Canvas@Illinois , Using iClicker Cloud

Overview

There are two components to using iClicker Cloud in courses, whether you are taking attendance or conducting polls and quizzes. First, using any web browser, create a course by signing into your instructor account at iclicker.com. There you can access your class data outside of class meetings. During class, you will run the Cloud application on the computer you use to teach. The application is already installed on all general assignment instructor computers, but you will need to download it if you intend to use a laptop.

If you permit students to use iClicker remotes to respond to questions instead of the app, you will also need a USB base station receiver. These are installed in most Technology-Enhanced Classrooms, but you can check the building list to see if your room has one. You can request a base station for a classroom from Technology Services or contact citl-info@illinois.edu if you would like your own base station.

You will sign into the application to access your Cloud courses. The application hovers over any other applications you have open and captures what you display onscreen if you use the polling feature to ask questions. Additionally, you may want to have an instructor remote control. You can either download the iClicker Cloud remote app to your phone from the Apple or Android app stores or request am iClicker remote by contacting citl-info@illinois.edu.

Please Contact CITL for more information or to schedule a consultation.

Steps to Using Cloud

1. Create an instructor account using your Illinois email and then a Cloud course at iclicker.com.
2. The Cloud app is installed on all instructor computers in general assignment classrooms. If you will use your own computer, you can download it. Mac users will likely need to adjust their Privacy and Security settings to grant iClicker Screen Recording and Accessibility access there. If it’s not already installed on the classroom computer, submit a request to Technology Services for general assignment classrooms or to the appropriate IT support team for that room. 
3. If any students will use remotes instead of the app, connect a base station to the computer before you launch the Cloud application. You must launch the application first.
4. Before and after class, you can access course data by signing into iclicker.com.
5. During class, you will need to run the app from a computer. Locate the app on the desktop or in the applications folder and launch it. You will sign in, select the course, start a session, choose to do polling (or attendance or quizzes) and then will start and stop questions as needed. When you finish, you will need to exit the polling feature and end the session. All your data is immediately available through the Cloud course.
6. Optionally, you can use the iClicker remote or the iClicker Cloud instructor app to start/stop polls, share results, view results as they come in (app only), and advance/retreat PowerPoint slides (not compatible with other presentation applications). To use a remote, you must first add its ID# to your Cloud profile, and then in class you start the session from the computer app.

Using Cloud in Class

Locate the application on your computer and open it. The example below is from a Windows computer.

This will open the sign-in window, though if you select “remember me” me when signing in, you may be able to skip this step in the future. Sign in with your account.

In the window, hover over the course you want to start and press Start Class.

This starts a new session where you have a few options. We will only explore polls here, but you could conduct a quiz or take attendance. The roster displays the current attendance. Learn more about the Quiz tool. Press Poll to ask questions. Click the blue cloud icon to collapse the toolbar menu to a circle.

The toolbar will now appear as shown below. Press the green circle to initiate a question.

Select question type. If any students use remotes instead of the app, we recommend multiple choice questions. If all students use the app, you can also do short answer, numeric, multiple answer or target questions where the students will touch an image to select an answer, such as touching a city on a map.

The first time you ask a new question in a session, you will be prompted to select a “display” to capture. You can choose your entire desktop. If you are connected to multiple displays, you can select which one, or you can choose an open application, such as Power Point. After choosing, press Select.

As soon as you start a question, iClicker takes a picture of what you selected (the desktop or PowerPoint) and saves it for you to review later. After the question begins, you will see a timer and how many responses you have received. Press the stop button to end the question.

Either while you are accepting responses or after you have ended the question, press Results to display a bar chart of the responses. Press on the letter or bar to designate the correct response, if there is one. The bar will turn green and display a checkmark under the correct response.

After asking multiple questions, even the same one twice, while displaying the results, you can press the compare button to pull up two bar charts side-by-side – such as. Here I pressed the button in question 3 to open it in a second window and then pressed the sideways arrow to toggle it back to question 2.

While in a question, you can also press More to reveal a menu.

That menu will allow you to ask an anonymous question, switch how the question timer counts (up or down), switch which display or app that iClicker will take a screen capture of or press Confidence to view student confidence ratings of the question.

To exit a session, click the left arrow to return to the toolbar menu. Then press End to save your data.

Using the Cloud Mobile Instructor App

There is also a mobile app that you can install on your phone through the Apple or Android app stores. It replaces the functionality of the blue instructor remotes you may have used with iClicker Classic. You must launch the desktop application first and start a session before you can use the phone remote app. It will then let you start & stop questions, share and hide results, view responses and attendance, advance and retreat PowerPoint slides, and do a few other things.

If you would like to use the physical remote, sign into your Cloud course, and press your profile picture to open your profile settings. If you scroll down, there will be an edit button. Press that to edit your profile. Scroll down to the bottom for the field where you will type the ID number found on the back of the remote. For more detailed instructions, visit iClicker Support.