iClicker is evolving to help strengthen how you engage students and create closer connections. Here's what you can look forward to in iClicker Cloud in 2023.   Groups Coming soon! There is abundant evidence that group-based activities have a proven impact on learning and student well-being. However, it can be difficult to manage for instructors and issues persist in assuring equitable and full group participation. With features built-in to help groups vote and reach consensus, iClicker Groups helps manage group exercises in class.               Quizzing Available now! Instructor improvements: Updated Quizzing settings more closely resemble Polling settings, and the process to start a quiz in class has been simplified.   Available now! Student improvements: The experience of taking a quiz more closely resembles responding to a poll or assignment. Navigation between quiz questions and quiz submission have been simplified.   Coming soon! Pre-authored Quizzing makes it easy for instructors to create, administer, and grade digital quizzes for synchronous classes. This new option displays pre-authored questions to students by allowing instructors to upload quiz questions as PDFs.               Screen Capture Coming soon! A new screen capture option allows instructors to share screenshots with students without having to run a poll. Students will have access to the shared lecture slides or other captured content outside of class and can create flashcards or a practice test for review using Study Tools in the student app.   ... View more

At Macmillan Learning, we strive to create products that foster connections between professors and their students. Learning happens at the human-to-human level, and our tools foster those connections and relationships. In this video, hear from Susan Winslow, CEO at Macmillan Learning, the director of Product, Jason Walker, and the executive director of Product, Ryan Moore, on the importance of creating connections. Watch the Video ... View more

How iClicker Helps Me Be Flexible, Nimble & Inspired in Multiple Modalities Presentation by Solina Lindahl: California Polytech State University - San Luis Obispo, Economics In this presentation, we hear from the Economics Department lead at Cali Poly State - SLO, Solina Lindahl on how to use iClicker in multiple modalities with teamwork. In a learning environment where professors and students alike are inundated with new classroom technology, it's important to stay flexible, nimble, and inspired. This presentation not only highlights iClicker features that maximize active learning, growth mindsets, student engagement, and a sense of community--but also highlights the importance of turning to learning science and research when designing a course. Watch the presentation below to learn more tips and tricks for implementing active learning with iClicker in your course.  Watch the Presentation Solina Lindahl is the Economics Lead (Cali) and services in the CSU Chancellor's Office. She is a committee faculty rep and co-lead for Equity Learning Community. She serves as the co-lead for Cal Poly's Center for Teaching's "Redesigning the large lecture." Solina is also a faculty mentor and regular recipient of the "Economics Faculty of the Year" award.  ... View more

iClicker is introducing groups as a new way to engage students with polling. With this feature, the class is divided into groups and the members of the group work together to build consensus to answer your polling questions. It’s a fun and instructional way for students to interact with each other! iClicker Groups will be released in Public Beta in the Spring 2023 term.      ... View more

  The COVID-19 pandemic changed the learning landscape dramatically. After having to pivot to all virtual learning, students began to see they had options when it came to where they had to be for class. Even as schools reopened and in-person learning returned, it wasn’t necessarily a full return. Hybrid learning may be here to stay, and your classroom may no longer be a physical space each and every one of your students walk into every day. Student engagement becomes a key concern in this educational landscape. Keeping students with us as we teach will forever be the ultimate challenge regardless of class format. But, worrying about engagement, and seeing it as an obstacle to overcome, is actually a good thing. Giving it all this attention means you’re more likely to take action, right at the start, to craft a course that works for all students. To provide the best possible experience for both in-person and virtual learners, consider implementing some or all of these tips. Garnered from the experience of Grace Tuttle (Boise State University), Matt Evans (University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire), and Solina Lindahl (California Polytechnic State University), these tips can help bring together a cohesive class even if everyone is still in their own room.   Download: Creating Connections Wherever 'Class' Is ... View more

It might have been a while since you last set up your iClicker courses, or maybe you’ve never been through the getting-started process before. Our checklists walk you through the steps in order, from setting up your account and software through using iClicker for in-class activities – so you can check iClicker setup off your own to-do list.    Instructor Setup Checklist: Getting Started with iClicker Cloud Checklist for Returning iClicker Cloud Users: Prepare for a New Term iClicker Cloud Checklist for Remote Instruction Checklist: Getting Started with iClicker Cloud Attendance-only Courses Checklist: Getting Started with iClicker Classic   Student Setup Checklist: Getting Started with the iClicker Student App Customizable Syllabus Templates and First Day of Class Slides   Still unsure how to get started with iClicker? Feel free to sign up for an online training session to go over each of these setup steps with an iClicker specialist. ... View more

There are so many official and unofficial ways we welcome students as members of our colleges and universities. This month, explore different traditions institutions use to build community on their campus and connect to their past. ... View more

The faster you can onboard your students, the sooner you can make your classroom an active learning classroom. Check out how you can use Quick Join to get students up and running with iClicker in about a minute. Once your students are up and running, explore some easy activity ideas for your first iClicker sessions! You can quickly onboard your students in your iClicker class in three easy steps. First, create your iClicker course, then click on the Settings area of the course. There, you’ll find your Quick Join code. Share this Quick Join code with your students and they will take the process over from there! Once students log into iClicker, your course will be automatically added to their iClicker account and they will be ready to answer your iClicker questions! Once you have your students ready to go, it can be nice to ask a few questions to help students build confidence with this new tool. We have lots of different activities you can try with your students no matter what discipline you may be teaching. You can welcome students to class with an entrance tickets or try one of our trivia decks to help build your classroom community. ... View more

  At this time of the year, we like to remind our instructors of the power of running practice sessions in iClicker, whether to master the basics or explore new features (like Groups, coming in our July required software update!) before going live with your students.    Practicing with iClicker allows you to preview the full end-to-end class experience from both the instructor and student perspectives. Remember, you can create a separate practice-only or sandbox course—and you can access the iClicker student mobile or web app for free using your instructor credentials. Upon creating your iClicker Cloud instructor account, you will have a 14-day free trial period automatically applied to your account when you log in to the iClicker student app. If you teach at a site license institution or department, you’ll continue to have free access to the student app. If not, simply contact iClicker tech support and request your free instructor subscription to the iClicker student app.   When creating your practice course, you can use the new unlisted course setting, you don’t have to worry about your practice course being visible to students in their app search results. You can still join your own course as a student using your course’s join code.   Here are the steps to practice with iClicker:   Download the iClicker Cloud desktop software or check for updates if you had previously installed the software. Note: The Cloud 5.3.0 update is coming in July 2022! Make sure you have an iClicker instructor account. You can use the same account to access the iClicker student app; some instructors prefer to create a separate account to use for the student app, and that works too.  Create an unlisted practice course and join your course as a student. Use our practice session support article to step through the classroom experience from both the instructor and student perspective. It helps to go through the motions of  starting, answering, and stopping polls (plus displaying, grading, and hiding results) a few times before using iClicker in front of your students in a real classroom setting! ... View more

Summer is officially here and with it a longing to take in some of our nation’s natural wonders. July is National Parks Month, so we’ve toasted some trivia questions to share with your students.   ... View more

Habits can make or break a student’s education. Some cultivate habits that keep them on a steady track towards success, while others fight against their habits as they try to learn. In this month’s blog post, discover how you can use iClicker with your students in a way that helps them improve their habits both in and out of the classroom. Use iClicker’s Attendance feature to encourage the habit of regular attendance. Choosing to attend class isn’t easy sometimes. A college class can be a lot like the gym; a place we pay to attend but don’t. Encourage your students to make class attendance a regular habit with iClicker’s Attendance tool, which is designed to  Turn on iClicker’s Focus Mode to encourage the habit of full engagement. Your students are very aware that their phone can be distractions. Help them learn to manage that distraction by turning iClicker’s Focus Mode on in your class settings. With Focus Mode, students are encouraged to  Encourage better study habits with iClicker Study Tools. With iClicker Study Tools, students are able to take your iClicker polling questions and make them into flashcard packs and practice tests. Be sure to carefully grade your questions and replace slides as needed to help your students get the most out of your iClicker questions. For more ideas about how your can use iClicker to encourage healthy classroom habits, watch the webinar below: ... View more

When a challenge hits the classroom, students with a growth mindset can thrive while other students may flail. Research shows that students with a fixed mindset believe intelligence and ability are static qualities one is born with, while students with a growth mindset believe they are dynamic qualities anyone can improve with time and effort. Using iClicker for active learning is perfect for classroom activities that encourage a growth mindset, helping students learn resilience and flexibility along with the subject matter. This month we’re offering three ways you can use iClicker to encourage a growth mindset in your classroom. Teach your students about growth mindsets with polling questions. Students benefit from learning to identify a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. Ask students if they agree or disagree with statements like “Learning comes easily to those who are gifted” or “speed and perfection are the enemy of of difficult learning”. Use their responses as a way to discuss the time and effort they need to invest in your course in order to be successful. Create tight, honest feedback loops with truly challenging polling questions. Have you ever played a game that’s too easy? Your students want iClicker questions that have the potential to stump them. Ask questions that students routinely miss on your quizzes and exams. You can also try asking one “impossible” question each class session. It will normalise failure as part of the learning process and give your students the opportunity to surprise you! Use iClicker Assignments to encourage students to reflect on quizzes and exams. Part of having a growth mindset is being able to for student honestly assess their own investment of time and effort in their success. Use an iClicker Assignment to ask 2-3 question where students reflect on the steps they took to prepare. These can be offered as small extra-credit opportunities after an assessment, giving students even more incentive to look honestly at their own efforts. For more ways iClicker can be used to encourage growth mindsets, watch below. ... View more

To export all of your course’s activity, attendance, and exit poll data at once, select Export All Activities from the Class History section of the iClicker Cloud instructor website.     Select either one of the iClicker file formats or one of the formats optimized for your learning management system. You can also choose to include any notes you'd entered for student Attendance in your class sessions. Then, click Export.     A .zip file will be downloaded to your computer. Opening it will allow you to access separate .csv files for gradebook (Polling, Quizzing, and Assignments) scores, Attendance data, and exit poll responses from the entire term.      If the .csv file doesn’t automatically open in your preferred application (e.g., Excel), right-click on the file and use the Open With menu option to select where to open the file.     Other export options in iClicker Cloud Export individual student responses from a selected activity Export gradebook data for upload to a learning management system ... View more

As a best practice, we recommend performing a quick audit of your active courses in iClicker Cloud before the start of each new term to see if you’ll need to archive any courses from the previous term. Archiving a previous course will remove it from the course search results in the iClicker student app, and it will prevent you from accidentally starting a new class session in your old course.   Take a moment to look at the End Dates of the courses in your active list. If there’s anything you want to archive immediately, you can do so by selecting the course, then clicking the Archive button. Learn more about archiving courses.     If you have any end dates you wish to modify (perhaps a course that is ending well before the default end date that was auto-selected), select the course, then navigate to its Settings. On the main Course Details tab, you’ll be able to set a different End Date for the course. Learn more about modifying your course settings.     TIP: If you have a practice course you’d like to keep using for another term, you can extend the end date. You can also set the course to be unlisted, so no students would be able to accidentally select the course and join it from the app.   ... View more

World Oceans Day is an international observation taking place annually June 8th, a day celebrating oceans and ocean life. This year’s theme is Revitalization and we have a trivia deck that you can use to revitalize your students with some ocean trivia. Download the Trivia Deck   ... View more