshot of your entire screen at that moment and sends that screenshot as a polling question to students’ devices. You may need to move other toolbars and menus out of the way if you’re using video conferencing software, such as Zoom, for a virtual class. And if you want to hide the computer dock at the bottom of your screen, you can enter into presenter view (but if you forget to, that’s okay, too—as you can see in our example, the question is still clearly visible to students). Learn more about running polls with iClicker Cloud.   Student View of an iClicker Polling Question Here’s what our sample multiple choice question looks like on students’ devices in the iClicker student app. Students see the screenshot of everything that was on your screen when you clicked the green play button. In this example, that includes the dock at the bottom of the instructor’s screen, too, since we were not in presenter view. The iClicker toolbar should not appear in screenshots. Underneath the question screenshot, students see the A through E answer choices. The response option for students will automatically update if you select other polling question types (e.g., a text box for short answer or a clickable image for a target question). Learn more about how students participate in polls with the iClicker student app         ... View more